Kristine Ashcraft, MBA
Medical Affairs Director, Pharmacogenomics, Invitae
Kristine Ashcraft, BS, MBA
Medical Affairs Director, Pharmacogenomics, Invitae Corporation
Kristine Ashcraft, BS, MBA is a molecular biologist by training and is the former CEO and founder of YouScript, acquired by Invitae in 2020. She has worked in pharmacogenomics since 2000 and was recently named one of the 25 leading voices in precision medicine. Kristine has authored multiple publications on the clinical and economic benefits of pharmacogenomic testing including one lauded as one of the most influential publications at an American Medical Informatics Association meeting. She has been interviewed by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NBC Nightly News and has spoken at SXSW, American Society of Human Genetics, and numerous precision medicine conferences. She is committed to catalyzing the adoption of precision medicine.
Burns C. Blaxall, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FISHR, FAPS
Executive Director, Precision Medicine, The Christ Hospital Health Network
Burns C. Blaxall, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FISHR, FAPS
Executive Director, Precision Medicine, The Christ Hospital Health Network
Burns C. Blaxall, PhD, FAHA, FACC, FAPS is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he serves as Director of Translational Science and Co-Director of the Heart Institute Research Core and Biorepository. Dr. Blaxall received his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. He has received numerous academic honors, including the Early Career Investigator Award from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Founder’s AHA Affiliate. He has extensive peer review service and chaired the Cardiomyopathy and Congestive Heart Failure NIH peer-review panel. His laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular signals associated with the onset and progression of heart failure and myocardial and renal fibrosis, with a particular emphasis on identifying novel therapeutic approaches.
Katherine Capps
Co-founder and Executive Director, GTMRx
Katherine Capps
Co-founder and Executive Director, GTMRx
As executive director, Katherine Capps provides leadership by supporting GTMRx Institute’s mission and goals. She establishes and manages relationships with stakeholders across the health care spectrum. As a GTMR Institute Founding Board member, she works alongside other board members and collaboratively sets the strategy for the growth and activities of the organization.
Katie has a long history of collaboration in multi-stakeholder environments. As Health2 Resources’ founder and president, she and her team have helped more than 35 clients meet advocacy, policy, outreach, marketing and awareness goals. H2R was instrumental in the launch of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, lending expertise for organizational development and marketing and communications.
She has served on the board of the Washington Adventist Health Foundation, the Institute for Health and Productivity Management (advisory board), the Healthcare Industry Access Initiative and Emmi Solutions. She has served on the board of the National Business Coalition on Health and its national advisory board, and on the NCQA purchaser committee. She writes on topics relating to quality, health care cost, market-based health care reform and the value of shared health information.
Julie Ceno-England, MD
Head, Medical Affairs; Interim Chief Medical Officer, OneOme
Julie Ceno-England, MD
Head, Medical Affairs; Interim Chief Medical Officer, OneOme
Dr Julie England joined OneOme in September 2018. She is a board-certified physician with over 15 years of clinical practice in Family Medicine, which has allowed her to gain valuable experience in a variety of medical issues and experience in hospital, ambulatory and urgent care settings.
Dr England received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Michigan and her M.D. from the American University of the Caribbean College of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. England leads the Medical Affairs department at OneOme and is serving as Interim Chief Medical Officer. In those roles she helps make decisions around clinical and regulatory matters. She enjoys working with providers, pharmacists and policy makers on pharmacogenomics education and implementation and is an active member of multiple organizations that promote the utilization of PGx including CPIC, GTMRx and the University of Minnesota’s Grand Challenge Initiative.
Martin Dawes, MD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, GenXys Health Care Systems
Martin Dawes, MD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, GenXys Health Care Systems
Prof. Martin Dawes, with over 30 years of experience in research and clinical practice, is a globally renowned expert in pharmacogenetics in primary care. Following his Ph.D. at the University of Oxford, he helped develop a master’s program in Evidence-Based Health Care. He has directed the UK Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford and was the head of family practice at McGill University and the University of British Columbia.
In 2014, he co-founded GenXys Health Care Systems, a Vancouver-based healthcare technology company that offers clinical decision support software. These programs instantly consider all relevant health information—including pharmacogenetics (PGx), comprehensive drug interactions, medical guidelines, and renal or hepatic function—to help physicians and pharmacists deliver the highest standard of evidence-based prescribing and medication reviews in a way that is tailored to their workflow. Since 2018, he has served as Specialist Medical Advisor for Babylon by TELUS Health, a healthcare mobile app that allows you to check symptoms, consult with doctors, and easily access your clinical records.
In addition to his clinical and entrepreneurial work, Prof. Dawes has a great passion for contributing to the healthcare community. He develops training programs that allow clinicians to engage in master’s level research. And when he is not at work, he enjoys spending time outdoors, fishing, and sailing.
