 UNA RYAN, OBE, PhD, DSc |
 JASON ROLLAND, PhD |
 SHAILENDRA KUMAR, M.Phil, PhD |
 PATRICK BEATTIE |
 RUTH LEVENSON, MBA |
 ROOZBEH GHAFFARI, PhD |
 JON PUZ, MBA |
 GILBERT TANG, MD, MSC, MBA |
 KRISHNA YESHWANT, MD, MBA |
UNA RYAN, OBE, PhD, DSc CEO, Diagnostics For AllDr. Ryan is the CEO of Diagnostics For All. She has an extensive background in leading biotech companies and was formerly the President and CEO of AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines. Dr. Ryan is also Research Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and serves on its Board of Visitors. She serves on a number of boards including Waltham Technologies Inc., AMRI Global, IQuum, the Business Advisory Board of BIO Ventures for Global Health, the Scientific Advisory Board of Genocea, Inc. She is past Chair of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, served on its Board (1996-2008), as well as the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. She is a member of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative Leadership Council, and the Climate Change and Green Energy Council. Dr. Ryan holds a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Cambridge University and BS degrees in Zoology, Microbiology and Chemistry from Bristol University. She received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Bristol University in 2009. She was a Howard Hughes Investigator, NIH MERIT Awardee and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. In 2007, she received the Albert Einstein Award for outstanding achievement in the life sciences and was the recipient of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award in 2009. In 2002 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II awarded her the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to the research, development and promotion of biotechnology. She has written over 500 original papers and 11 books. Back to Top »
JASON ROLLAND, PhD Director of Research Dr. Rolland joined Diagnostics For All in 2010 as the Director of Research. He has a broad background in polymer chemistry 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. 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. He has led numerous multi-disciplinary projects including the fabrication of solvent-compatible microfluidics for chemical synthesis, large-scale reel to reel fabrication of nanoparticles, and the development of novel vectors for siRNA delivery in collaboration with Abbott Laboratories. 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. Back to Top »
SHAILENDRA KUMAR, M.Phil, PhD Director of Development Dr. Kumar joined Diagnostics For All in March, 2010 as the Director of Product Development. Dr. Kumar has over 20 years of biotechnology and academic experience from discovery through product launch with a primary technical expertise in immunodiagnostics, biochemistry, biomarkers and proteomics. Most recently, Dr. Kumar served as Director of Research and Development for Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. where he has overseen a team involved in developing immunodiagnostic tests for infectious diseases including Syphilis, HIV HCV and Leishmania. Before joining Chembio, Dr. Kumar served as Senior Scientific Manager for Matritech, Inc. where he led the R&D team that took cancer biomarkers from discovery to clinical trials. Over his stay at Matritech, Dr. Kumar also directed the in-house development of lateral flow immunodiagnostic test for bladder cancer.
Dr. Kumar began his career in diagnostic industries in India (Ranbaxy laboratories and Mass Diagnostics), where he served as Scientist and Senior Scientific Manager. While working at these companies, he developed multiple immuno-diagnostic and biochemical diagnostic tests. After moving to USA, Dr. Kumar joined a Research group at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School) and VA Medical Center (Harvard University) as an Instructor and worked in the area of signal transduction, apoptosis and DNA damage. He has published over 25 scientific papers in professional journals. Dr. Kumar holds a MS in biochemistry from the Aligarh University, India; an M. Phil in biochemistry; and a PhD in biochemistry from the Aligarh University and Central Drug Research Institute, India. Back to Top »
PATRICK BEATTIE Product Development Scientist Mr. Beattie brings a wealth of experience working on the ground in the regions DFA is targeting for product launch. Prior to DFA, he joined the US Peace Corps as a math and science teacher and served for a total of 3 years in The Gambia and Guinea – parts of Anglophone and Francophone West Africa, respectively. While there, he lived as the only westerner in remote villages and taught math and science, implemented education and health related projects, and fostered increased cultural understanding between his hosts and Americans. 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. He has also traveled extensively throughout West and North Africa, from Cameroon to Morocco and most countries in between. Mr. Beattie received a B.S.E. degree magna cum laude in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, specializing in nano-particles for drug delivery and was awarded the Ernest F. Johnson Distinguished Service Award. Back to Top »
