It is with great pleasure to announce that Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa has joined the International Scientific Advisory Council of the Golden Helix Foundation.

Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa is the Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President Sectors at Genome British Columbia. With over 18 years of international experience in genomics and precision medicine, Dr. Lopez-Correa has held leadership positions in the private and public sector. Dr. Lopez-Correa holds an MD from UPB University in Colombia, a Masters in Genetics from Paris VII/Pasteur Institute and a PhD in Medical Biosciences-Genetics from KULeuven in Belgium.

Most recently she was the Vice-President Scientific Affairs and CSO at Genome Quebec where she was instrumental in developing competitive teams for national and provincial research projects, and raising the profile of Genome Quebec on the global stage.

Previous experience also includes a role as Senior Scientist with Eli Lilly and Company where she was part of the Pharmacogenomics and Translational Medicine Group in charge of discovering and validating genetic/genomic biomarkers in different therapeutic areas (oncology, cardio-metabolic and neurosciences). She also helped develop the company’s tailored therapeutics and personalized medicine strategy. Dr. Lopez-Correa also held the position of Head of Cytogenomics laboratory at deCODE genetics where she developed screening strategies to detect genomic rearrangements. She has also worked for two different American biotech companies in the UK (Genomica and Informax).

Since 2002, Dr. Lopez-Correa has served as evaluator for large multinational projects funded by the European Commission, the IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiatives) and the NIH and has been recognized by several awards nationally and internationally. As part of her commitment to international development, Dr. Lopez-Correa funded the not for profit organization ODNS (Organisation pour le Développement avec des Nouvelles Solidarités) in 2012 and has been involved in several initiatives aiming at demonstrating the impact of genomics in developing countries.

The Golden Helix Foundation Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Council warmly welcomes Dr. Lopez-Correa and looks forward to closely working with her to further achieve the Golden Helix Foundation aims and goals, particularly in the Latin American region.