Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation announced the appointment of Abraham Scaria, Ph.D., as Chief Science Officer. Dr. Scaria has more than 25 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, with deep knowledge in discovery research, preclinical studies and phase 1/2 clinical trials, with a focus on gene therapies to treat rare diseases. Most recently, Dr. Scaria was the Senior Vice President and Chief Science Officer at IVERIC Bio, where he was responsible for preclinical research and development for retinal disease therapies. Before his tenure at IVERIC Bio, Dr. Scaria served as Vice President and Head of Ophthalmology at Casebia Therapeutics, where he built out the ophthalmology research and development group from the ground-up. Prior to Casebia, Dr. Scaria served as the Head of Gene Therapy Research at Sanofi Genzyme, where he was responsible for all aspects of gene therapy research, including AAV vector mediated gene delivery optimization. Previously, he was the Senior Scientific Director for Gene Therapy and Ophthalmology Research at Genzyme Corporation.