Our Team

Marcus Lovell Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Marcus is the CEO of Diagnostics for All.  Prior to this, Marcus has directly founded and run businesses in environmental services, real estate, utility metering technology, and broadband wireless. Most recently he ran Sensable Technologies (haptics and 3D software) and Microbia Inc (industrial biotechnology).  He has worked at several of the major US investment banks.  He has an MA in chemistry from Oxford and the Gibbs Prize in Chemistry. 

Patrick Beattie

Director of Operations

Mr. Beattie was the first employee to join DFA, starting in 2008, and he brings a wealth of experience working on the ground in the regions DFA is targeting for product launch. Prior to DFA, Mr. Beattie worked with the US Peace Corps for a total of 3 years in The Gambia and Guinea, West Africa. While there, he lived in remote subsistence farming villages and taught math and science. In addition to French, he has learned a variety of local languages native to West Africa and is fluent in Mandinka, the primary local dialect of The Gambia.  In addition to his work at DFA, Mr. Beattie has served as a consultant on point-of-care diagnostics for the Meridian Institute on two Gates Foundation-funded projects looking at the potential of innovative technologies for agricultural development. Mr. Beattie received a B.S.E. degree magna cum laude in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 2004, where his thesis and independent research involved forming and lyophilizing polymeric nano-particles for drug delivery.

Jason Rolland, PhD

Senior Director of Research

Dr. Rolland joined Diagnostics For All in 2010. He has a diverse background in biomaterials, microfluidics, and nanofabrication. He was formerly Director of Research and Development at Liquidia Technologies, a startup in RTP, NC, which he co-founded in 2004. Dr. Rolland is a co-inventor of the PRINT® platform, a novel technique for the fabrication of engineered nanoparticles with controlled size, shape, and chemistry. At Liquidia, he led several research programs in the areas of microfluidic chemical synthesis, siRNA delivery, and large-scale nanoparticle fabrication. His research was awarded the National Starch & Chemical Company Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Chemistry (2007) and has been featured in Science magazine and Chemical and Engineering News. Dr. Rolland has a B.S. in Chemistry from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of 14 publications, 2 book chapters, 13 patent applications, and 4 patents.

Shailendra Kumar, M.Phil, PhD

Director of Product Development

Dr. Kumar joined Diagnostics For All in March, 2010 as the Director of Product Development. Most recently, he served as the Director of Research and Development at Chembio Diagnostics and led an R&D group focused on developing point-of-care diagnostics for Syphilis, HIV, HCV and Leishmania. Prior to Chembio, Dr. Kumar worked at Matritech Inc as a Group Leader and led a team that took a breast cancer biomarker from discovery to clinical trial. Over his stay at Matritech, he initiated in-house development program for a bladder cancer diagnostic test (NMP22 BladderChek), now marketed by Alere Medical in USA and Stellar Pharmaceuticals in UK.  Dr. Kumar began his career in diagnostic industries in India and worked as a Scientist at Ranbaxy Laboratories and developed numerous biochemical and immunodiagnostic products. After moving to the USA, Dr. Kumar joined Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School) and VA Medical Center (Harvard University) as an Instructor. Dr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Aligarh Muslim University and Central Drug Research Institute, India. He has published over 25 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Elizabeth (Betsy) LeBlanc

Administrative/Executive Assistant

Betsy graduated from Northeastern University with a BA in Communications (2009).  She grew up in New Hampshire and has lived in Boston since 2006.  After graduating, Betsy worked for a small legal practice in downtown Boston.  She also served as a volunteer for the Department of Children and Families as a volunteer case reviewer in 2012.  Betsy is excited to be a part of an innovative, start-up company and to continue expanding her expertise in the administrative profession as the Administrative/Executive assistant for DFA.

