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Senior Management
Kären Olson
CEO
Kären Olson is former President and CEO of Adhesives Research, a $100m multinational specialty chemical and drug-delivery company based in Glen Rock, PA. Under her leadership, Adhesives Research became the first company to successfully develop medicated dissolvable thin strips, of which the company now has over 16 such products on the market. Ms. Olson serves on the boards of directors of several private companies and non-profit organizations, including Loyola College's Sellinger Business School Board of Sponsors. She received an executive M.B.A. from Loyola College and B.S. degrees in chemistry and medical technology from California Lutheran University. Ms. Olson is also an instructor in the national, award-winning ACTiVATE program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has received numerous honors for her professional achievements, including Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, Smart Woman's Woman of the Year, The Baltimore Daily Record's Healthcare Leader of the Year finalist, and the Greater Baltimore Committee's 2009 Leadership in Bioscience Award.
Scott Allocco
President
Scott Allocco is the President and a co-founder of BioMarker Strategies, where he coordinates all fundraising, external relations, strategic partnerships, communications and regulatory affairs for the company. As a member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), BIO molecular diagnostics and ADVAMED diagnostics committees, he is actively engaged in efforts to reform FDA and CMS regulatory and reimbursement policies for next generation biomarker tests. Prior to founding BioMarker Strategies, he had 15 years of healthcare and pharmaceutical industry experience, including focusing on drug coverage and reimbursement issues for commercial and public sector health insurance programs. Most recently, Mr. Allocco was vice president of state government relations for Coventry Health Care, one of the nation's largest health insurance companies. He was also vice president for business development at First Health Services, which he helped build into the nation's largest pharmacy benefits administrator of Medicaid drug-benefit programs.
Prior to joining First Health Services, Allocco was a managing director in the health-care practice group at Hill and Knowlton's Washington, D.C. office. He also served for four years as the director of the Office of Government Affairs for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services under Governor Christine Todd Whitman. He graduated cum laude with a B.A. in public policy from Hamilton College.
Douglas P. Clark, MD
Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Dr. Douglas P. Clark is also professor of Pathology and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where he serves as the director of the division of cytopathology. Dr. Clark is maintaining his affiliations with Johns Hopkins and BioMarker Strategies with the approval of the Johns Hopkins Conflict of Interest Committee. He is a board-certified anatomic pathologist and cytopathologist with experience in oncology, microbiology and molecular diagnostics. He serves on the editorial boards of Acta Cytologica, Cancer Cytopathology and Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics.
Dr. Clark has been at the forefront of efforts to integrate molecular biomarkers into the field of pathology. At Johns Hopkins, he has successfully developed a comprehensive molecular cytopathology program that serves as a vital resource to clinical trial development, particularly in the area of oncology. This work has led to numerous publications and a patent for a targeted therapy-related diagnostic test that has been licensed by BioMarker Strategies. Dr. Clark received his M.D. degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and his B.A. degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Northwestern University.
Dr. Adam Schayowitz is responsible for the development of the SnapPath™ solid-tumor-cell-processing system. He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Maryland where he studied the mechanisms of resistance to hormonal therapy in breast and prostate cancer, including preclinical investigations of various signal transduction inhibitors in combination with hormonal therapy. His graduate research led to the development of multiple clinical trials in breast and prostate cancer. Previously, Dr. Schayowitz was a research assistant for Defined Health, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical consulting firm focusing on market assessments, financial forecasting and strategic planning for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Dr. Schayowitz graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in neuroscience.
Board of Directors
In addition to Kären Olson, Scott Allocco and Dr. Douglas Clark, the company’s board of directors includes one outside director, Christy Williams Wyskiel, a former Managing Director at Maverick Capital. As an equity analyst covering the medical device, diagnostic, life sciences, therapeutics and hospital supply industries, she was a member of Maverick’s healthcare team where she managed health care industry investments. And, as a former member of the Board of Directors of Cardiovascular Systems, she also has previous Board experience. Prior to joining Maverick, Christy served as a life sciences equity analyst at T. Rowe Price, SG Cowen Securities, and JP Morgan. At Cowen, she participated in all aspects of transaction execution, including financial analysis, performance of financial and company due diligence, creation of offering prospectuses, and accompanying clients to investor road shows. She also performed numerous public and private company valuations. Christy is also a graduate of Williams College and the Stern School of Business at NYU, where she obtained an MBA in finance and accounting.
Scientific Advisors
Kathleen M. Murphy, PhD
Dr. Kathleen Murphy, a co-founder of BioMarker Strategies, is the former director of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where she was an assistant professor of pathology and oncology and a lecturer in the graduate program in biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Murphy’s work is focused primarily on molecular testing related to oncology.
At Johns Hopkins, she was involved in the development of molecular assays that are used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, as well as monitoring residual disease following therapy. Dr. Murphy is especially interested in identifying molecular abnormalities that can be targeted by novel therapeutic agents. Dr. Murphy received a B.S. in medical technology and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology. She completed post-graduate training in the Mid-Atlantic Cancer Genetics Network and the Molecular Pathology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Scott Diamond is the director of the Penn Center for Molecular Discovery at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Diamond researches biotechnologies in several key areas: endothelial mechanobiology, blood clot-dissolving therapies, blood coagulation, non-viral gene therapy, proteomics, and high-throughput drug discovery. He has produced more than 80 publications and patents and served on advisory committees for NSF, NIH, AHA, and NASA and has consulted extensively for industry and government. Dr. Diamond also serves as associate director of the Institute for Medicine and Engineering and holds the Arthur E. Humphrey Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Rice University.
Business Advisors
Andrew Jiranek is founder and managing partner of Jiranek Company, a business law firm based in Towson, MD, where he serves as BioMarker Strategies' legal counsel and business advisor.
Mark Rapson, CPA, is a partner with KAWG&F, an accounting firm in Towson, MD, and chairs the firm’s health and life sciences-practice group. Mr. Rapson advises the company on corporate finance.
Keith Haddaway advises the company on intellectual property matters. He is a patent attorney in Venable LLC's intellectual property practice group.
Bernard Rhee is a patent attorney and founder of Technology & Business Law Advisors, LLC. He provides BioMarker Strategies with strategic legal advice regarding research and development collaborations, intellectual property assets, contracts, and the commercialization of our technology.
Dr. Manfred Scholz is the founder, president and principal consultant of Scholz Consulting Partners. He has extensive experience in business development, licensing, operations, and strategic consulting in the biotechnology and medical diagnostics industries.
Kristin Pothier, is a Vice-President at HealthAdvances where she has combined her consulting and scientific experience to provide results-oriented projects for her clients in the biotech and clinical diagnostics sectors, including focus on launch strategy, pricing, and R&D prioritization for prenatal, infectious disease, oncology and cardiovascular disease diagnostics and biotech tools. Kristin's clients range from small diagnostics and tools start-ups to the largest public companies in the industry.
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