Mark Chee, Ph.D.
Dr. Chee is an internationally recognized expert in genomics. He presently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Scientific Officer of Prognosys Biosciences, Inc. Previously he co-founded Illumina, Inc., and was Director of Genetics Research at Affymetrix,
Inc. Dr. Chee has published scientific papers on microarray technology and applications and is an inventor on over 40 issued patents. He
received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of New South Wales and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Chee also serves on the External Scientific Committee of The Cancer Genome Atlas project.
George Church, Ph.D.
Dr. Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Computational Genetics. With
degrees from Duke University in Chemistry and Zoology, he co-authored research on 3D-software & RNA structure with Sung-Hou Kim. His 1984 Ph.D.
from Harvard in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with Wally Gilbert included the first direct genomic sequencing method. He co-initiated the
Human Genome Project a few months later as a Research Scientist at newly-formed Biogen Inc. and was a Monsanto Life Sciences
Research Fellow at UCSF. He invented the broadly-applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array
DNA synthesizers. Technology transfer of automated sequencing and software to Genome Therapeutics Corp. resulted in the first commercial genome
sequence (the human pathogen, H. pylori, 1994). He has served in advisory roles for 12 journals, 5 granting agencies and 22 biotech companies.
His current research focuses on integrating biosystems-modeling with personal genomics and synthetic biology.
Leroy Hood, Ph.D.
Dr. Hood is currently President of the Institute for Systems Biology. His research has focused on the study of molecular immunology,
biotechnology, and genomics. His professional career began at the California Institute of Technology where he and his colleagues pioneered four
instruments—the DNA gene sequencer and synthesizer, and the protein synthesizer and sequencer—which comprise the technological foundation for
contemporary molecular biology. In particular, the DNA sequencer has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid, automated sequencing of DNA,
which played a crucial role in contributing to the successful mapping of the human genome during the 1990s. In 1992, Dr. Hood moved to the University
of Washington as founder and Chairman of the cross-disciplinary Department of Molecular Biotechnology. In 2000, he co-founded the Institute for Systems
Biology in Seattle, Washington to pioneer systems approaches to biology and medicine. Dr. Hood is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the
American Philosophical Society, the American Association of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine. He has also played a role in founding
numerous biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems, Systemix, Darwin, and Rosetta. Dr. Hood received an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School
of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers, has 14 issued
patents, and has co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, and genetics.
Douglas A. Lauffenburger, Ph.D.
Dr. Lauffenburger is the Uncas & Helen Whitaker Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the Biological Engineering Division at MIT,
and also holds appointments in the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Lauffenburger's B.S. and Ph.D degrees are in
chemical engineering from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota, in 1975 and 1979 respectively. His major research interests are
in cell engineering: the fusion of engineering with molecular cell biology. A central focus of his research program is in receptor-mediated cell communication
and intracellular signal transduction, with emphasis on development of predictive computational models derived from quantitative experimental studies, on
cell cue/signal/response relationships. These models have applications in drug discovery and development.
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