Benzinga | Jan 7, 2021 08:09AM EST

T2 Biosystems Appoints Industry Expert Aparna Ahuja, MD as Chief Medical Officer

T2 Biosystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTOO), a global leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Aparna Ahuja, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective immediately.

In her new role, Dr. Ahuja will act as the company's key medical spokesperson providing leadership and strategic direction for all medical, clinical and scientific affairs activities for T2 Biosystems.

"I am excited to be joining the T2 Biosystems leadership team at this critical time when high-quality rapid diagnostics -- especially for sepsis -- are growing in importance as we continue to face mounting global health challenges, like managing antimicrobial resistance, rising health care expenses, secondary and co-infections associated with the COVID-19 virus," said Dr. Ahuja.

Dr. Ahuja possesses extensive global experience in Laboratory Medicine and in the medical device and diagnostics industry. Most recently, she served as Worldwide Vice President, Medical Affairs at Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX), a leading global medical technology company. Prior to Becton Dickinson, Dr. Ahuja held a variety of roles in clinical practice, research and academia. She is an active member of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC), College of American Pathologists (CAP), American Society of Microbiology (ASM), European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM), and serves as President of AACC New Jersey section and Vice Chairholder of CLSI Expert Panel.

"I am confident that Aparna's extensive professional experience and passion for improving patient care through diagnostic technology will help to increase awareness and foster adoption of our technology," said John Sperzel, President and CEO at T2 Biosystems. "She has dedicated the entirety of her career to continuously improving diagnostic and testing capabilities, as well as patient outcomes, which is well-aligned with our mission and our focus on the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens."

T2 Biosystems is the Company behind the FDA-cleared T2Bacteria(r) Panel and T2Candida(r) Panel. These panels are the only FDA-cleared assays for the detection of sepsis-causing bacterial and fungal pathogens directly from whole blood in three to five hours, without the need to wait days for blood culture results. By providing quicker results, the panels enable clinicians to target therapy faster for their patients suspected of sepsis, often before the second dose of antimicrobial is administered, leading to better patient outcomes, improved antimicrobial stewardship, and reductions in length of stay in the hospital.

Last year, the Company received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test, the T2SARS-CoV-2(tm) Panel. The panel detects SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 infections, and provides results in under two hours utilizing a nasopharyngeal swab sample.