ORIG3N, a pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine, has added Melissa May as the company's vice president of product strategy to establish partnerships and collaborations to bring in non-dilutive funding that will support R&D to develop future product offerings. In addition, May will play a role in the strategy and channel development of ORIG3N's life science products, as well as LifeProfiles, which are genetic analysis available for consumers.

"Melissa is a dynamic leader who brings proficiency in transformative technology development and commercialization as well as experience managing complex R&D programs," said Robin Y. Smith, CEO at ORIG3N. "We're excited to bring Melissa onboard to continue to grow our all-star team to add new passion and expertise as we move forward in reaching our mission of advancing regenerative medicine."

May has a doctorate in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical drug design from University of Illinois. May was a Presidential Fellow at the Department of Defense where she was responsible for the strategic planning and execution of research and development programs to achieve mission-critical defense objectives of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Following a successful tenure with the Department of Defense, May transitioned her experience into product development and commercialization for Lincoln Laboratory at MIT and then NetBio, a rapid DNA analysis company.

"Throughout my career I have had one dominant driver to work with people and organizations that are dedicated to improving humanity in profound ways," said Melissa May, VP of Product Strategy at ORIG3N. "I've observed that the team at ORIG3N has the passion, dedication and commitment to advance regenerative medicine, and the scientific technical capabilities are powerful. I am excited about working with this amazing team of people to transition stem cell research from the lab to the patient and to actively contribute to realizing the full potential of stem cells science."

May will be based at ORIG3N's headquarters in Boston.