Manhattan Scientifics Changes Up Leadership of Subsidiary

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Manhattan Scientifics Inc. has recruited Robert R. Proulx to the position of president and chief operating officer (COO) of its Senior Scientific LLC subsidiary, effective Jan. 12. Gerald Grafe, former president of Senior Scientific, will remain with the group to focus on strategic relationships and intellectual property issues. Edward R. Flynn, Ph.D., founder of Senior Scientific, is remaining as chief scientist.

Proulx’s responsibilities will include building Senior Scientific’s core capabilities in nano-particle technology and expanding on the collaborations in place with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, to help further develop and strategically position Senior Scientific’s MRX diagnostic technology for the non-invasive early detection of cancer.

Proulx is a veteran business executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience for both private and public companies in the life science and diagnostic device markets. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer and general manager of U.S. operations for Silicon Biosystems Inc., whose image-based cell sorting technology is advancing personalized medicine initiatives in cancer through the molecular characterization of tumor heterogeneity. Earlier, he served as vice president, marketing & sales at Nanogen Inc., where he was responsible for worldwide corporate branding, product marketing and North American sales operations for the company’s in vitro diagnostic products. Prior to this, he held senior-level positions at Gene Logic Inc.; IGEN International Inc.; Packard Instrument Company Inc. and Bio-Tek Instruments Inc. He has served on the board of directors of Semrock and PGXL Diagnostic Laboratories and has been a volunteer in the CONNECT Springboard Entrepreneurs in Residence program, helping nurture startups through early-stage business planning. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees are from The State University of New York at Albany and he is a graduate of the executive management program at The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business.

“With more than two and a half decades in the life science arena, I have helped bring to market a fair number of cutting-edge technologies,” said Proulx. “I am convinced that Senior Scientific’s MRX diagnostic technology represents a bold new step in cancer care, and I look forward to working with the rest of the management team as we continue to develop the technology and pursue the path to commercialization.”

“Bob Proulx brings a tremendous amount of industry experience to Senior Scientific, and we are fortunate to have him serve as its new president and COO,” said Manny Tsoupanarias, CEO of Manhattan Scientifics. “We will undoubtedly benefit from his keen insights as we expand the development of our MRX diagnostic technology and enter the commercialization stage. At the same time, we are grateful for Gerald Grafe’s dedication as president and are gratified he will remain with Senior Scientific to guide our strategy and [intellectual property] issues, while also ensuring a smooth transition in leadership.”

Manhattan Scientifics makes disruptive technologies in the nano-medicine space. Its subsidiary Senior Scientific focuses on emerging field of molecular imaging and nanobiotechnology for the early detection and localization of cancer and other human diseases.