Aug 5, 2024

Helio Genomics IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helio Genomics (“Helio” or “the Company”), an AI-driven healthcare company specializing in diagnostics technology and test development for cancer detection, today announced the appointment of Eric A. Ariazi, Ph.D., as Chief Development Officer. Dr. Ariazi is a translational cancer biologist experienced in precision oncology, epigenetics, and assay development, and brings to Helio over 25 years of experience encompassing basic, translational, and clinical settings to advance cancer research and liquid biopsy testing to improve patient outcomes. Justin Chen Li, Chief Executive Officer of Helio Genomics stated, “I am pleased to welcome Eric, a highly respected and experienced leader in translational cancer research including liquid biopsy assays, to Helio. Eric was an early employee at Freenome where he was instrumental in developing cfDNA methylation sequencing assays for cancer detection, and later at ORIC Pharmaceuticals, he implemented multiple liquid biopsy assays including cfDNA methylation sequencing to support drug development. Eric’s expertise in targeted cfDNA methylation sequencing will be pivotal for Helio’s lab expansion endeavors as well as the further development of our diagnostics technology.” Eric Ariazi, Ph.D., stated, “I am thrilled to join the Company at such an exciting time and truly believe Helio could deliver technologies to shift the paradigm of early cancer detection. I look forward to bringing my expertise in assay development and genomic technology to contribute to the ongoing success of the Company.” Prior to joining Helio, Dr. Ariazi was the Founder & Principal Consultant of Biomarker Strategy Consulting, LLC, where he provided expertise in epigenetic drug development and next-generation sequencing assay development to detect and monitor disease from blood. Eric has already played an integral role in critical review of laboratory protocols and audited laboratory processes involved in cfDNA methylation sequencing to detect liver cancer for Helio Genomics. Prior to consulting, he was a Senior Principal Scientist in the Department of Translational Medicine at ORIC Pharmaceuticals, where he led the development, execution, and analysis of predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers for clinical-stage compounds. As an early employee at Freenome, Eric was the fourth employee after its three co-founders, and Freenome’s first scientific hire. He held positions of increasing responsibilities, and spearheaded assay development of targeted cfDNA methylation sequencing, which has become the centerpiece of Freenome’s blood-based multi-omic cancer detection platform. Before these positions in industry, Eric was an Assistant Research Professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center, primarily researching endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and has several issued patents and patent applications. Eric holds a Ph.D. with a double major in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Human Cancer Biology from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center and completed his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Molecular Oncology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in Madison, Wisconsin. Helio was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, CA. For more information, please visit our website at www.heliogenomics.com or www.linkedin.com/company/heliogenomics . About Helio Genomics Helio Genomics is a commercial stage, AI-driven healthcare company specializing in diagnostics technology and test development for cancer detection. HelioLiver is a multi-analyte blood test that evaluates cell free DNA (cfDNA) methylation patterns, serum protein markers, and demographic information for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For more information, please visit us at www.heliogenomics.com . Investor Contact: