Newswise — Geisinger Ventures recently announced that Mike Hoerres has joined the organization as a Principal. Ventures is Geisinger Health System’s for-profit venture arm focused on translating clinical and operational innovation into practical use and promoting the reinvestment of capital into the system.

In this position, he will be responsible for working closely with his colleagues from research and the clinical enterprise to commercialize new discoveries in the life sciences, genomics and proteomic research areas, ultimately leading to improvements in patient care and personalized medicine.

"Mike Hoerres has extensive entrepreneurial and operations experience with life science and biopharmaceutical companies,” said Denise Prince, founder and managing partner, Geisinger Ventures. "He brings to us exceptional industry and scientific knowledge and far-reaching networks, enabling him to provide the strategic counsel and hands-on support needed to identify and foster the growth of our operation.”

Hoerres recognizes that Geisinger’s key strength is its integrated healthcare delivery model, nontransitory population, and advanced electronic health record (EHR) that is capable of exchanging and managing diverse data sets. In addition, Geisinger’s MyCodeTM, a system-wide biobank with more than 23,000 consenting subjects, including disease-specific and population cohorts, is linkable to the EHR. This link integrates the biospecimens with longitudinal clinical data collected over more than 10 years including disease type and subtype, drug treatment/response, and health outcome data. Together these serve as valuable resources for improving and personalizing healthcare, which is a hallmark of Geisinger Health System.

Prior to joining Geisinger, Hoerres was Vice President of Business Development at Source MDx, where he shepherded the licensing of the Source MDx platform for use in the clinical trial businesses of the nation’s two largest reference laboratories. He also developed biomarker and companion diagnostic collaborative agreements, including licensing rights to companion diagnostics and stand-alone diagnostics, based on collaborative research plans. Prior to that, he served as Clinical Market Development Manager at Affymetrix and Director of Business Development at Incyte Genomics.

"Within healthcare Geisinger is well-known as a leader in providing innovative patient care through an integrated delivery system. Combining Geisinger’s clinical research capabilities, advanced EHR and large biobanking program with opportunities in the genomics space will greatly improve progress in translational medicine and personalized healthcare,” said Hoerres. “I am thrilled to be part of the Geisinger Ventures team and feel that much of what I have learned in the genomics field has served to prepare me for this opportunity."

Hoerres earned a bachelor of science in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a master of science in molecular immunology from San Diego State University. About Geisinger Health SystemGeisinger is a $2.1 billion integrated health services organization widely recognized for its innovative use of the electronic health record, and the development and implementation of innovative care models including advanced medical home and ProvenCare ("warranty") program. The system serves more than 2.3 million residents throughout 42 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org.

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