BCR Biotech

Key Personnel

Boris Rotman, Ph.D.
Founder of BCR Diagnostics, Inc., he has done basic and applied research in the fields of Biochemistry, Cellular Immunology, and Molecular Biology. Early in his career, he pioneered the use of fluorogenic substrates for extending the sensitivity of enzymatic assays to single enzyme molecules, and in the process discovered fluorochromasia. He was the first to apply fluorochromasia for quantitative measurements of antibody-mediated cytotoxicity of tumor cells. The methodology was subsequently adopted as international standard for typing human histocompatibility antigens. In 1985, he used fluorochromasia to develop a new cytotoxicity assay (fluorescent cytoprint assay) for determining the chemosensitivity profile of fresh human tumor specimens. In addition, he was one of the first to use antibodies as biochemical tools in enzymology, and the discovery of activating antibodies in his laboratory opened the field of functional antibodies, i.e., immunoglobulins that induce conformational changes in enzymes. He received the 1990 Award for Scientific Achievement from the Governor of Rhode Island. Dr. Rotman obtained a Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois, and is Professor of Medical Science at Brown University School of Medicine.

Board of Scientific Advisors

Joseph R. Bertino, M.D.
Chairman of the Program for Molecular Pharmacology Therapeutics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. A clinical investigator of international reputation, he served as President of the American Association for Cancer Research in 1965-66.

Arthur Landy, Ph.D.
Professor of Medical Science in the Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry at Brown University Division of Biology and Medicine. A molecular biologist of international standing, he is a member of the National Academy of Science.

Frank Maley, Ph.D.
Director of Developmental Biochemistry at the New York State Department of Health in Albany, NY, and Professor at the School of Public Health Sciences, State University of New York. He has made important contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology including discovery of the first significant intron in a bacterial system.

Antone A. Medeiros, M.D.
Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI. Professor of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine. He has been active in research, education and as a microbiologist in the clinic. A major area of his research has been identification of specific antibiotic resistance mechanisms. His reviews on the ß-lactamase role in antibiotic resistance are considered classic in the field.