Todd Laird Assumes Role of Chief Operating Officer and David Dimmock, MD as Medical Director
San Diego –July 5, 2016 – Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego continues to build its Institute for Genomic Medicine by recruiting Todd Laird as the Chief Operating Officer and Dr. David Dimmock as the Medical Director.
“Todd Laird has over 30 years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry working with startups and Fortune 100 companies and Dr. David Dimmock is a nationally- renowned pediatric geneticist who has been on the forefront of clinical application of genome sequencing,” said David F. Hale, Board Chair, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine. “We are excited to welcome them both.”
Mr. Laird has held a variety of global operations and commercial roles with companies including American Hospital Supply, Baxter International, GE Healthcare and Life Technologies. During his career he has built and managed global brands, guided new product and applications development, led commercialization of innovative technologies, and driven operations and facility growth strategy.
In the decade leading up to an acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mr. Laird was General Manager at Life Technologies where he led several industry-leading businesses including GIBCO research cell culture, Biosource cellular assays, Applied Biosystems Sanger sequencing, and Transplant Diagnostics. Most recently Mr. Laird has been an active investor and advisor to a portfolio of early-stage life science companies.
Dr. David Dimmock is a nationally-renowned expert on the clinical application of whole genome sequencing and spearheaded the first end-to-end solution (from patient care to clinical laboratory, data analysis, data return and ethical consideration) that was deployed in 2010.
He was the clinician primarily responsible for the first use of exome sequencing to change the medical management of a child. Dr. Dimmock was the geneticist involved in the case which was the subject of Pulitzer Prize winning articles and the book, One in a Billion: The Story of Nic Volker and the Dawn of Genomic Medicine.
Before joining Rady Children’s, Dr. Dimmock’s clinical practice focused on the diagnosis of heritable disorders in children and adults and the long term care of patients with mitochondrial and metabolic disorders. He has been the principal investigator for multiple industry sponsored studies evaluating novel therapeutics for these disorders and is a sought after speaker at national conferences.
“We are fortunate to have such an experienced innovator as Todd Laird helping build the infrastructure and guide the operations of our organization,” said Stephen Kingsmore, MD D.Sc., President and CEO of the Institute. “And with Dr. David Dimmock’s shared passion for clinical application of genome sequencing and study of its application for newborn screening, we are uniquely poised to integrate genomic medicine into clinical practice at Rady Children’s.”
Media Contact:
Ben Metcalf
(858) 966-8579 | bmetcalf@rchsd.org
About Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine:
Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine was founded by Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego to bring together world-class scientists and clinicians into shared research infrastructure for accelerated translation of research discoveries into prevention, early diagnosis, precise treatments and cures for childhood diseases at Rady Children’s Hospital. This integrated approach to precision medicine includes genomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, proteomics and informatics. This research provides a comprehensive view of a child’s health status and risk factors for disease. www.rchsd.org/research/genomics-institute/
About Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego:
Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego is a 551-bed pediatric care facility providing the largest source of comprehensive pediatric medical services in San Diego, Southern Riverside and Imperial counties. Rady Children’s is the only hospital in the San Diego area dedicated exclusively to pediatric healthcare and is the region’s only designated pediatric trauma center. In June 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked Rady Children’s among the best children’s hospitals in the nation in nine pediatric specialties. Rady Children’s is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations to support its mission. For more information, visit www.rchsd.org and find us on Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo.