Spark Therapeutics announced that it has named Rogerio Vivaldi, M.D., MBA, formerly the senior vice president and head of rare diseases at Genzyme, as its first independent board member effective April 1, 2014. Rogerio joins the company as it prepares to complete clinical development of its Phase 3 program to address inherited retinal dystrophies caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene, which has the potential to be the first approved gene therapy in the U.S. Dr. Rogerio Vivaldi is CEO and president of Minerva Neurosciences Inc.