UGenome Team

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Zachary S. Brooks

Co-founder & CEO

Zachary S. brooks, PhD, EMBA | 5 startups, series a raise

UGenome represents Zachary’s fifth technology startup. He bring to UGenome valuable fundraising, operational, product development, and marketing experience working in financial services (E*Trade), digital authentication services (VeriSign), laser-based approach to detecting pathogens (Botanisol Analytics), and now providing personalized reference genomes to groups using CRISPR to submit their Investigational New Drug Applications (IND) to the FDA.

In his previous role, Zachary helped lead the transition from Botanisol being primarily an R&D company — developing relationships with governmental agencies, academic institutions, and private companies and writing grant proposals for DOD, NSF, NIH, DARPA, IARPA – to being a product- and customer-first company. While completing his PhD graduating from both the Colleges of Science and Humanities at the University of Arizona, he served the four-term Graduate Student Body President raising $500,000 to launch graduate-student incubator and accelerator programs with the campus commercialization office (Tech Launch Arizona). Dr. Brooks is a #1 best selling Amazon author (“Discovering Your Human Algorithm”), President of World Transplant Athletes, Flinn-Brown Fellow (2017), founder of World Transplant Athletes, and 2021 Comeback-Giveback Awardee of the Chris Klug Foundation.

Zachary speaks English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and he is developing high-level competence in French and Russian which he uses to develop customers in all continents. He continues to publish and lecture on “Bilingual Decision Making” combining decision sciences, psychology, and applied linguistics.

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Suraj Sakaram

Director of Computational Biology

Suraj Sakaram, M.S. | data science & computational biology

Suraj Sakaram is a data scientist who is passionate about leveraging big data and computation to tackle complex challenges in medicine and healthcare. He leads the Computational Biology group at UGenome, where he and his team focus on developing the bioinformatics and computational biology services that enable UGenome to deliver innovative, impactful, and customized solutions. Prior to UGenome, Suraj was a computational biologist at Inflammatix, a Bay Area based medical diagnostics startup, where he spearheaded the company’s first biomarker discovery project to identify and validate an anti-TNFa treatment response gene signature; he co-authored and secured over $250K in non-dilutive funding from an NIH Phase 1 SBIR grant. Suraj has over 7 years of experience in genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology, having worked in academia and industry. Suraj earned his M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Wright State University in Dayton, OH where his thesis work focused on investigating novel p63 biology by developing an optimal pipeline for small RNA-Seq analysis.

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jayden leE

Clinical Pharmacogenomics Director

Jayden Lee, PharmD, BCACP, emba | clinical pharmacist

Jayden received his PharmD degree from the University of Connecticut in 2011. He then completed a specialty pharmacy residency focusing on primary care pharmacy practice at Burgdorf Health Center in Hartford, CT. For his residency project, he focused on interprofessional practice and layered learning, collaborating with the chief medical resident and his team. After the residency, he worked as the clinic supervisor at Backus Medication Management Clinic in Norwich, CT, where he created and implemented medication therapy management and direct oral anticoagulant management services. Jayden then joined the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee, GA, as an assistant professor in the pharmacy practice department. During this time, he provided medication management services at Northeast Georgia Physicians Group in Braselton, GA. As a faculty member, he conducted original survey studies, retrospective observational studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, which led to peer-reviewed publications. In his previous position as an ambulatory clinical pharmacist at Banner Health, he participated in the value-based care transformation, working with providers and patients to improve Star Rating measures, statin gap closures, and adherence rates for triple-weighted drugs.

 

Following his passion for medication optimization, Jayden has taken the role of Clinical Pharmacogenomics Director at UGenome to focus on pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine to provide medication optimization for patients.

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peter bannister

Director of Health Informatics

Peter bannister, PhD & emba | engineer & biomedical expert

Peter has helped build multiple high-growth biomedical businesses, commercializing innovative products for surgery, diagnostics and digital treatment pathways in multiple international markets and leading R&D, regulated product development and strategic business development.

He founded Romilly Life Sciences to help health, tech and pharma organizations implement evidence-led digital product strategy, including technologies such as artificial intelligence, supported by effective cross-sector collaboration frameworks and coaching.

 

He is also co-founder of Migration Biotherapeutics, Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation, Fellow and Chair of Healthcare at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, an Academy of Medical Sciences Future Leader in Innovation Enterprise and Research (FLIER) and works with HDRUK and NIHR to support leadership development and R&D funding programmes.

UGenome Advisory board

phillip stafford

Bioinformatics advisor (38 years experience)

Dr. Phillip stafford | professor, biostatistician & bioinformatics expert

 

Dr. Stafford is a biostatistician and bioinformatics expert.  Dr. Stafford specializes in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and the host-tumor immune environment.  With over 5000 citations across 200 publications, Dr. Stafford brings mathematics, machine learning, immunology and proteomics together to attack cancer at the earliest point of diagnosis through immunotherapy and NGS-guided chemo.  Dr. Stafford has served as director at Motorola, Amersham, GE Healthcare, TGen, Caris and Fulgent.  He has been involved in 5 spin-offs: SynBuild, Synbodies LLC, HealthTell and Calviri plus Biomining LLC.