Jeremy Schonhorn, PhD

Principal Scientist

Dr. Schonhorn joined Diagnostics for All in April 2012 as a Principal Scientist after nearly 20 years as a developer of commercial RUO and IVD products. Prior to joining DFA, Dr. Schonhorn was a Senior Scientist with Genzyme’s Diagnostics Division. In this role, Dr. Schonhorn was the primary technical lead for the development of an FDA-approved C. difficile toxin A/B immunochromatographic device. He coordinated the activities of a multinational R&D group to develop key raw materials and develop the finished product. Dr. Schonhorn conducted verification/validation studies, and was the principal technical liaison with manufacturing to transfer the device into production. During his tenure, Dr. Schonhorn also contributed to the evaluation of new point of care technologies, and developed prototype assays for novel biomarkers of stroke and kidney injury. Before his most recent role at Genzyme, Dr. Schonhorn worked at Hemagen Diagnostics where he contributed to the development of FDA-approved assays for antiphospholipid syndrome, as well as Genzyme’s Research Products group where he developed numerous ELISA kits and DuoSets for human cytokines and growth factors. Dr. Schonhorn received his B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Matthew Stewart, PhD

Senior Scientist

Dr. Stewart joined Diagnostics For All in April, 2011 as a Senior Scientist. Prior to DFA, Matthew worked at Nano Terra, Inc. as a Senior Scientist developing innovative surface science and engineering solutions to scientific challenges in the government and commercial sectors. He has experience using conventional and unconventional nano- and micro-scale fabrication techniques to develop functional coatings, microfluidic devices, and optical sensors. Matthew has authored multiple winning research proposals for government and commercial programs, and is co-inventor on multiple patent applications -- with one issued patent on multispectral nanostructured plasmonic sensors. He has published one book chapter and 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals - including two reviews - on nanoscale patterning techniques and optical sensors. In addition, Matthew serves as a reviewer for both Langmuir and Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Stewart has an ACS certified B.S. in Chemistry from Wittenberg University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Charles Mace, PhD

Senior Scientist

Dr. Mace joined Diagnostics For All in August 2011 as a Senior Scientist. Charles has a broad background in surface chemistry, bioanalytical chemistry, and biophysics, and he has more than eight years of experience in developing immunoassays using labeled and label-free approaches. Prior to DFA, Charles was a postdoctoral fellow in the Whitesides laboratory at Harvard University. His research included developing new approaches to density-based separations and analysis (magnetic levitation and multiphase polymer systems) and characterizing the sensitivity of the paper diagnostics platform. As a graduate assistant in the Miller laboratory at the University of Rochester, Charles developed an optical biosensor platform, arrayed imaging reflectometry, which employed adaptive thin-film techniques to generate functional surfaces that are capable of monitoring the immune response to vaccines and differentiating pathogenic and non-pathogenic E. coli. Dr. Mace has a B.S. in Physics from Le Moyne College, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Rochester. He has published thirteen articles in peer-reviewed journals, is an author of two book chapters, and is a co-inventor on twelve patent applications.

John Connelly, PhD

Research Scientist

Dr. Connelly joined Diagnostics For All in November 2011 as a Research Scientist. John has a broad background in nanofabrication, molecular and microbiology with more than 10 years of experience in developing nucleic acid and immunological biosensors for pathogen detection. Prior to DFA, John was a postdoctoral associate in the Baeumner laboratory at Cornell University working on a collaborative project with Rheonix, Inc. As a graduate assistant, his research included the development of bioanalytical methods for waterborne parasites and viruses as well as quantitative assays for clinical markers, namely CD4+ T-cells. Dr. Connelly has a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological Engineering with concentrations in pharmacology and food science and technology. He has published six articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a vice-chair of the 2012 Gordon Research Seminar on Bioanalytical Sensors.

Paul Shaw, MS

Research Scientist

Mr. Shaw joined Diagnostics For All in August 2011, bringing with him over 15 years of experience in the biotechnology industry.  Prior to joining DFA, he worked at Millennium, The Takeda Oncology Company, where he was part of a small team responsible for analytical development activities in support of the Biologics Process Development group.  Before Millennium, Paul was employed at Genzyme Diagnostics, where he co-developed multiple IVD tests in formats ranging from ELISA to lateral flow to those for central lab instrumentation.  In addition to assay development, he was also responsible for the implementation of the group’s cell culture and protein purification capabilities for the production of monoclonal antibodies, as well the transfer of these processes to production facilities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.  In the time between his roles at Millennium and Genzyme, Paul started and ran a successful Biomedical Information Consulting business. He holds a B.S. degree in Biology with a concentration in Biotechnology from the University of Massachusetts, and an M.S. in General Biomedical Science from Northeastern University.

