Dr. Mead holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Illinois, has over 80 publications, 9 patents, and has secured $30M in SBIR and related grants. With 30+ years in life sciences, his expertise spans molecular cloning, protein analysis, metagenomics, genomics, synthetic biology, and next-generation sequencing. Dr. Mead founded Lucigen in 1998, which was acquired for $70M in 2018. He invented TA cloning, the leading PCR amplicon cloning method with nearly $1B in lifetime sales.

As the Chief Technology Officer at Varizymes, Dr. Chander leads a team of scientists and engineers who are dedicated to developing the next generation of molecular diagnostic assays for rapid pathogen detection at point-of-care (PoC). He has over 15 years of experience in developing LAMP-based diagnostic assays and rapid sample preparation methods for use in PoC. He is also the architect of TORCH™ multiplex LAMP technology, a novel method to detect multiple targets in single LAMP reactions. He has published over 50 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is PI/co-PI on multiple research grants funded by the USDA and CDC.

Mark has made significant contributions to commercial teams at several life science companies over the past 32 years including Millipore, Affymetrix, Complete Genomics and Dovetail Genomics. He has a passion for finding solutions to customer challenges and ensuring that his customers are supported at every stage of the sales process. At Varizymes, Mark leads the commercial team, delivering leading-edge molecular tools and point-of-care diagnostics assays to a wide range of clients.

Brad has had an active career in marketing and visual communication that has spanned over two decades. His goal at Varizymes is to facilitate advertising and public relations strategies geared towards achieving company objectives. He strives to achieve this outcome by crafting robust marketing concepts and fostering a collaborative team spirit that consistently delivers outstanding results.

Kurt has a PhD in Genetics from UW-Madison and 15 years of experience in molecular biology. At Varizymes, he works on product development, quality control assays, and information management.

Alyssa is a scientist at Varizymes, with 12 years of experience in molecular biology. She earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences at Florida State University and a Master’s in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University. At Varizymes, she is primarily involved in research and development, as well as quality control for many of our molecular tool products.

Joe is a Senior Scientist in Protein Production & Assay Development at Varizymes. He has over 35 years of experience in recombinant protein expression in plant, bacterial, and yeast hosts, as well as protein purification/characterization and enzymatic assay development. He worked for 7+ years at a leading biopharmaceutical company as a fermentation and protein purification Process Development Scientist, which drew heavily from his training in Chemical Engineering. He also has extensive experience in GMP manufacturing environments, training in Operational Excellence, and Six Sigma Methodologies.

Aaron is a Senior Scientist in Protein Production and Assay development at Varizymes. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from UW-Madison and has over 15 years of experience working in genetics, molecular biology, and protein purification and characterization