Jeff jenkins

Business advisor (Saas, software development)

jeff Jenkins, PhD | Chief Innovation Officer, Neuro ID

Dr. Jeff Jenkins is a professor, entrepreneur, and tech innovator. He is a world expert on using human-computer input devices (e.g., the computer mouse, touchscreen, keyboard) to better understand users’ cognitive and emotional states. He has applied his expertise to a variety of settings to improve fraud detection, risk assessments, behavioral information security, and system usability. He has patented his research and has published extensively in leading business and technology journals (https://marriottschool.byu.edu/directory/details?id=26429). Jeff is the co-founder and chief innovation officer of Neuro-ID, Inc. – a university spin-off company based on his research. He has experience leading cutting-edge innovation initiatives as well as managing and contributing to productive tech teams. He also teaches university classes and mentors students in cybersecurity and tech entrepreneurship.

Robert Brown

Science advisor (gene editing & drug development)

Robert brown, PHD | principal scientist, alcon

 Dr. Robert Brown received his doctorate from the University of Arizona in Pharmaceutical Sciences. As Principal Scientist for Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Brown uses and interprets modern and traditional biochemical, molecular, and pharmacological methods to provide creative solutions for addressing mechanistic challenges in drug discovery and development.

randy stafford

Medical Advisor

Dr. randy stafford | Professor of medicine

 

Randall S. Stafford, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medicine in the Stanford University School of

Medicine where he directs the Program on Prevention Outcomes and Practices (PPOP). His

training includes an MHS in Health Administration from Johns Hopkins, a PhD in Epidemiology

from UC Berkeley, an MD from UC San Francisco with clinical training in Primary Care

Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Stafford’s interests include: a)

improving the quality of outpatient disease management care, b) facilitating improved patient-

provider communication via new information technology, c) health disparities by race, gender,

age, and social status, and d) policies to reverse global patterns of obesity and chronic disease.

He has designed and tested interventions to improve health care for atrial fibrillation, weight

management, depression/anxiety, diabetes prevention, pain management, and cardiovascular

disease risk factors.  For these project, Dr. Stafford received funding from NIH, NSF, AHRQ,

PCORI, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Associates. As a research

mentor, Professor Stafford is training the next generation of researchers capable of transforming

health care. His work as a primary care physician focuses on chronic disease, prevention, and

health behaviors. He takes to heart the advice he provides to his patients with an ongoing personal

commitment to healthy eating, frequent physical activity, adequate sleep, stress-reduction strategies, and maintaining social connections.

Manisha Narasimhan

Strategic Advisor

Manisha Narasimhan, phd | Chief Corporate Development officer

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ezra smith

Mental Health Medication Advisor

ezra smith, phd | Clinical Neuropsychologist & data scientist

Dr. Smith’s background is in the neuroscience underlying disorders like depression, anxiety, concussion, and dementia. In particular, scientific work focused on identification and development of biomarkers for improving diagnosis and individualizing treatments. He completed his PhD in neuroscience and clinical psychology at the University of Arizona, and later worked as a research scientist in the Columbia University psychiatry department before shifting his focus to direct patient care in the last few years. In addition to advising UGenome on psychiatry and neuroscience related topics, he maintains scientific collaborations with researchers at the University of Arizona, Columbia University, Mount Sinai College of Medicine, and the University of Cologne. In this regard, Dr. Smith advises the UGenome team on timely and critical issues in the psychiatry-pharmacogenomics sector.

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bryan sykes

Global Healthcare Advisor

bryan sykes MBBS, MS, MPH, MD. (in progress) – Clinical Informatics & technology translation

As a foreign émigré clinician and informaticist, Bryan is a seasoned global healthcare leader, lifestyle medicine practitioner, and entrepreneur with a focus on optimal health and motivating populations to be the best they can be in every aspect of their work and life. Bryan is also principal of a private holdings firm with a syndicated portfolio encompassing six industries. He loves building organisations that have a positive impact on the world and supporting others who are doing the same. Bryan’s main interest lies at the crossroads of combining medicine, exponential technologies, neuroscience, and entrepreneurial leadership to help solve real world problems that create greater life for all. Bryan is a passionate advocate for Global Health Care Equivalency (GHCE) which is an initiative that envisions a future of health where sickness is optional and all individuals on the planet have access to the same advanced and cost-effective nanomedical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies regardless of their condition or where they live. In his current project, Bryan is exploring the neurobiological origins of human behaviour and adaptation as a contributing author of two upcoming books, “Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine, and AI: Toward the Dream of Global Health Care Equivalency” and “Molecular Manufacturing: Emergence of the Grand Equalizer.”

 

Additionally, Bryan is an international advocate for youth and has trained with the Children’s Defence Fund’s Ella Baker Child Policy Institute which has resulted in the culmination of numerous youth advocacy service projects promoting learning, development, and healthy lifestyles for disenfranchised youth populations.

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Tom tholen

Marketing Advisor

Tom Tholen | Fractional Chief Marketing Officer. (GE Capital, Sprint, LG Electronics, T-Mobile)

Tom Tholen is currently responsible for Enterprise Creative Strategy for T-Mobile for Business. In that role, Tom oversees and manages the roster of advertising and marketing agencies responsible for building and maintaining the TfB Brand in both traditional and social media outlets. Tom has “full circle” experience in the advertising and marketing field. He’s been an award-winning copywriter and broadcast producer, garnering recognition from The Emmy Awards, The Cannes Film Festival, The Clio Awards as well as many other national and international organizations. In strategic roles, Tom has managed national advertising at Sprint, Hallmark and General Electric, where he was the Global Web Development Leader for the largest entity in the GE Capital division. Tom was co-owner and was President of a 90+ person marketing firm with accounts that included Colgate-Palmolive, Toyota Motor Sales, American Century Investments and a multitude of local, regional and national brands. He is a frequent conference speaker, an author of more than 50 business articles, and is widely known as a marketing subject matter expert in brand and product launches.