GENNARO D’URSO, PHD
Founder, CEO and Chairman
A proven visionary, accomplished scientist, and successful entrepreneur, Dr. Gennaro D’Urso founded Genetic Networks and led the development of the company's proprietary GeneScape platform commercializing the concepts of modular biology, yeast genetics and Cellular Intelligence. He established a team of remarkable scientists, engineers, and leaders in industry, led the early-stage fund raising, and quickly secured multi-year contracts with major pharma to ensure a thriving and cash-flow positive business. A leading expert in yeast genetics and molecular biology, trained at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London. As a professor of pharmacology at the University of Miami, Gennaro led a successful lab, and is widely recognized as a leader in the application of biological networks to advance and accelerate the discovery of new disease treatments.
LELAND HARTWELL, PHD
Co-Founder
Dr. Hartwell is the recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Working in yeast, he discovered the genes that control cell division; genes that turned out to be the universal machinery for cell growth in organisms from fungi to frogs to humans. From 1997 to 2010 Dr. Hartwell served as President and Director of the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He advised the National Cancer Institute in the creation of the NCI CPTAC proteomics program, and is currently the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Personalized Medicine at the Center for Sustainable Health, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University. Dr. Hartwell was the recipient of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Award in cancer research, and the Genetics Society Medal of Honor. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
COREY NISLOW, PHD
Co-Founder
Corey is a cell biologist and geneticist who has worked in the fields of drug discovery and biotechnology. He is the Founder and Director of the Sequencing Center at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. His research program has developed and deployed an array of chemical genomic tools for systems biology. Activities include developing protocols for performing genome wide screens on the International Space Station and an innovative project to bring pharmacogenomics to community pharmacies
DAVID WILEY, PHD
Co-Founder
David Wiley is co-inventor of yeast augmented network analysis (YANA), the precursor to Y-Tech. He brings to Genetic Networks over twenty years of experience in the application of yeast genetics to the study of genetic and infectious diseases. His studies in infectious diseases are highlighted by his approach of using host perturbation to combat pathogens. Under this approach, David has applied yeast as a model system to study the functional roles of effector proteins from pathogens, including Yersinia pestis. This approach is built upon his previous work in using yeast to study the core biological processes for the establishment of cell polarity and its coordination with the cell cycle. David earned his PhD from the University of Miami in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In addition to his scientific pursuits, David has extensive experience in project management, business development and finance as an entrepreneur.
JAMES HEYWOOD
Co-Founder
An MIT-trained mechanical engineer, Jamie entered the field of translational medicine when his 29-year-old brother was diagnosed with ALS. Jamie is the Chairman & Co-Founder of PatientsLikeMe where he serves as chief scientist and architect. Described by CNNMoney as one of the 15 companies that will change the world, PatientsLikeMe’s mission is to ensure patient outcomes directly drive medical care and the discovery process. Jamie founded the of ALS Therapy Development Institute, the world’s first non-profit biotechnology company. He is the Chairman & Co-Founder of AOBiome and a Co-Founder of LoveSteve and is involved broadly as an innovation leader in transforming discover, development and the delivery of healthcare.
Team
RAYMOND TERRYN, PHD
Data Architect
Dr. Raymond Terryn’s patent producing Ph.D. work in Computational Chemistry provided him with a strong background in structuring data for drug development. Since 2014, he has applied chemical, biological, and genetic data to drug development in multiple areas: data analysis and prediction, data integration, data architecture, ETL development, and database design. He has previously developed large scale data integration, validation, and warehousing solutions for the National Institutes of Health BD2K-LINCS program. His deep and broad knowledge of drug development related data has proved invaluable in leading the development of Genetic Networks’ data infrastructure.
Advisors
STEPHEN FRIEND, MD, PHD
Advisor
Dr. Friend is an authority in the fields of genetic resilience, cancer biology, and digital health. At Dana Farber and MIT his team cloned the first human cancer susceptibility gene. While on the Faculty at Harvard, he was jointly recruited with Lee Hartwell to co-found "The Seattle Project” at the Hutch and then co-founded and led Rosetta Impharmatics where they developed RNA expression approaches to assess the aggressiveness of breast cancers. Merck acquired Rosetta and as SVP for Oncology he rebuilt the cancer franchise using molecular profiling techniques, which would later show value in assessing the sensitivity of tumors to Keytruda. After working at Apple from 2014-2017 on digital health, he is now a co-founder and President of 4YouandMe, the Founder and Chairman of Sage Bionetworks, and is currently based in Oxford as a Visiting Professor of Connected Medicine. Stephen is both an Ashoka fellow and a AAAS Fellow.