About JUMPCODE

JUMPCODE Genomic's patented technology unlocks the power of Next Generation Sequencing by improving sensitivity, reducing costs, simplifying workflows and removing bias. Researchers around the world are using our CRISPRClean technology in the fields of infectious disease, oncology, consumer genomics, food science and basic research.

MEET THE TEAM

Yaron Hakak, PhD

CEO

Yaron Hakak, PhD

Yaron Hakak has been the Chief Executive Officer of JUMPCODE Genomics since 2020, with 20 prior years of experience in the biotech industry. Most recently, he served as Director of Business Development at Illumina, where he oversaw support for the company’s next-generation sequencing platforms and applications as well as commercial partnerships for research and applied markets. Prior to Illumina, Yaron was Director of Business Development at Affymetrix, where he supported corporate activities related to its genomics and proteomic product portfolios. Yaron also held management positions of increasing responsibilities at Arena Pharmaceuticals, where he managed the company’s genomics activities for target identification and led a discovery biology program to address chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression. Yaron earned his Ph.D. for studies in molecular biology from UC Berkeley and a B.S. from UC San Diego in biophysics.

Bio

Keith Brown

Founder & CTO

Keith Brown

Keith Brown is the Founder and current Chief Technology Officer at JUMPCODE Genomics. Previously, Keith served as CEO of the BGI Americas Corporation after their acquisition of Complete Genomics Inc, which was the first company to offer whole human genome sequencing services on a proprietary sequencing platform. At Complete Genomics Inc. Keith held the position of Vice President of Sales. Prior to joining Complete Genomics Inc., Keith was the National Sales Director at RainDance Technologies, where he led the commercialization strategy for a novel micro-droplet PCR system, with applications in the burgeoning Next-Generation Sequencing Industry. Prior to RainDance, Keith held sales and market development positions at Affymetrix, Inc. as well as numerous positions at Li-Cor Biosciences. Keith started his career as a molecular biologist at Chemicon International (acquired by Serologicals), contributing to the launch of PCR-based assays for infectious disease and genetic disorders. Keith has four issued and eight patents pending in the field of nucleic acid analysis.

Bio

Stanley Nelson

Acting Chief Scientist

Stanley Nelson

Stanley F. Nelson, MD is a physician scientist specializing in the development and application of genomic tools to facilitate gene discovery and molecular diagnostics for rare diseases, with a special interest in muscular dystrophy. He graduated from University of Michigan with a BS in Physics in 1982 and Duke University School of Medicine in 1987, and subsequently trained in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at UCSF. He completed postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in genomics. He is Professor of Human Genetics, Pediatrics, Neurology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA where he has been faculty since 1993. He established the first genomics core at UCLA in 1996. He is Founder in 2007 and Co-Director of the Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is a multi-investigator program encompassing graduate and undergraduate education, basic and translational research, clinical care, and clinical trials for Duchenne at UCLA.He is the founder in 2011 and Co-Director of the Clinical Genomics Center, which develops and implements clinical genomic testing and established clinical exome sequencing at UCLA. He is leader since 2014 of the Clinical Site of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network at UCLA which performs discovery of new rare diseases and implementing improvements in transcriptome analysis to augment whole genome sequencing. His laboratory has published over 300 primary research manuscripts including new genomic approaches to study human diseases.

Bio

Decky Goodrich

Vice President

Decky Goodrich

Decky Goodrich is the Vice President of Commercial Operations at JUMPCODE Genomics. As a business startup specialist, Decky has an extensive professional background in growing profitable organizations and teams. Most recently, Decky served as CEO for Hygeia Medical, a women's health company. Acquiring through insolvency, Decky grew the company to profitability in less than three years and expanded the company to encompass insurance contracting and billing. He sold Hygeia Medical before transitioning to JUMPCODE Genomics. Decky has previously held positions with Stephen Gould Corporation, Stryker and Novartis.

Bio

Azeem Siddique, Ph.D.

Director of R & D

Azeem Siddique, Ph.D.

Azeem Siddique is the Director of Research and Development at JUMPCODE Genomics. Prior to JUMPCODE Genomics, Azeem was a staff scientist at the University of California San Diego and a lecturer on Molecular Biology of Photosynthetic Organisms. His postdoctoral work at Oxford University focused on transposable elements in human genomes. Azeem received his PhD in Microbiology from Columbia University in New York City.

Bio

Karen Possemato

Marketing Strategy

Karen Possemato

Karen Possemato has spent over 25 years in life sciences at industry-leading, high growth companies such as Illumina, Qiagen and Invitrogen (now Thermo Fisher), building from early-stage success and profitability to growth at scale. Karen has served in global leadership roles in technical support, product management, technical communications, marketing and communications. She was most recently Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications for Illumina Inc., the market leader in DNA sequencing. In her role, Karen oversaw a broad set of global functions during a 16 year period of rapid growth for the company.

