Jim Christian, MD
Pathologist, Companion Diagnostics, Agilent Technologies
Jim Christian, MD
Pathologist, Companion Diagnostics, Agilent Technologies
Jim Christian, MD is a Staff Pathologist within the Companion Diagnostics Division of Agilent Technologies, involved in multiple projects focusing on the development of biomarker assays for specific oncologic indications and their corresponding therapeutic products. Dr. Christian graduated from Wake Forest University and obtained an MS in Anatomy and medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Jim completed Pathology residency training at Wake Forest University Medical Center and is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Dr. Christian also completed a Urologic Pathology Fellowship at Bostwick Laboratories in Richmond, Virginia and a Surgical Pathology Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. Prior to joining Agilent Technologies, Dr. Christian practiced pathology in multiple hospital and laboratory settings, including performing oncologic diagnosis and diagnostic histopathology as well as medical directorship responsibilities for multiple divisions of the laboratory (microbiology, hematology, clinical chemistry, and transfusion medicine). Jim is also a member of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
Jeff Conroy, BSc
Head of Science, OmniSeq
Jeff Conroy, BSc
Head of Science, OmniSeq
Jeff Conroy serves as Head of Science for Omniseq. In this role, he oversees the scientific functions of Omniseq, including Research and Development (R&D), Bioinformatics, and Information Technology. He leads business development activities with key industry and pharmaceutical partners, and oversees the development and implementation of advanced diagnostic tests from target design through analytical validation.
Prior to joining OmniSeq, Conroy spent three years as Director of Genomic Technologies in the Center for Personalized Medicine at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. While at Roswell, he also served 15 years as Co-Director of the Genomics Shared Resource, overseeing its expansion to more than 50 genomics-based service offerings and a user base of 200+ investigators per year. During his clinical and basic research career, Conroy has authored or co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts with a focus on genomics and molecular pathology.
Robert Cook, PhD
Senior Vice President, Research & Development, Castle Biosciences
Robert Cook, PhD
Senior Vice President, Research & Development, Castle Biosciences
Dr. Robert Cook has as Senior Vice President, Research & Development, at Castle Biosciences since September 2020, previously serving as the Company’s Vice President, Research & Development, from July 2019 to August 2020, and as Vice President, Medical Affairs and R&D, from April 2018 to July 2019. Dr. Cook served as Executive Director, R&D, from June 2015 to April 2018, and Manager of Scientific Relations from February 2011 to June 2015.
Dr. Cook joined Castle Biosciences following a postdoctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine where he focused on the genetic regulation of rare ovarian granulosa cell tumors. In his current position, Dr. Cook oversees research and development at Castle. He previously completed his doctoral work in biochemistry, molecular biology and cellular biology at Northwestern University, with a focus on the structural characteristics of protein hormones important for regulating the reproductive system.
Prior to pursuing his doctoral degree, Dr. Cook spent five years at Gen-Probe Inc., using the company’s proprietary nucleic acid amplification technology to design diagnostic assays for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. He received a B.S. degree in molecular biology from Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Cook is an author of many medical and scientific publications and a co-inventor of several of Castle Biosciences’ technologies.
Matthew Goldberg, MD
Medical Director , Castle Biosciences; Assistant Clinical Professor, Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York City; Board-Certified Dermatologist and Dermatopathologist
Matthew Goldberg, MD
Medical Director , Castle Biosciences; Assistant Clinical Professor, Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York City; Board-Certified Dermatologist and Dermatopathologist
Dr. Matthew Goldberg has served as Castle Biosciences’ Medical Director since August 2020. Prior to joining Castle, Dr. Goldberg was an Assistant Professor in Dermatology and Pathology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and retains his affiliation as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology. Before joining the Mount Sinai Dermatology faculty, he directed Dermatopathology education for the MedStar Georgetown/Washington Hospital Center dermatology residency program. Dr. Goldberg has a background in translational melanoma research and received the Dermatology Foundation Dermatopathology Research Career Development Award for his research in the field of melanoma epigenetics.
