Algynomics - Personalized Pain Medications and Diagnostics

The Algynomics team has extensive experience and expertise in starting biotechnology businesses, understanding and researching the pathophysiology (including genomics) of pain and associated conditions, designing and conducting clinical trials, and building successful organizations.

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  William Maixner, DDS, PhD, is President of Algynomics and a co-founder of the company. He is a leader in clinical pain research, and Director of the Center for Neurosensory Disorders and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His multidisciplinary research program places high emphasis on translational research and this unit has developed methods that permit the neurological, psychological, and genetic subclassification of chronic pain conditions. Discoveries from his program at UNC are exclusively licensed to Algynomics for the purpose of developing new technologies and methods that enable tailored pain therapies and the identification of new biological targets for future drug development.
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  Luda Diatchenko, MD, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer of Algynomics and a co-founder of the company. Prior to founding Algynomics, Dr. Diatchenko was leader of the RNA Expression Group at Clontech, Inc., and subsequently Director of Gene Discovery at Attagene, Inc. During this time, Dr. Diatchenko was actively involved in the development of several widely-used molecular tools for the analysis of gene expression and regulation. Dr. Diatchenko is an Associate Professor in the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the University of North Carolina. Her recent research is focused on determining the cellular and molecular biological mechanisms by which functional genetic variations impact human pain perception and risk of development of chronic pain conditions.
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  David R. LaVance, JD, is General Manager of Algynomics and a co-founder of the company. He is also a co-founder and President of Century Capital Associates LLC, and is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Scivanta Medical Corporation (SCVM), a publicly-traded medical device company focused on development of the Hickey Cardiac Monitoring System. He also serves on the Boards of Directors for Hologic, Inc. (HOLX), Healthy Rebates, Inc. and Agile Sciences, Inc. Mr. LaVance specializes in financing life science and other emerging technology companies as well as in advising companies about mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and strategic alliances.
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  Roger B. Fillingim, PhD, is Vice President of Diagnostic Medical Devices at Algynomics. Dr. Fillingim is a Professor at the University of Florida College of Dentistry. His research program focuses on biological and psychosocial contributions to individual differences in responses to pain and its treatment. Dr. Fillingim's laboratory has provided important findings regarding the influence of gender, ethnic group, and genetics on pain sensitivity and analgesic responses. Dr. Fillingim received his graduate training in Clinical Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, including a clinical internship at Duke University Medical Center. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pain psychophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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  Richard H. Gracely, PhD, is Vice President of Device Development and Pain Measurement. Dr. Gracely received his PhD in experimental psychology from Brown University. He is a Professor in the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the University of North Carolina and an Adjunct Professor iin the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at the University of Michigan. His research program focuses on the development and application of human pain measurement methods. These methods have been applied to studies of the mechanisms of pain produced by tissue and/or nerve injury and the mechanisms of pain treatments ranging from analgesic agents to acupuncture and placebo.
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  Gary D. Slade, PhD, is Chief Epidemiologist at Algynomics. Dr. Slade obtained his PhD in dentistry at the University of Adelaide and joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the School of Dentistry and in the School of Public Health. In 2002, he was recruited to the University of Adelaide as Professor of Oral Epidemiology in the School of Dentistry and became director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Dental Statistics and Research Unit. In 2008-9, he joined the Algynomics team and returned to the University of North Carolina as the John W. Stamm Distinguished Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Dental Ecology. His principal research interests are in population assessment of oral health related quality of life; epidemiological studies of oral disease, orofacial pain and related pain conditions; and public health interventions to prevent oral disease.