Kent A. Murphy, Ph.D.
CEO
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Former tenured professor at Virginia Tech and an inventor since the age of 19 when he received multiple patents for fiber optic splitters that became the industry standard used around the world today. Founder and CEO of multiple high-tech companies in a wide range of technologies and markets. The first company was built with no investors to an IPO, ticker symbol LUNA. Six other companies were built to successful exits at acquisition with Venture Capital, corporate partners, and government funding from NIH, DARPA and NSF. Acquirers included “Baker Hughes” (a Fortune 300 oil tool company), “Intuitive Surgical” a Fortune 500 surgical robotics company, “Bio-Rad” a billion dollar biotech company, “Dover” a billion dollar instrument company, and “MacAulay-Brown” a defense contractor.
Stephan (Steve) W. Morris, MD
Chief Medical Officer
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Steve Morris is a board-certified internist (Univ. of Texas SW HSC, Dallas, TX) and medical oncologist (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT). Following two years as a junior faculty member at Yale, Dr. Morris served on the staff at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) for 25 years. In addition to working as a clinician, Dr. Morris led a basic/translational research laboratory at St. Jude that discovered and characterized oncogenes that cause a variety of human cancers, most notably anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Dr. Morris’ discovery of ALK has led to the development of multiple ALK diagnostics and therapeutics (currently 5 FDA-approved ALK inhibitors for the treatment of lung and other cancers). Steve’s studies have been published in over 150 peer-reviewed publications in high-tier biomedical journals including Cell, Science, J Med Chem, Nature, Nature Immunology, and many others.
Dr. Morris began transitioning from academia to industry in 2007, co-founding the molecular diagnostics company Insight Genetics (Nashville, TN; acquired in 2020 by Oncocyte Biopharma Services, www.oncocytebiopharma.com), followed by the founding of two additional diagnostics firms – HealthChart LLC (2012; Memphis, TN) and its Chinese sister company Jinlu Biotechnology (2015; Shaoxing, PRC; http://jinlubiotechnology.com/en/). Dr. Morris left St. Jude in 2012 and has been working full-time in biotech since his exit from academic medicine. In addition to his work in the development of diagnostics, he has served as a consultant or Chief Medical Officer for several biotech firms developing various therapies for cancer and other disease indications, with examples including Greenfire Bio (www.greenfirebio.com) and Biomea Fusion (www.biomeafusion.com). Steve is a member of the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha (1977), an American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award winner (1987), and an inductee into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2001).
SWM
22Feb2022
Betsy Fisher
VP of Supply Chain and Operations
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Patrick Bols, PhD
VP Manufaturing
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Over 40 years of experience in the biopharma and medical equipment industries in various positions, including research, sales, marketing, management and international line and staff responsibilities for major corporations
Built and ran multiple biopharma and medical equipment companies
Peggy Sue Robinson MT(ASCP)
Clinical Trial Relations
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Peggy S. Robinson, MT(ASCP) is a senior executive with 30+ years of experience developing and marketing new technologies in a number of IVD companies including Siemens, Immunicon/ Veridex (J&J), and EMD Millipore. She has built global key opinion networks and drove strategic alliances with pharmaceutical/biotech companies. Peggy is currently working to develop and fund several early-stage startups in the diagnostic field, including one in women’s health diagnostics, and is also a Past President of the Diagnostics Marketing Association. Prior to her current role at Axon Connected, she was the US Vice President of ANLGE plc, a leading liquid biopsy company commercializing sample-to-answer multiplexed solutions.
Marc Hrovatic
Chief Financial Officer
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Has been in leadership roles in multiple successful technology companies for over 20 years. In his role as CFO, Mr. Hrovatic has led strategic planning including company formation, corporate structure, financing and exit strategies. He built the corporate infrastructure for 400+ employee company from private to public company with 50% annual growth in revenues after the IPO. Mr. Hrovatic led the development of financial reporting systems for Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and GAP requirements for a public company. He also built and led teams in research, product development and sales. In addition to his expertise in operations and finance, Mr. Hrovatic has led the strategic planning and operational execution of intellectual property portfolios of pharmaceutical, diagnostic and robotic companies. His experience includes patent filing, negotiating in-licensing and out-licensing. Mr. Hrovatic currently serves on the Board.