Dr. Goldberg graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he graduated with distinction in research. Dr. Goldberg completed his dermatology residency at the University of California, San Francisco, and completed a dermatopathology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern. Dr. Goldberg is board certified in dermatology and dermatopathology.
Justin Guinney, PhD
Senior Vice President, Cancer Genomics, Tempus
Justin Guinney, PhD
Senior Vice President, Cancer Genomics, Tempus
Dr. Justin Guinney is the Senior Vice President of Cancer Genomics at Tempus, where he leads cancer research and precision oncology programs. Prior to Tempus, Dr. Guinney was the Vice President of Computational Oncology at Sage Bionetworks where his lab focused on the development of predictive and mechanistic models of cancer. His lab also supported data coordination for large cancer consortia including the NCI Cancer Systems Biology Consortium, the NCI Human Tumor Atlas Network, and AACR Project GENIE. Dr. Guinney retains positions as an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington, and Director of the DREAM Challenges. In this latter role, Dr Guinney organized data challenges for benchmarking methods in biomedicine and bioinformatics. Dr Guinney received a BA in history & pre-medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a PhD in computational biology and bioinformatics from Duke University.
Antreas Hindoyan, PhD
Principal Scientist, Oncology Clinical Biomarker Group Lead, Amgen
Antreas Hindoyan, PhD
Principal Scientist, Oncology Clinical Biomarker Group Lead, Amgen
Dr Antreas Hindoyan is a Senior Principal Scientist within the Clinical Biomarkers and Diagnostics department at Amgen, where he leads biomarker strategy development and execution in clinical stage oncology programs. Dr. Hindoyan currently serves as the global biomarker lead for LUMAKRAS, as well as manages a team of biomarker scientists supporting multiple solid tumor and hematological oncology pipeline assets. Prior to Amgen, Dr Hindoyan was a scientist at Molecular Response LLC where he focused on the development of functional high-content clinical assays for precision medicine applications in solid tumor indications. Dr Hindoyan received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Molecular and Medical Pharmacology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Taylor Jensen, PhD
Vice President, Head of Oncology Science, Labcorp
Taylor Jensen, PhD
Vice President, Head of Oncology Science, Labcorp
Dr. Jensen’s role as Head of Oncology Science focuses on biomarkers, precision medicine assays, and product strategy in oncology. After studying in the field of cancer epigenetics, Dr. Jensen joined Sequenom in 2009 and was part of the team that developed and launched the first commercially available noninvasive prenatal test based on circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the U.S. Subsequently, he has been involved in numerous assay development efforts focused on the identification and detection of genomic and epigenetic changes in cfDNA for use in prenatal and cancer diagnostics.
Since the acquisition of Sequenom by Labcorp in 2016, his work has been primarily focused on the development of novel technologies and assays, primarily using cfDNA, with the overarching goal of utilizing these technologies to improve human health. He is a member of multiple professional societies including the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, has contributed to three patents, and has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Arizona Cancer Center.
Jay Patel, MD, MBA
Associate Professor, Pathology, University of Utah; Executive Director, Clinical Trials & PharmaDx, ARUP Laboratories
Jay Patel, MD, MBA,
Associate Professor, Pathology, University of Utah; Executive Director, Clinical Trials & PharmaDx, ARUP Laboratories
Dr. Patel is an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine and Executive Director of Clinical Trials and PharmaDx at ARUP Laboratories. He received his MD from the University of Arizona and completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Utah. Dr. Patel then served as a hematopathology fellow at Stanford University. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and clinical pathology, with subspecialty boards in hematology, and is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists. Dr. Patel’s clinical interests include application of molecular diagnostics in the diagnosis and management of patients with hematologic malignancies and benign hematologic disorders.
