Seres Health Appoints Shelley Trucksis, Ph.D., M.D. as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan.15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Seres Health, Inc., a leading microbiome therapeutics platform company developing a novel class of biological drugs that are designed to treat diseases by restoring the function of a dysbiotic microbiome, today announced the appointment of Michele (Shelley) Trucksis, Ph.D., M.D., as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. In this role, Dr. Trucksis will be responsible for overseeing the clinical development and operations of Seres' Ecobiotic® product pipeline.

"Shelley has a strong track record of leading drug development teams in infectious diseases and successfully collaborating with the FDA, academia, and pharmaceutical companies to facilitate drug development," said Dr. Roger J. Pomerantz, President, CEO and Chairman of Seres Health. "Her broad experience will be valuable as we prepare for Phase III clinical trials of our lead Ecobiotic® candidate, SER-109, for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection."

"Seres has a leading microbiome therapeutics platform and a pipeline with a potential near term opportunity to bring much needed therapies to patients," said Dr. Trucksis. "I am thrilled to help advance this innovative technology through the clinic and work to bring forth important new medical treatments."

Dr. Trucksis has over twenty-five years of infectious disease-focused clinical research and medical experience. Prior to joining Seres, Dr. Trucksis served as Executive Director of Merck Research Laboratories with responsibility for medical, clinical and global product development functions and development strategy in antibacterials, antifungals and cytomegalovirus infections. Dr. Trucksis held various positions at Merck including Project Team Leader, Infectious Diseases and Director of Clinical Pharmacology. Previously, she was Deputy Editor, Infectious Disease at UpToDate, Inc., Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Medical Officer at the Food Safety Inspection Service/USDA.

Dr. Trucksis received her M.D. from Case Western Reserve University, Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Kent State University and B.S. in Medical Technology from Youngstown State University. After her residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Dr. Trucksis completed fellowships in infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and bacterial pathogenesis at the University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development.

About Seres Health

Seres Health is a leading microbiome therapeutics platform company developing a novel class of biological drugs that are designed to treat disease by restoring the function of a dysbiotic microbiome. For more information, please visit www.sereshealth.com.