VC-backed SynapDx announces new hire

SynapDx Corp. said Monday that it has named Dr. Mark DePristo as vice president of informatics. Prior to joining SynapDx, DePristo was the co-director of Medical and Population Genetics. Based in Lexington, Mass., SynapDx is a provider of diagnostic services for autism and neurodevelopmental disorders. It is backed by North Bridge Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Google Ventures, Foundation Medical Partners, LabCorp, The Kraft Group, Casdin Capital and Windham Venture Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

LEXINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SynapDx Corporation today announced that Mark DePristo, PhD, has joined as Vice President of Informatics. DePristo comes to SynapDx from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, where he served as the Co-Director of Medical and Population Genetics. At SynapDx, DePristo will be responsible for the design and implementation of the bioinformatics strategy supporting the company’s test for the early detection of autism spectrum disorders.
“Mark is a recognized leader in genomic research,” said Stan Lapidus, CEO, SynapDx. “We are thrilled to have him join the SynapDx team. He brings deep expertise in big-data processing, computational biology and next generation sequencing.”
“SynapDx’s pioneering approach has the promise to transform the detection of autism,” said DePristo. “I am excited to be a part of SynapDx’s mission to improve the lives of children and their families by aiding earlier diagnosis and treatment.”
Prior to joining SynapDx, DePristo led the Genome Sequencing and Analysis Group within the Broad Institute’s Program in Medical and Population Genetics. There, his team created the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK), a software package used by researchers and clinicians from academic institutions and commercial companies for the analysis of next-generation DNA sequencing data. These tools are used worldwide by researchers involved in large-scale, prominent projects, including the 1000 Genomes Project and The Cancer Genome Atlas. Previously, DePristo served as a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellow at Harvard University. He earned a PhD in Biochemistry from Cambridge University and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and Mathematics from Northwestern University. DePristo is a U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Marshall Scholar.
About SynapDx Corp.
SynapDx is a private company developing laboratory diagnostic services for autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, with the initial goal of enabling earlier detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The company collaborates with ASD experts at leading institutions. SynapDx was founded in 2010 and is based in Lexington, Mass. Members of the board of directors are: Stan Lapidus, CEO SynapDx; Hemant Taneja, Partner at General Catalyst; Bob Carpenter, former Lead Director of Genzyme and founder of Integrated Genetics; Tom Mac Mahon, founding and former CEO of LabCorp; Andy Conrad, Google; Bill Geary, Partner at North Bridge Venture Partners. SynapDx’s investors include North Bridge Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Google Ventures, Foundation Medical Partners, LabCorp, The Kraft Group, Casdin Capital and Windham Venture Partners.