Valo Health Adds Award-Winning Neurobiologist Virginie Buggia-Prevot Ph.D. and Computational Scientist Andrea Rossi Ph.D.
BOSTON, Nov. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/— Valo Health, LLC (Valo), the technology company that is working to transform how drugs are discovered and developed, today announced the addition of two major hires: award-winning neurobiologist Virginie Buggia-Prevot, Ph.D., and leading data science expert, Andrea Rossi, Ph.D.
“We founded Valo with the goal of redefining the drug discovery and development process so that we can treat some of the world’s most challenging illnesses more quickly and effectively than ever before,” said Valo CEO David Berry, Ph.D. MD. “At the core of our approach is a recognition that human-centric data coupled with leading-edge computation can enable a transformation in how drugs are created, reducing cost and time, while increasing success.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Virginie and Andrea to the Valo team,” said Brett Blackman, Valo’s Chief Innovation Officer. “Virginie’s deep experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and leadership in target discovery of complex neurodegenerative diseases will be tremendous assets to our growing drug discovery and translational efforts. Andrea’s expertise in integrating computational strategies in drug discovery gives us an unparalleled advantage in building upon our new operating system for the drug discovery process, helping to create next-generation life sciences solutions.”
Virginie Buggia-Prevot, Ph.D. joins the Boston-based Valo team from the Therapeutics Discovery team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and from the Neurodegeneration Consortium, where she drives novel research aimed at improving the lives of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Buggia-Prevot was named to In Vivo’s 2020 list of 30 Rising Leaders in the Life Sciences for her work on early-stage target discovery in neurodegenerative conditions, including the neurotoxic effects of cancer treatment, with the goal of developing novel therapeutics. Buggia-Prevot received her Ph.D. from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, and her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the Joseph Fourier University.
“I’m thrilled to join Valo so that I can be part of this great team that is taking a new revolutionary approach to tackle one of the greatest medical challenges of our time: developing life-changing therapies for patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases,” said Virginie Buggia-Prevot, Ph.D.
Andrea Rossi, Ph.D. will join Valo’s data science team based in San Francisco from Atomwise. At Atomwise, Rossi worked as a Principal Scientist of Cheminformatics and Machine Learning and was responsible for leading the development of cheminformatics methods for small-molecules activity and selectivity prediction. Rossi received his Ph.D. from the International School for Advanced Studies SISSA/ISAS, in Trieste, Italy, and his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Theoretical Physics from the University of Florence.
“I am excited to join Valo Health to combine my passion for data science, machine learning and drug discovery. I am looking forward to utilizing state of the art techniques in cheminformatics and computational chemistry to advance the process of small molecule drug discovery and development with the Valo team,” said Andrea Rossi, Ph.D.
About Valo
Valo Health, LLC (Valo) is using human-centric data and machine learning-anchored computation to transform the drug discovery and development process. By integrated data across the drug development lifecycle, the discovery and development of life-changing treatments can be accelerated, with the potential to reduce cost, time, and failure rate. The company’s Opal Computational Platform™, a fully-integrated, componentized, end-to-end drug development platform, offers a unique approach to therapeutic development, that enables Valo to advance a robust pipeline of candidates across cardiovascular disease, oncology, and neurodegeneration. Headquartered in Boston, MA, Valo has offices in San Francisco, CA, Princeton, NJ, and Branford, CT. To learn more, visit www.valohealth.com.