Rome Therapeutics has appointed David Proia, Menachem Fromer and Sarah Knutson to its scientific leadership team. The trio join the Fierce 15 winner as it strives to develop cancer and autoimmune drugs against targets found in noncoding regions of the genome. Massachusetts-based Rome is looking beyond the 2% of the genome that codes directly for proteins and seeking out targets in the repeating sequences that make up 60% of human DNA. The focus is underpinned by evidence that the repeating sequences play a role in how cancer cells evade the immune system as well as in infections, autoimmune disease and neurodegeneration. Rome, which broke cover with $50 million from GV, Arch Venture Partners and Partners Innovation Fund last year, has now put in place more pieces of the leadership team it will need to deliver on its vision. Proia has taken up the post of VP, oncology. Rome hired Proia away from C4 Therapeutics, where he spent more than five years and rose to the title of senior dir