Omar Perez, PhD, RAC
Head, Medical Diagnostic Strategy, US Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca
Omar Perez, PhD, RAC
Head, Medical Diagnostic Strategy, US Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca
Omar Perez is the Head of Medical Diagnostics, US Medical Affairs Oncology at Astrazeneca. Dr. Perez has over 17 years designing, deploying, and leading high-visibility oncology initiatives supporting global companion diagnostic developments, strategic partnerships and commercialization opportunities.
Before joining Astrazeneca, he oversaw the global CDx developments for the GSK oncology portfolio, leading to diagnostic products for niraparib and dostarlimab. During his time at Pfizer, he led global CDx activities supporting the drug approvals of crizotinib, lorlatinib, dacomitinib talazoparib and inotuzomab. Notably, he led the first FDA approved NGS product for multiple targeted agents and helped establish the Center for Precision Medicine in LATAM to support Pfizer oncology products.
Dr. Perez’s background includes roles in biotech and diagnostic companies, including co-founding Nodality, a diagnostic company focused on hematological malignancies. He is an inventor of the multiparametric phospho-proteomic flow technologies and an author of 37 publications and 35 patents.
Dr. Perez received his doctorate in Molecular Pharmacology from Stanford University. He holds a B.A in both Molecular Biology and Philosophy and Chemistry degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He received an executive education certificate in management and leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management and has a Regulatory Affairs Certification.
Shakti Ramikissoon, MD, PhD
Vice President, Medical Lead, Oncology, LabCorp
Shakti Ramikissoon, MD, PhD
Vice President, Medical Lead, Oncology, LabCorp
Dr. Ramkissoon is board certified in anatomic pathology and neuropathology with expertise in adult and pediatric brain tumors. He obtained his M.D./Ph.D. from Rutgers — New Jersey Medical School, concentrating on cancer stem cell biology. Dr. Ramkissoon then completed an anatomic pathology residency and neuropathology fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Boston, Mass. After completing his clinical training, Dr. Ramkissoon joined the neuropathology faculty at BWH and began his post-doctoral fellowship focused on integrating preclinical data with histologic and molecular findings to inform and design clinical trials for adult and pediatric brain tumors. During his fellowship he completed a master’s in biomedical informatics within the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School.
Yasmin Hashambhoy Ramsay, PhD
Associate Director, Translational Science, Jounce Therapeutics
Yasmin Hashambhoy Ramsay, PhD
Associate Director, Translational Science, Jounce Therapeutics
Dr. Yasmin Hashambhoy-Ramsay is an Associate Director and leads the Translational Genomics group at Jounce Therapeutics, informing the company’s immune oncology biomarker strategy from early stage research through clinical development. She is one of the primary scientists working on INNATE, a Phase 1/2 clinical trial designed to demonstrate proof of concept for the company’s lead macrophage-targeting molecule. Prior to Jounce, she was a computational biologist at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, working on mechanistic and pharmacokinetic computational models of oncology drug targets. Dr Hashambhoy-Ramsay received a BSc in Mathematics and Engineering at Queen’s University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Mikael Rinne, MD, PhD
Vice President, Clinical Development, Blueprint Medicines
Mikael Rinne, MD, PhD
Vice President, Clinical Development, Blueprint Medicines
Dr. Rinne is a global drug development leader who oversees multiple precision oncology and hematology clinical programs at Blueprint Medicines. Prior to joining the company, he was a Senior Clinical Program Leader in Translational Clinical Oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. He received his M.D., Ph.D. from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed residency training in Neurology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital where he was chief resident. He went on to complete a fellowship in Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts General Hospital before completing a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr. Rinne joined the faculty of the Harvard Medical School in 2011 with an appointment in the Department of Neurology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in the Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he continues to see patients with brain tumors and neurologic complications of cancer.
