K. David Becker, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Becker graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979 and acquired his PhD in Biology from San Diego State University and U.C. San Diego in 1991. Dr. Becker has extensive experience in the genetics of Drosophila, mouse and humans. After leaving UCSD, Dr. Becker was a scientist at Mitokor working on quantitative analysis of changes in gene expression while studying the role of mitochondria in neurodegenerative disease and type II diabetes. Dr. Becker joined Torrey Pines Therapeutics, then Neurogenetics, in July 2000 and since that time has lead a team of scientists in the discovery and validation of genes that contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. David and his research received public kudos for his efforts by receiving the #5 medical breakthrough of 2008 from Time Magazine.

Michael Nova, MD, Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Nova is currently a Chief Medical Officer of Pathway Genomics. Michael's scientific career began as research associate at the Salk Institute in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Roger Guillemin where he studied the genetics and proteomics of Human Growth Factors. Michael was then the Founder/CEO of Discovery Partners Inc. (Nasdaq: DPII), which completed a successful $150M IPO and marketed wireless drug discovery technology and radiofrequency combinatorial chemistry to large Pharmaceutical companies. He then founded wireless sensory network company Graviton, where he was responsible for raising $60 million in capital from venture groups such as Kleiner Perkins and InQtel and additional corporate equity partners such as SUN, QUALCOMM, Siemens, Omron, Mitsui, Shell, and Motorola. Dr. Nova is also a practicing physician at CLIA licensed Pacific Dermatopathology labs.

Michael has over 20 issued patents, many in drug discovery technologies; has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, and is a Board Certified Dermatopathologist licensed in California. Dr Nova has degrees in Biochemistry, Physics, and Medicine from the University of California, Berkeley; and Albert Einstein University, New York and is a practicing physician at the CLIA-licensed laboratory of Pathology Associates of San Diego.

James R. Nickel, MD, Medical Director

Dr. Nickel has extensive experience as a laboratory director and pathologist for private laboratories, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. He is Board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology as well as in dermatopathology. He has been the laboratory director for CLIA-certified laboratories in California, Hawaii, Louisiana, and North Carolina and was the founding director for several of them. He has also been the laboratory director or medical director for various pharmaceutical companies including Bayer Corporation’s Quality Assurance Testing Laboratory; Alpha Therapeutic Corporation; and Vivus, Inc.

Dr. Nickel received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Stanford University, his medical degree from UCLA School of Medicine, and his specialty training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has served on the clinical faculty of multiple universities including Johns Hopkins University, Tulane University, and the University of California at San Diego.

Linda Wasserman, MD, PhD, Director of Clinical Genetics

Dr. Wasserman earned a PhD in Psychology from UCLA and practiced psychology in Boston, in the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital prior to becoming Chief Psychologist at the Childrens Inpatient Unit of the San Diego County Mental Health Services. She received her medical degree and residency training in Anatomic Pathology from the University of California, San Diego. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in genetics and molecular oncology at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, also located at the University of California, San Diego. She is board certified in Anatomic Pathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology. While serving as Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSD, her responsibilities included being Director of the Clinical Cancer Genetics Care Unit, the DNA Sequencing and the Molecular Pathology Shared Resources at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, and being Director of the clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory at UCSD. Her research interests have included genetic predictors of outcome in prostate and breast cancer as well as genetic predictors of risk for development of breast cancer.

Victoria L. Magnuson, PhD, Molecular Geneticist

Dr. Magnuson is a PhD Molecular Geneticist with 15 years experience in implementing large-scale, Complex Disease Human Genetics projects in Government, Industry and Academia. Her expertise includes genotyping and sequencing laboratory management, genetic data analyses and administering Research Grants and budgets. Dr. Magnuson received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio in 1992. Her post-doctoral advisor was Dr. Francis Collins at the National Human Genome Research institute, where she studied Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus as part of the international FUSION (Finland-United States Investigation Of NIDDM) genetics project. In 1998, Dr. Magnuson moved to Corning, Inc. where she led teams to build cDNA-based high-density microarrays for Corning Microarray Technology. In 2002, Dr. Magnuson joined the Department of Pediatrics as an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes, Human and Molecular Genetics Center, Children's Hospital and Children's Research Institute in Milwaukee, Wis. There she served as the lead Molecular Geneticist and co-investigator on a $6.5M Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, International grant to study the genetics of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Corinna Herrnstadt Howell, PhD, Genetic Genealogist

Dr. Herrnstadt Howell holds an M.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. magna cum laude in molecular biology, from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. She has 25 years of hands-on experience in biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and life science industries. As founding member of the scientific management team at MitoKor, Dr. Herrnstadt Howell directed the Molecular Biology and Genomics Programs involved in diagnostics and target discovery in neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. She developed the company’s leadership in the field of mitochondrial genetics and disease. Dr. Herrnstadt Howell was a co-founder of Invitrogen, where she served as Research Director and Chief Scientific Officer and was responsible for the development and launch of a series of breakthrough products for molecular biology research. She was co-inventor of the TA-Cloning^™ System and the 1991 Finalist of the UCSD CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award.

