CosmosID Appoints Arne Materna as Vice President of Product

Dr. Arne Materna joins CosmosID as Vice President of Product (PRNewsfoto/CosmosID)

CosmosID, provider of leading products and services to unlock the microbiome accurately and actionably, is proud to announce that Dr. Arne Materna is joining its Senior Leadership team as Vice President of Product.

Dr. Materna’s experience in product and business strategy in the field of metagenomics and infectious disease genomics will fuel the strategic expansion of the product portfolio and the growth of CosmosID.

Dr. Materna joins CosmosID from QIAGEN where he directed the product management organization responsible for a high-growth segment of QIAGEN’s extensive portfolio of bioinformatics products. Prior to QIAGEN Dr. Materna held management and senior roles at CLC bio, Pacific Biosciences and MIT.

In his new role, Dr. Materna will drive product strategy at CosmosID. “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Materna to our leadership team,” says Manoj Dadlani, CEO of CosmosID. “Arne’s strong understanding of customer needs across the entire NGS workflow, from sample processing through actionable data interpretation, will help drive the best possible products and solutions for our growing customer base.”

“I am honored to join the scientifically stellar and ambitious team at CosmosID,” said Arne Materna. “Assets like a HIPPA compliant bioinformatics platform and CLIA facilities for end-to-end services uniquely positions CosmosID in providing microbiome solutions for both research and regulated applications.”

CosmosID, a Rockville MD based company, is best known for microbial identification and microbiome profiling with unrivaled accuracy and strain level resolution. The class-leading performance of CosmosID bioinformatics is powered by the CosmosID GenBook® database, the largest curated genome database of pathogens, commensals and environmental microorganisms.

“Our technology is deeply rooted in CosmosID’s core values, which include a tradition of scientific excellence and extensive collaboration with the scientific community,” says Prof. Rita Colwell, founder and chairman of CosmosID. “I am enthusiastic to have Dr. Materna joining our team. He is an accomplished industry leader and an experienced and passionate microbiologist.”

Dr. Materna holds a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Konstanz, Germany. His specialization is in microbial ecology and metagenomics. Dr. Materna conducted his postdoctoral research at  MIT, where he subsequently directed the experimental research laboratory of Prof. Eric Alm. At QIAGEN, Dr. Materna launched a successful software platform for microbial surveillance and metagenomics that has had broad adoption in commercial laboratories and government agencies including the FDA, CDC and USDA. He also serves as Expert Advisor to the ISO Standardization Working Group 25 for Whole Genome Sequencing of Foodborne Pathogens.