Mark Sausen, PhD
Vice President, Technology Innovation, Personal Genome Diagnostics
Mark Sausen, PhD
Vice President, Technology Innovation, Personal Genome Diagnostics
Dr. Sausen has driven the planning, development and execution of projects in genetics and genomics for life sciences companies and academic research centers over the past fifteen years. Previously, as Vice President, Research and Development at PGDx, he led the development of our NGS-based in vitro diagnostic platforms, achieving proof of concept for plasma-based detection capabilities which contributed to an FDA breakthrough device designation. Dr. Sausen was most recently Scientific Director, Clinical Genetics and Genomics, at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, he co-led platform development and partnered strategies for liquid biopsy clinical development opportunities and guided exploratory genomics applications with respect to solid tumor disease biology, pharmacodynamics, and patient segmentation. He has also contributed to research at the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, and the Human Performance Laboratory. Dr. Sausen holds a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has received numerous awards and research grants for his work in genomics and diagnostics.
Kenna Shaw, PhD
Executive Director, Khalifa Institute, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Kenna Shaw, PhD
Executive Director, Khalifa Institute, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. Shaw is Executive Director of the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (Khalifa Institute). She joined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2013, bringing an extensive background in science leadership and education. Prior to joining MD Anderson, Dr. Shaw spent four years with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a flagship project of the National Cancer Institute focused on accelerating understanding of the molecular basis of cancer. Dr. Shaw earned undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Biology at the College of William and Mary, and completed her doctoral degree in cell and developmental biology at Harvard University.
Tsewang Tashi, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology & Hematologic Malignancies, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
Tsewang Tashi, MD
Assistant Professor, Hematology & Hematologic Malignancies, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
Dr. Tsewang Tashi is an assistant professor in hematology and hematological malignancies at Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah. He obtained his medical degree from Chang Gung University in Taiwan, residency from Creighton University in Omaha, NE and hematology/oncology fellowship from University of Utah. His past work includes secondary erythrocytosis, hypoxia and high-altitude genetic adaptation. He is currently part of the myeloid disease group focusing on myeloproliferative neoplasms, and he established and currently heads the Mastocytosis Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Timothy Taxter, MD
Senior Medical Director, Tempus Labs
Timothy Taxter, MD
Senior Medical Director, Tempus Labs
Dr. Timothy Taxter is a Senior Medical Director of Algorithmic Diagnostics at Tempus where he leads the development and commercialization of diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers in oncology. Additionally, Dr Taxter supports validation and regulatory efforts of companion diagnostic tests through pharma and biotech partnerships. Dr Taxter attended Fellowship in Development Therapeutics and residency in Clinical Pathology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was a Dixon Translational Research Young investigator with a focus on non-invasive prostate cancer diagnostics. Dr. Taxter attended Internal Medicine internship at University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr Taxter received his B.S. in Biology and M.D. from the University of Florida. Dr Taxter received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and was a Zell fellow.
Mark Verardo, PhD
Senior Scientific Program Manager, Companion Diagnostics, Agilent Technologies, Inc
Mark Verardo, PhD
Senior Scientific Program Manager, Companion Diagnostics, Agilent Technologies, Inc
Dr. Verardo has 14 years of experience in both pharmaceutical and medical device companies developing biomarker assays for research through clinical stage programs, including multiplex assays. In his current role at Agilent Technologies he is part of Companion Diagnostics with a focus on strategic and technical alignment of diagnostic and therapeutic programs. He earned his Ph.D. from UCLA and received post-doctoral training from UCSB.
John T. Vetto, MD, FACS, FASA
Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology; Professor of Dermatology, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
John T. Vetto, MD, FACS, FASA
Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology; Professor of Dermatology, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Dr. John Vetto is a soft tissue Surgical Oncologist specializing in melanoma, high risk skin cancer, breast cancer, and sarcomas. He founded the OHSU multidisciplinary breast cancer and clinical melanoma program and is a member of the OHSU multidisciplinary sarcoma team. Dr. Vetto has published extensively on these topics and performed clinical and basic research in cancer areas. He enjoys studying and learning about advances in cancer care so that he can relate that information to colleagues and patients with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes and relieving suffering from cancer.
Outside of work Dr. Vetto enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, travel, visiting with his and his wife’s family in Spain and Italy, working out, and watching old movies.