Ghada Elnashar, PharmD, MS
Medical Liaison, OneOme
Ghada Elnashar, PharmD, MS
Medical Liaison, OneOme
As a Medical Science Liaison at OneOme, Dr. Ghada Elnashar educates and informs key opinion leaders, providers, and other healthcare professionals on pharmacogenomics. She leads in bringing the benefits of precision medicine so as to help improve healthcare outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Dr. Elnashar completed her residency training in Managed Care at HealthPartners clinics and health plan. She earned her M.S. in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University and her Pharm.D. from the University of Minnesota. Throughout her proliferative career, she helped patients on both the individual and population level.
Bernard Esquivel, MD, PhD, MHA
Chief Medical Officer, GenXys Health Care Systems
Bernard Esquivel, MD, PhD, MHA
Chief Medical Officer, GenXys Health Care Systems
Bernard Esquivel is a practicing physician-scientist, senior executive, and international leader with in-depth expertise developing new markets, devising compelling value propositions, go-to-market strategies, and launching programs to fulfill organizational goals and objectives in the healthcare space. Clinical Immunologist, Allergies, and Medical Genetics by training with 10+ years experience in materializing biotech and health sciences ideas and concepts into clinically actionable solutions. Bernard mobilized the local healthcare community to engage them in the practice of precision medicine by founding and presiding over the Latin American Association of Personalized Medicine (ALAMP). This organization now includes >500 members from 9 countries in Latin America, holds symposiums, provider workshops, and other educational outreach per year. Serving as Chief Medical Officer for several well-renowned global organizations, he has demonstrated his passion and advocacy for bringing precision medicine closer to patients.
Jennifer Hockings, PharmD, PhD
Pharmacogenomics Clinical Specialist at Cleveland Clinic in the Department of Pharmacy and Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare (CPGH)
Jennifer Hockings, PharmD, PhD
Pharmacogenomics Clinical Specialist at Cleveland Clinic in the Department of Pharmacy and Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare (CPGH)
Jennifer earned her PhD in cancer biology from the University of Arizona in which her research was focused on transcriptional regulation of BRCA-1. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital focused on regeneration of hematopoietic stem cells. Jennifer was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Blue Mountain College (BMC) teaching and mentoring future nurses, physicians and pharmacists. She received her PharmD from the University of Mississippi and completed a PGY1 residency at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, TN. She then completed a PGY2 in clinical pharmacogenetics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She is currently the Pharmacogenomics Clinical Specialist at Cleveland Clinic in the Department of Pharmacy and Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare (CPGH). She is focused on providing innovative patient care through clinical and research collaborations, implementation of pharmacogenomics and education.
Pashtoon Kasi, MD, MS
Director Colon Cancer Research, Weill Cornell Medicine; Precision Medicine Director for Liquid Biopsy Research, Englander Institute of Precision Medicine
Pashtoon Kasi, MD, MS
Director Colon Cancer Research, Weill Cornell Medicine; Precision Medicine Director for Liquid Biopsy Research, Englander Institute of Precision Medicine
Adrijana Kekic, PharmD
Pharmacogenomics Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Assistant Program Director (APD), Community-Based Pharmacy Residency; APD Outpatient Pharmacy Education, Mayo Clinic, Arizona (MCA)
Adrijana Kekic, PharmD
Pharmacogenomics Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Assistant Program Director (APD), Community-Based Pharmacy Residency; APD Outpatient Pharmacy Education, Mayo Clinic, Arizona (MCA)
Adrijana Kekic, Pharm D, is a Program Director of Education, Outpatient Pharmacy at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. She is active in clinical care, research and lecturing and has been involved in development of pharmacogenomics services and education. She is a licensed pharmacist in Arizona.
Dr. Kekic earned the Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Midwestern University College of Pharmacy in Glendale, Arizona. She is board certified ambulatory care pharmacist through Board Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) and a member of BPS Ambulatory Care Committee. She holds a certification in Pharmacogenomics from University of Florida College of Pharmacy and is pursuing a Genomic Medicine certification from Stanford University.
Adrijana has served as an adjunct faculty at Midwestern University College of Pharmacy and an instructor, preceptor and residency preceptor at Mayo School of Medical Science. She is involved with several pharmacogenomics research projects and studies in palliative care, transplant care, anesthesia and cardiology. She sits on Pharmacogenomics Task Force at Mayo Clinic.
With two decades of clinical experience and expertise in medication therapy management , Adrijana continues to advance pharmacy practice and pharmacy leadership. She is a founder of a networking platform dedicated to high impact professional women in healthcare. She lives in Arizona with her husband and son, where they enjoy hiking. Besides pharmacogenomics, her interest include languages, history, visual arts, martial arts and healthy living.
Howard McLeod, PharmD, FASCO, FCCP
Medical Director, Geriatric Oncology Consortium and Professor, University of South Florida