Director, Microbiology, Axial Therapeutics
Biography
Mary leads microbiology and a drug discovery project team at Axial Therapeutics, a clinical stage company advancing a pipeline of gut-targeted small molecule therapies in areas of significant unmet patient need including Autism Spectrum Disorder and Parkinson’s disease, with a recent expansion into oncology. Prior to joining Axial in 2017, Mary spent two years at Kaleido Biosciences and nine years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Mary’s experience includes leading cross-functional teams in projects from exploratory through candidate selection stages to discover microbiome-inspired therapeutics and antibiotics, and building teams and drug discovery capabilities in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and the microbiome. Mary studied at Princeton University and in the department of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Talk
Intervening at the Level of Microbial Metabolites in Autism
Certain microbial metabolites have been associated with autism-like behaviors pre-clinically and found to be elevated in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of AB-2004, a gut-restricted molecule targeting microbial metabolites, were assessed in an adolescent population with ASD.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2022 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Rita Colwell, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Manoj Dadlani, CosmosID
Understanding mechanism of action and translating microbiome science into commercially viable therapeutics remains the biggest challenge in this emerging field. With that said, pharma and biotech across many different therapeutic indications and modalities are united in this global effort to bring novel microbiome-based therapies and diagnostics into the clinical domain. This session will include some of the most impactful and promising areas of the Microbiome field and panel discussions on the challenges for faster adoption.
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Sessions:
- Intro and Overview to Microbiome
- Manoj Dadlani, CosmosID - Pharma Drug Development (PANEL)
Session Chair: Karim Dabbagh, Second Genome
- Jennifer Wortman, Seres Therapeutics
- Paul Garofolo, Locus Biosciences
- Rangaprasad Sarangarajan, Metabolon - AI in Microbiome
- Agnieszka Piotrowska, Ardigen
- Direct-To-Consumer Testing/Technologies (PANEL)
Session Chair: Nathan D. Price, Thorne HealthTech
- Kiran Krishnan, Microbiome Labs
- Nicole Scott, Cybele Microbiome
- Noosheen Hashemi, January AI - The Role of the Human Gut Microbiome on Various Diseases
- Colleen Cutcliffe, Pendulum Therapeutics
- Tor Savidge, Baylor College of Medicine
- Nikole Kimes, Siolta Therapeutics
- Susan Lynch, UCSF - The Gut/Brain Microbiome
- Mary Conrad, Axial Biotherapeutics
- Christopher Reyes, Bloom Science
- Evolutionary Biology of the Skin Microbiome
- Larry Weiss, Symbiome - Showcase
- Heloise Breton, DNA Genotek
- Nathan Price, Thorne HealthTech
- Mo Langhi, CosmosID
- Rangaprasad Sarangarajan, Metabolon
