Caroline Popper MD MPH is the former CEO of Diversigen and the President of BCM Technologies, the company creation enterprise of Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Popper has more than 25 years of hands-on life science operating experience. Originally an internist and pathologist, she combines her medical and scientific perspective with knowledge gained from managing a wide spectrum of life sciences businesses in both Fortune 500 and start-up settings in the US and globally. She maintains a large venture and private equity network, sits on several company boards, and speaks internationally on healthcare innovation and value analysis. Dr. Popper received her medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and her M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore). She completed her residencies in internal medicine and in pathology at Johns Hopkins.

A primary investigator for the Human Microbiome Project and author of numerous published studies on microbiome science.

Dr. Petrosino has been actively driving a better understanding of human and animal microbiomes since the introduction of Next Generation Sequencing technologies for the purpose of microbiome studies. He has been involved in key research projects and made a number of ground-breaking advances in our understanding of microbiomes.

Dr. Petrosino was awarded a degree in microbiology and immunology with a distinction in research from the University of Rochester, before completing a PhD in the same subjects at Baylor College of Medicine. He continued at Baylor where he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in genetics, and then worked as a research associate in the Human Genome Sequencing Centre.

As a principal investigator for the Human Microbiome Project, he helped develop standardised clinical sample preparation protocols for sequencing and analysis. This allowed microbial communities from diverse body sites to be compared with minimal technical bias and has led to study design standards that are being implemented internationally.

Dr. Petrosino is currently Professor and interim Chairman of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Alkek Centre for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research. The Centre is involved in more than 400 metagenomics projects in humans which aim to improve human health through a better understanding of microbiomes and the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Petrosino is a popular speaker at national and international meetings and was named Distinguished Lecturer for 2012-2014 by the American Society for Microbiology.

Financial executive with 20 years’ experience in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Ms. Nassif has over 20 years’ experience in financial and executive management in the healthcare, diagnostic testing, and pharmaceutical industries. Her career has included demonstrated ability to maximize return on investment through aggressive working capital and operating expense management. Additionally, she has experience in building and operationalizing start-up corporations. She currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Diversigen, Inc. where she leads all aspects of the company’s sales, marketing, and operational efforts. In the years prior to joining Diversigen, Ms. Nassif held leadership positions at Quest Diagnostics as Vice President of Clinical Trials, and Vice President of Anatomic Pathology. During her tenure at Quest Diagnostics, she developed the strategy for the pharmaceutical division, led the transformation of the international clinical trials business from loss making to profit, and launched the first profitable product in cytology for the company. She obtained a Green Belt in Six Sigma Quality.

Ms. Nassif held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Franklin Heath, Inc. (A Corning Company). She was responsible for all aspects of operations and administration for this start-up healthcare company. Additionally, Ms. Nassif was director of Finance for Covance, Inc. working in its Phase II-III contract research organization. There, she had international responsibilities for pricing, contracts, revenue recognition, and budgeting.

Ms. Nassif graduated summa cum laude from Kean University with a BS in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant. In addition to her corporate positions, she has served on the Board of Advisors for several non-profit groups and organizations.

Vice President of Research responsible for business and operational aspects of research and commercialization at Baylor College of Medicine.

Shawn R. Davis, VP of Research, is responsible for advancing BCM’s strategic vision for research and commercialization. She oversees the operational and business aspects of the Research Mission, including all commercialization activities. She provides proactive leadership and direction for all aspects of the Research Mission operations and administration, including annual planning, capital and operating budget management, research space management, research technology strategy, philanthropy, and affiliate relationships. She oversees BCM’s strategic relationships with external commercial partners, ensuring an integrated approach to commercialization aligned to institutional vision.

Animal health and pathology research scientist with expertise in microbiome and diseases.

Dr. Gao has more than 10 years’ experience in microbiology research in academia and industry, including bacterial culture and identification, study design and methodology. He joined the ANIZOME team from Janssen, a division of Johnson and Johnson, where he had been Postdoctoral Research Fellow.

Dr. Gao was awarded a PhD from Baylor College of Medicine with a thesis that focused on the use of probiotics to treat animal diseases – specifically the impact of Lactobacillus reuteri on colonic inflammation and cancer. He has subsequently focused on the application of microbiome studies to enhance animal health and conducted postdoctoral research in immunology and pathology at Baylor College of Medicine and immunopharmacology at Janssen.

Dr. Gao has published several papers and abstracts and acts as a reviewer for a few scientific journals. He also speaks regularly at technical meetings.
At ANIZOME, Dr. Gao uses his experience in microbiology to lead our in-house microbiological culturing and screening programmes.

Animal physiology and ethology research scientist with expertise in metagenomic sequencing.

Dr. Lucia Martini is a research scientist with over 12 years’ experience in the area of translational research and over 5 years as a consultant for the biomedical industry with hands on experience in pre-clinical and clinical trials. Dr. Martini earned her Ph.D. from Comenius University, Slovakia in Animal Physiology and Ethology, a PhD program in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Martini conducted her postdoctoral research at Cornell University focusing on Nutritional Sciences. Lucia is Associate Director of Business Development at Diversigen and manager of metagenomic sequencing services for ANIZOME.

Senior Vice President and Dean for Research at Baylor College of Medicine with a personal track-record in genomic research.

Adam Kuspa, PhD, SVP & Dean of Research, is responsible for the development and execution of BCM’s strategic vision for research and commercialization. He oversees and allocates institutional resources to support all research centers, departments, and institutes, faculty recruitment, and commercial endeavors. He is responsible for maintaining Baylor’s extensive research support infrastructure including pre-award and compliance functions, a vast animal program, Advanced Technology Cores, Research IT, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and laboratory safety. He partners with BCM affiliates toward the advancement of a collaborative research vision. His major focus is to integrate clinical and translational research across BCM, as well as to promote the commercial development of the discoveries that result. Dr. Kuspa’s own federally funded laboratory currently investigates the multifaceted way that eukaryotic cells kill bacteria.

Partner at Stonehaven Consulting AG with executive leadership experience in the Animal Health industry.

Mr. Matthias Hofer is a Partner at Stonehaven Consulting AG. He has over 13 years of experience in Animal Health. He served on the executive committees of two major Animal Health companies for a total of 7 years. Between 2009 and 2013 he led the global Aqua Health business at Novartis Animal Health (NAH). Later, he was Global Leader Emerging Business at Elanco and a member of Elanco’s global executive committee. During 2014 and with Elanco’s intention to buy NAH, Matthias served as overall pre-merger integration leader on the Novartis side. In that role, Matthias led a large team and efforts to prepare integration pre-closing overall including carve-out preparations of operations linked to Novartis. Matthias is a business leader with broad international experience and strength in sales, strategy, and execution.

Practising veterinary dermatologist with a special interest in innovative solutions in companion animal dermatology.

Dr. Rossi has a driving passion for finding innovative solutions to therapeutic challenges and has been actively involved in veterinary research. He has a particular interest and expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of skin, coat and nail diseases in animals.

Dr. Rossi obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from Southeastern Louisiana University before completing a master’s degree and becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University. After several veterinary research projects and internships, he developed his skills in dermatology during a two-year residency with North Carolina State University and while working with the Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado. During this time, he taught veterinary students about clinical and scientific aspects of dermatology.

Dr. Rossi is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Dermatology (ACVD) and currently works for a veterinary specialty clinic based in Houston. As well as small animals, Dr. Rossi enjoys working with horses and zoo animals.