Renowned microbiologist will bring clinical expertise as the company advances its platform for rapid pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing
AUSTIN, Texas — March 10, 2022 — Pattern Bioscience, Inc., developer of Digital Culture™ technology for rapid, direct-from-specimen pathogen identification and phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ID/AST), announced the appointment of Carey-Ann Burnham, PhD, as chief clinical officer, effective March 30, 2022. Dr. Burnham will be responsible for overseeing the company’s clinical and regulatory strategy, including assay validation and regulatory review, as well as guiding clinical and health economic utility studies.
“I’m passionate about innovation in diagnostics and the thoughtful use of technology to improve human health, and am therefore incredibly excited to join the highly innovative Pattern Bioscience team. They are working to fill an important gap in clinical diagnostic testing, and I think their Digital Culture approach will be the next major leap forward in this space,” said Dr. Burnham. “Direct-from-specimen, phenotypic identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is critical to reduce the interval of diagnostic uncertainty, support optimal antimicrobial use, and improve clinical outcomes.”
Dr. Burnham is a well-known and highly respected leader and investigator in the clinical microbiology and infectious disease space. She recently served as a professor of pathology and immunology, molecular microbiology, pediatrics, and medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and as the medical director of clinical microbiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Dr. Burnham has been recognized with numerous prestigious industry awards, including the American Society for Microbiology Award for Research and Leadership in Clinical Microbiology, the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists Ellis S. Benson Award, and recognition as a “40 Under 40” honoree by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. She has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, many on new diagnostic methods for infection, antimicrobial resistance, and transmission and epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms. Dr. Burnham has also held several leadership roles in clinical microbiology, including serving as an editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and as co-editor in chief for the upcoming 5th edition of the Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook.
In December 2021, Pattern Bioscience announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted Breakthrough Device Designation for its Pneumonia Action Panel, which will be the world’s first direct-from-specimen phenotypic ID/AST test. This novel panel uses Pattern’s proprietary Digital Culture technology to provide a fast and comprehensive diagnosis for patients hospitalized with severe pneumonia. The Digital Culture approach combines advances in machine learning and single-cell analysis to provide ID/AST information in four hours. To date, the company has raised approximately $20 million in private funding and has been awarded $18.7 million from CARB-X, a global nonprofit partnership dedicated to addressing the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria.
“This is a pivotal time for Pattern Bioscience as we move our Pneumonia Action Panel into the clinical phase, and I’m thrilled to welcome Carey-Ann to the team,” said Nick Arab, co-founder and CEO of Pattern Bioscience. “She’s one of the top microbiologists in the country and will help ensure that our products deliver maximum clinical impact to patients and hospitals.”
About Pattern Bioscience
Pattern Bioscience is a privately held in vitro diagnostics company founded in 2016 to help combat the problem of antibiotic resistance. Pattern is developing a next-generation clinical microbiology platform based on its patented Digital CultureTM technology that can rapidly identify pathogens and determine their antibiotic response without the need for traditional, time-consuming culture steps.
Digital Culture is a single-cell analysis platform that uses digital-cell reactors combined with machine learning to rapidly diagnose complex bacterial infections. The platform, which produces millions of measurements per run, will zoom into the real-time antibiotic response of individual bacterial cells within the first critical hours of illness. Pattern’s faster bacterial tests can reduce the risk of antibiotic misuse and enable targeted antimicrobial therapy, improving patient outcomes and reducing selective pressures that drive antimicrobial resistance. The company’s first test, the Pneumonia Action Panel, is designed to improve antibiotic prescribing and treatment for the leading hospital-acquired infection and cause of sepsis.
To learn more, visit pattern.bio or follow @Patternbio.
The Pattern Pneumonia Action Panel is in development and is not available for sale.
Research reported in this press release is supported by CARB-X. CARB-X’s funding for this project is sponsored by the Cooperative Agreement Number IDSEP160030 from ASPR/BARDA and by an award from Wellcome Trust. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of CARB-X or any of its funders.
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