Dr. Herrnstadt Howell is an expert in the field of mitochondrial genetics, disease, and evolution. She is the co-founder of Matrilinex, LLC, a consulting services company in the fields of mitochondrial disease and diagnosis, mitochondrial pharmacogenetics, forensic identification, molecular anthropology, human genealogy and ancestry. Dr. Herrnstadt Howell has an extensive publications record with 17 issued patents and more than 30 scientific publications.

Neil Howell, PhD, Genetic Genealogist

Dr. Howell holds a B.A. in Zoology from The University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from The University of Wisconsin. He held postdoctoral positions at Monash University in Australia (where he was a Fulbright-Hays Fellow) and at Harvard Medical School. Following a career in academia, including 18 years at The University of Texas Medical Branch where he rose to Professor with Tenure (and where he retains an appointment as Professor Emeritus), Dr. Howell switched to a career in biotechnology and drug development. His 16-year corporate background includes financing experience at start-up, early rounds, mezzanine and IPO preparation levels, most recently as Vice President of Research for MITOKOR and MIGENIX Corp., San Diego. His ongoing research in mitochondrial genetic disorders involves active collaborations with Douglass M. Turnbull and Patrick Chinnery (University of Newcastle) and David Mackey (University of Tasmania).

Dr. Howell is an expert in mitochondrial genetics with more than 140 scientific publications in mitochondrial genetics and evolution, bioenergetics and cellular energy metabolism, and neurodegenerative disorders. He is the co-founder of Matrilinex, LLC, a consulting services company in the fields of mitochondrial disease and diagnosis, mitochondrial pharmacogenetics, forensic identification, molecular anthropology, human genealogy and ancestry.

Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD, Scientific Advisor

Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit,
MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases;
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and
Professor of Neurology (Neuroscience), Harvard Medical School

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the Joseph and Rose Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit consisting of eight laboratories in the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Tanzi has been investigating the molecular genetics of human neurodegenerative and psychiatric disease since 1980 when he participated in the pioneering study at MGH that led to location of the Huntington's disease gene, the first disease gene to be found by genetic linkage analysis. Since 1982, Dr. Tanzi has focused his studies on Alzheimer's disease (AD) and since 1997, autism spectrum disorders. He isolated the first familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) gene, known as the amyloid ß-protein (A4) precursor (APP) in 1987, and another in 1995, called presenilin 2. He also collaborated on the isolation of the second FAD gene, presenilin 1. In 1993, Dr. Tanzi isolated the gene responsible for the neurological disorder known as Wilson's disease, and over the past 25 years, he has collaborated on studies identifying several other neurodegenerative disease genes including those causing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and neurofibromatosis. Dr. Tanzi is currently carrying out genome wide association screens to identify novel genes associated with both AD and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Tanzi is also a co-founder of the "Metal hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease". His laboratory first discovered that the metals zinc and copper are necessary for the formation of neurotoxic assemblies of the AD-associated peptide, Aß, the main component of ß-amyloid deposits in brains of AD patients. These studies have led to successful clinical trials for treating and preventing AD by targeting Aß-metal interactions. Dr. Tanzi has also been involved in the first efforts to develop gamma-secretase modulators as therapeutics for AD.

Dr. Tanzi has co-authored over 340 research articles and reviews, including three of the top ten most cited papers in AD research. He is also a co-author of a popular trade book on Alzheimer's disease entitled "Decoding Darkness: The Search for the Genetic Causes of Alzheimer's Disease". Dr. Tanzi has received several awards for his work including the two highest awards for Alzheimer's disease research: The Metropolitan Life Foundation Award and The Potamkin Prize. He has also received a Pew Scholarship, the Alzheimer's Association T.L.L.Temple Award, the Reagan National Alzheimer's Disease Research Award, an NIH MERIT Award, the "Oneness of Humanity" Global Award, previously won by Hillary Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2007, he was included on the list of the "Harvard 100: Most Influential Alumni" of over 240,000 living alumni. His invited honorary lectures include a Nobel Forum Lecture, AAAS keynote lecture, Grass Lecture, Smithsonian Institution Distinguished Lecture in Genomics, and the Society for Neuroscience Public Lecture. Dr. Tanzi is an AAAS Fellow, serves as Chairman of the Cure Alzheimer's Fund Research Consortium, is a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, and serves on over 40 editorial and scientific advisory boards.

John C. Reed, MD, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor

John C. Reed, MD, Ph.D., is President & Chief Executive Officer of Burnham Institute for Medical Research, where he has worked as scientist and leader for over 15 years. Dr. Reed is also Professor and Donald Bren Presidential Chair at Burnham, with adjunct Professor appointments at several universities. Dr. Reed’s scientific accomplishments include authorship of over 700 research publications and more than 50 book chapters. He was recently recognized as the world’s most highly cited scientist for his research publications during the decade 1995-2005 in the broad field of “cell biology” and also in the field of “general biomedicine” by the Institute for Scientific Information. Dr. Reed is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, and has been awarded over 70 research grants for his work. He is a named inventor for over 70 patents and the founder or co-founder of four biotechnology companies. Dr. Reed has served as an advisor to numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and has also served on the Boards of Directors of several public and private biotechnology companies and life-sciences organizations.