Ann Arbor-based Velcura Therapeutics Inc. Tuesday named Daniel Chagnovich as senior scientist in bioinformatics. Chagnovich most recently worked at Pfizer's global research and development center in Ann Arbor as a scientist in the molecular technologies group, where he spent two years in bioinformatics support for cardiovascular and proteomic research. He has extensive experience evaluating the human genome using bioinformatics tools, and has identified novel genes — one of which is in the patent application portfolio at Pfizer. Additionally, he developed bioinformatics tools to accelerate drug discovery that were used globally at Pfizer. Chagnovich earned his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of California, Riverside. He completed his Ph.D. in 1996 at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.