RUTH LEVENSON, MBA Controller With over twenty years of financial management experience, Ms. Levenson has a broad range of expertise in dealing with the issues that face start-up businesses. In addition to serving as accounting manager for Trillium Asset Management, a socially responsible investment advisory firm with four offices across the country, and as controller for Childlife, Inc, a manufacturing concern, she has acted as consultant to numerous small businesses, including Cumberland Farms, Framingham Genomic Medicine and Boston Micro Systems, and worked for four years as controller of Surface Logix, a nanotechnology company founded by Dr Whitesides and Dr Roberts located in Brighton, MA. Ms. Levenson has her MBA from the Boston University School of Management and her BS in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and before entering management worked as an auditor for Coopers and Lybrand (now Price Waterhouse Coopers). In addition to her professional work, Ms. Levenson has had a long interest in Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture and has served as Treasurer and Board Member of the Natick Community Organic Farm, educational farm located in South Natick, Massachusetts. Back to Top »
ROOZBEH GHAFFARI, PhD Research and Development Dr. Ghaffari brings expertise in microfluidics technology and the micromechanics of thin biological tissues. He is co-Founder and Senior Product Development Lead at MC10 Inc. Dr. Ghaffari has served as a Post-Doctoral Associate and was a graduate student in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He developed microfluidics and MEMS devices to study the micromechanics and electro-mechanical properties of acellular structures found in the inner ear and involved in hearing. For his PhD work, Dr. Ghaffari discovered the presence of a second traveling wave mechanism that may propagate in the inner ear. His research was awarded the MIT Helen Carr Peake Research Prize (2008) and has been featured in the MIT homepage spotlight, MIT Technology Review magazine, and in the Boston Globe. Upon completion of his PhD research, Dr. Ghaffari co-authored DFA’s business plan which won the MIT 100K and Harvard Business School business plan competitions (2008). For the past decade, Dr. Ghaffari also has served on the Selection Committee and as an Instructor in the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program based at MIT. Dr. Ghaffari holds S.B. and M.Eng. degrees in Bio-Electrical Engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Back to Top »
JON PUZ, MBA With a background in healthcare consulting and finance, Jon is advising DFA on Business Development. He has been involved with DFA since its founding, and co-authored DFA’s business plan, which won both the Harvard Business School and the MIT $100K business plan contests. Outside of DFA, Jon serves in a Business Development capacity at a Boston-area health IT startup. Prior to this, Jon served healthcare clients as both a management consultant and an investment banker. Jon graduated from Harvard Business School in 2008. While at HBS, Jon served as Co-President of the Healthcare Club and received the Dean’s Award for his leadership and contributions to the community. He graduated summa cum laude from Miami University with a B.S. in Computer Science and in Systems Analysis. Jon is a Member of the HBS Healthcare Club Advisory Board and the Past President of the Miami University Computing Advisory Board. Back to Top »
GILBERT TANG, MD, MSC, MBA Division of Cardiac Surgery, University of Toronto Dr. Tang is cardiac surgeon from Toronto who has over the years developed rich connections with academia, industry and professional organizations. He graduated from Harvard University with Honors with a B.A. in Biochemistry, then completed his M.D. with Honors at the University of Toronto (UofT). Dr. Tang remained in Toronto to pursue his residency in cardiac surgery and has worked at many of the teaching hospitals affiliated with UofT. He also completed a M.Sc. in tissue engineering at UofT during his residency. In 2008 Dr. Tang completed his MBA at the Harvard Business School. During that time he engaged in a number of business projects in health care, including consulting for venture capital firms and start-up companies, technology and market assessment and strategic planning for Medtronic Inc., an innovation study with the Gates Foundation, and business and operations development for academic and community hospitals. He co-authored DFA’s business plan, which won both the Harvard Business School and the MIT $100K business plan competitions. Most recently, he serves as a life sciences advisor to UofT’s MaRS Venture Group, a non-profit consulting organization for start-up companies. Back to Top »
KRISHNA YESHWANT, MD, MBA Yeshwant is a resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), works part time at Google, and advises DFA. His primary area of interest is in bringing new technologies to bear on health care and social problems. He went to Stanford University for undergraduate studies in Computer Science and was part of two software startups, both of which were acquired. He went on to do interdisciplinary research in computer-guided surgery and medical device development at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), BWH, Boston Children’s Hospital, and MIT as part of a CIMIT fellowship. He has published several book chapters and journal articles and worked closely with the MGH technology transfer group. He graduated from the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School combined M.D./M.B.A. program in 2009 and joined the DFA team in 2008 as a co-author of DFA’s business plan, which won both the Harvard Business School and the MIT $100K business plan competitions. Most recently he has done extensive research on the Health Information Technology industry with Professor Michael Porter. Dr. Yeshwant is a techie and entrepreneur at heart and enjoys programming and building companies. He earned a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University and an M.D. and M.B.A. from Harvard University. Back to Top »