Sidhartha Jain, MS

Research Scientist

Sidhartha joined Diagnostics For All in May 2010 as a Research Scientist. Prior to joining DFA, Sidhartha worked as a volunteer in the Cytology Lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA. Sidhartha has a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering (Specializing in Mechanical Engineering) from Louisiana Tech University. Having led his senior design project, “Regeneration of Temporo-mandibular Joint Fibro-Cartilage Using Electrospun Polymer Scaffolds”, Sidhartha was awarded memberships to Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), Biomedical Engineering Honors Society and Tau Beta Pie, Engineering Honors Society at Louisiana Tech University.

Sahil Khullar, MS

Research Associate

Sahil Khullar joined Diagnostics For All in June of 2012 as an Intern Scientist and further joined the team as a fulltime Research Associate in September of 2012. Prior to joining DFA, he volunteered in the Henry Wortis Lab at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Before that, he worked at the Center for Cardiovascular Drug Targeting at Northeastern University. He obtained his B.S. in Pharmacy from Kurukshetra University in India. He also holds a M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Northeastern University.

Rachel Deraney, BS

Research Associate

Rachel Deraney graduated from Boston University in May 2012 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering.  She joined DFA shortly after and upon completion of a summer internship, began working as a Research Associate. Rachel’s senior project, System for Nucleic Acid Preparation for TB Diagnostics, won a Societal Impact Capstone Award from the College of Engineering. While an undergraduate student, Rachel was Vice President for the class of 2012’s Engineering Student Government and also mentored freshman as a Student Advisor.

Christine Anyansi, BS

Research Associate

Christine Anyansi joined DFA in November 2012 as a Research Associate. Prior to joining DFA, she worked as an Associate Scientist at Genewiz. She holds a BS in Biology from Duke University (2011). While an undergrad, Christine worked at the Beratan Research Group in the Duke Department of Chemistry and she also conducted independent research at the Benfey Lab.

Cara Barnes, MS

Research Associate

Cara Barnes joined Diagnostics For All in November 2012 as a Research Associate. She has a M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Utah and a B.A. in Chemistry from Austin College. As a graduate assistant, her research focused on engineering and characterizing plasmonic nanomaterials as optical sensors. She has a broad background in bioanalytical chemistry, microfluidics, surface science, and nanoscience. Prior to joining DFA, Cara spent time living in a rural village in Ethiopia, where she taught English and science at an all-boys orphanage.

Komal Sandhu, MS

Research Associate

Komal Sandhu joined DFA in March of 2013 as a Research Associate. Prior to joining DFA, she worked on several projects dealing with Lead Discovery in the area of Oncology and Autoimmune Diseases at EMD Serono. She volunteered in Henry Wortis Lab, and worked on the project Babesiosis. In India, at CSIO (CSIR affliated) she was an intern in the Nanotechnology Department, where she was graded with 'Outstanding' performance while characterizing and uniformly immobilizing antibody on  the surface of optical fiber, thereby constructing a fiber optic based immunosensor. She completed her MS in Biotechnology from Northeastern University and BS in Biotechnology from Punjab Technical University, India.

Erin Coonahan

Research Associate

Erin joined Diagnostics For All in March 2013 as a Research Associate.  Prior to DFA, she worked at a silk protein-based drug delivery start-up in the Boston area.  Erin graduated from Tufts University in 2012 with B.S in Biomedical Engineering.  At Tufts, she conducted research in the BME department, earning high honors for her thesis on improved wound healing and tissue regeneration through the application of electric fields.  She also led a group of students in an Engineers Without Borders project focused on providing clean water to a rural community in Eastern Uganda.  She has also worked and traveled through Central and South America, teaching English in Nicaragua and interning at an emergency room in Chile.