Bio

Gaia Suckow, PhD

Senior Scientist

Gaia Suckow

Gaia works as a Research Assistant at The Scripps Research Institute. As a dedicated biologist, she holds an extensive background in molecular biology, microbiology, and Next Generation Sequencing techniques. Prior to her current position, she worked as a Laboratory Technician for Microbe Investigations Switzerland, as well as a Research Associate and Teaching Assistant for Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. Gaia has also held roles as a Physics and Chemistry Teacher at Technical School BFS and as a Trainee Biology Teacher for High School Baden. Gaia holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MSc in Microbiology and Immunology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich as well as a Teaching Certificate for Secondary Education in Biology from the University of Zurich.

Bio

Dhanya Ramachandran, PhD

Senior Scientist

Dhanya Ramachandran, PhD

Dhanya is an experienced researcher in the field of human genetics and molecular biology. Her research skills focus on molecular biology, microbiology, and bioinformatics and her current research is focused on applying CRISPR-based genome editing techniques to better understand the genetic architecture of genome. She currently works as a Research Assistant for the Center for Protein and Nucleic Acid at Scripps Research. Prior to this role, Dhanya was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University as well as a PhD Research Fellow in Biotechnology and Applied Sciences at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Kerala, India. Dhanya holds an MS in Biotechnology from Mahatma Gandhi University as well as a PhD in Biotechnology and Applied Sciences from Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology.

Bio

Diana De La Toba

Research Assistant

Diana De La Toba

Prior to Jumpcode, my undergraduate research work focused on using CRISPR-based methods to develop tools for the endogenous regeneration of retinas from human pluripotent stem cells. In 2020, I obtained my B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

Bio

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Gene Yeo

Shawn Levy

Nick Schork

Andrew Su

Kirk Malloy

Gary Schroth

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Keith Brown

Founder and CTO

Keith Brown

Founder and CTO of iGenomX

Mr. Brown has been with the company since operations began in January of 2014. A co-founder of the company, Mr. Brown currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Mr. Brown served as Vice President of Sales for Complete Genomics Inc., a DNA sequencing company located in Silicon Valley. Complete genomics is the first company to offer whole human genome sequencing services on a proprietary sequencing platform. After the acquisition of Complete Genomics by BGI, Mr. Brown became CEO of the BGI Americas Corporation. Prior to joining Complete in 2011, Mr. Brown was the National Sales Director at RainDance Technologies, a small start-up founded by serial entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg. At RainDance, Mr. Brown led the commercialization strategy for a novel micro-droplet PCR system, with applications in the burgeoning Next-Generation Sequencing Industry. Mr. Brown held that position at RainDance from 2007 through his departure in 2011 to join Complete Genomics. Prior to RainDance, Mr. Brown held sales and market development positions at Affymetrix, Inc., the leading supplier of DNA microarrays. Mr. Brown has held numerous positions at Li-Cor Biosciences, a manufacturer of automated DNA sequencing instrumentation, and at Chemicon International (acquired by Serologicals). Mr. Brown started his career as a molecular biologist at Chemicon International supporting the launch of PCR based assays for infectious disease and genetic disorders. Mr. Brown has four issued and eight patents pending in the field of nucleic acid analysis.

About

Yaron Hakak, PhD

CEO

Yaron Hakak, PhD

Yaron Hakak is the Chief Executive Officer of JumpCode Genomics since 2020, bringing 20 years of experience in the biotech industry. Most recently, he served as Director of Business Development at Illumina where he oversaw support for the company’s next-generation sequencing platforms and applications as well as commercial partnerships for research and applied markets. Prior to Illumina, Yaron was Director of Business Development at Affymetrix where he supported corporate activities related to its genomics and proteomic product portfolios. Yaron also held management positions of increasing responsibilities at Arena Pharmaceuticals where he managed the company’s genomics activities for target identification and led a discovery biology program to address chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression. Yaron earned his Ph.D. for studies in molecular biology from UC Berkeley and a B.S. from UC San Diego in biophysics.

About

Kirk D. Malloy, Ph.D.

Dr. Malloy has held management and executive leadership positions in rapidly growing life science and diagnostics companies for over 20 years. He founded BioAdvisors in April 2016 which provides strategic consulting services to life science, diagnostics and genomics companies. He also currently serves as Lead Independent Director for Organovo (ONVO); corporate director for Nanostring Technologies (NSTG); Executive Chairman for Agilome; and as a member of the board of directors for Edico Genome, iGenomX and JumpCode Genomics.

For the previous 13 years, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Life Sciences and Applied Markets at Illumina, a leading developer and supplier of genetic analysis instrumentation, assays and software for the life science and diagnostics markets. In this role he ran the company's largest business unit with a P&L of over $1B and was responsible for the company's core platform technologies. His business unit served the life sciences and applied markets (Agrigenomics, Micriobiology, Transplant Biology, Forensics, Complex Diseases and Healthy Clinical Genomes). He joined Illumina in 2002 and previously managed a team of 450 in 50 countries as Vice President of Global Customer Solutions and Vice President of Quality, building and leading the commercial support and training organization and a professional service business generating more than $150M in annual revenues.

Dr. Malloy earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware and held post-doctoral and instructor positions at Boston University and Northeastern University. He completed a certification for Corporate Directors at UCLA's Anderson School in 2012. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Pacific Ridge School, and is on the Dean's Advisory Board for the University of Delaware. He has 12 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, dozens of invited and contributed scientific presentations and has been a reviewer for various scientific journals.

About

Eugene Chen

Mr. Chen is a Managing Director at CWC Healthtech Partners, a leading investor in iGenomX. Eugene partnered with CWC HealthTech Advisors in January 2013 following two decades as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist focused on healthcare. Eugene is a founding principal of Medenovo, LLC, an investment firm focused on medical devices. He is co-founder and CEO of SPIWay, LLC, a neuro-endoscopy company, and co-founder and CEO of FRESCA Medical, a company developing a consumer friendly device for the treatment of sleep apnea. Previously, Eugene was founder/CEO of USGI Medical, a minimally-invasive-obesity-surgery company; a Venture Partner and entrepreneur-in-residence with Alta Partners, a venture capital firm located in California's Silicon Valley; General Manager/Sr. VP at Applied Medical Resources Corporation; and Founder/CEO of BioFlex/Kinesys Inc., a knee orthotics company. Eugene also serves as manager of TEKE, LLC, a medical device incubator; a board member of Microfabrica Inc.; and a member of the board of trustees of the Pacific Ridge School. Eugene holds an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. He and his wife, Katie, live in Carlsbad with their two sons, with whom Eugene enjoys spending quality family time "fighting" at the local Tae Kwan Do studio.

About

Joel Rotroff

Before joining the board of iGenomX, Joel spent four years as an investment professional at Baird Venture Partners where he focused on venture and growth equity investments in life sciences tools & diagnostics, medical devices and healthcare services. During his time at Baird, Joel was involved in the investment in, and was an invitee of the Board of Accuri Cytometers (acquired by Becton Dickenson). He also was actively involved with the firm's investments in Incept (acquired by Hologic) and Palyon Medical, as well as the fund's successful raising of its third fund. Prior to Baird Venture Partners, Joel was an investment banking analyst in Piper Jaffray's healthcare group where he was a member of deal teams that completed buy-side & sell-side transactions, primary offerings, secondary offerings and private raises. Before Piper Jaffray, Joel was an analyst in the Business Planning Group at Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) where he evaluated internal research and development projects and acquisition integration. Joel also previously worked as a summer associate at Norwest Equity Partners (NEP) where he was involved in NEP's investment in the Momentum group and worked with Surgical Investment Systems, a portfolio company of NEP. Joel holds a BS with honors and distinction in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, a Master of Engineering Management from Duke University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

About

Kevin Li, Ph.D.

Dr. Kevin Li is a Managing Partner at LYZZ Capital, a healthcare-focused venture capital/PE fund investing globally in leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Kevin has been an active biotech investor in the US and China for over fifteen years. Prior to co-founding LYZZ, he was a partner at DT Capital and HBM BioMed China. Earlier in his career, Kevin was involved in the building and management of several successful biotech companies, including GenoSpectra, Fountain Medical Development, Amazin Biotech. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in biology from Indiana University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Li has been an investor and board member of a number of successful biomedical companies in China and the US, such as Nuokang Biopharma, Cathay Industrial Biotech, Xili Pharma, Wuhan Hiteck Biopharma, Chipscreen, Alpha Biopharma, Neurelis, Qpex, iGenomX and JUMPCODE, etc.

About

IN MEMORIAM

Daniel Salomon, M.D.

Founder

Daniel Salomon, M.D.

Dr. Salomon will be fondly remembered for his wisdom and brilliance, which continue to guide our greater understanding of life.

Doctor Salomon was a Professor at The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine and Program Medical Director, Scripps Center for Organ Transplantation. He was the past-President of the American Society of Transplantation. Dr. Salomon has published 124 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 43 chapters and numerous reviews and has edited 3 books. He has served on numerous national and international committees, including Executive Board member, Program Committee Chair, Cell Transplantation Committee Chair and Xenotransplantation Committee Chair for American Society of Transplantation; Chair, National Institutes of Health Islet Cell Resources Steering Committee; Chair, NIH Genomics of Transplantation Cooperative Research Program Steering Committee; Founding Member, US Secretary of Health’s Xenotransplantation Advisory Committee; and Chair, FDA Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee. He has served on multiple NIH Study Sections and Special Emphasis Panels and is presently a standing member of AITC. Dr. Salomon’s laboratory work was focused on various aspects of organ and cell transplantation and immunology with a primary focus on functional genomics, proteomics and genetics. His research objectives included discovering biomarkers for the diagnosis of acute and chronic rejection that will enable personalized management of immunosuppression; discovering prognostic markers for transplant outcomes using genetics, transcriptional profiling and proteomics; and understanding the multi-dimensionality of transcriptional regulation. These studies include microRNA regulation, alternative splicing and RNA binding proteins and the dynamic impact of epigenetic changes, both methylation and histone marking, on lymphocyte activation and differentiation into memory. He received his BS from Northwestern University and MD from Stritch-Loyola School of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Salomon trained at Cedars-Sinai/UCLA for internal medicine and did his postdoctoral work in transplantation and immunology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Salomon was a Founder and Director of Transplant Genomics Inc.

Bio