Franz Walt

Ian Walters has been appointed to the board of directors of Enzo Biochem. He is the CEO and director of Portage Biotech, a biopharmaceutical firm developing immuno-oncology treatments. Previously, he was executive director of global oncology clinical research and business development at Bristol-Myers Squibb and medical director at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Walters holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Alison Goate has been named chair of the department of genetics and genomics sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Goate is the Willard T.C. Johnson research professor of neurogenetics and a professor of genetics and genomic science, neuroscience, and neurology. Her research focuses on genetic risk factors of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.

She came to Mount Sinai in 2015 as founding director of the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Goate holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford.

Monica Bertagnolli has been appointed to the board of directors of Natera. She is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and associate surgeon in the division of surgical oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In addition, she is the CEO of Alliance Foundation Trial, a nonprofit organization that conducts international cancer clinical trials, as well as VP of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups. Bertagnolli holds an undergraduate degree in engineering from Princeton University and a medical degree from the University of Utah College of Medicine.

Day Zero Diagnostics has appointed Dekel Gelbman as senior VP of business development and strategy, Robin Patel as a member of its scientific advisory board, and Sally Hojvat as a regulatory strategy advisor.

Gelbman joins the company from FDNA, where he was the founding CEO. Before that, he was a corporate and transactional attorney in Israel and the US.

Patel is the director of the infectious diseases research laboratory and co-director of the clinical bacteriology laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.

Hojvat is a senior consultant at Partners in Diagnostics. Prior to that, she was the director of the division of microbiology devices at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the US Food and Drug Administration.

Inivata has appointed Alan Schafer as its chief technology officer. Schafer previously served as CEO of 14M Genomics, a cancer molecular diagnostic firm. Prior to 14M Genomics, he served as CEO of Population Genetics. He has also served as global VP of technology development at GlaxoSmithKline and VP of genetics at Incyte. 

Unilabs has appointed Victoria Bell its group chief financial officer ad interim, replacing Andrew Derodra who has left the Geneva-based diagnostics services provider for personal reasons. Bell has held senior roles in companies such as Centrient Pharmaceuticals, Wittur Group, JP Morgan, and Société Générale.                     

Spartan Bioscience, a Canadian company specializing in portable molecular diagnostic testing, has announced several new executive and board appointments. Roger Eacock joins the company as its new CEO and board member. Eacock has previously held leadership roles with companies such as TerrAscend, Sobeys, SunOpta, and Dell.

Eacock's appointment follows the election of three new members to Spartan's board of directors. Board Chair Rochelle Stenzler is a pharmacist with extensive experience as a senior executive in healthcare, retailing, consumer packaged goods, and interactive voice response technology. She has previously served as president of Revlon Canada and president and general manager of Pharma Plus Drugmarts.

Board member Arun Menawat is CEO of Profound Medical, which is developing a real-time MRI-guided thermal ultrasound system for incision-free ablation of abnormal or cancerous tissue. He is also former president and CEO of Novadaq Technologies.

Board member Maryscott Greenwood is partner and managing director of Crestview Strategy US, a public affairs consultancy. She is also CEO of the Canadian American Business Council.

Additionally, Lennie Ryer joins Spartan as CFO with more than 20 years of experience as CFO of several biotechnology companies including SQI Diagnostics and ConjuChem; and Trevor Brown joins Spartan as chief commercial officer, having previously served as vice president of precision medicine for Seracare Lifesciences and director of global strategic marketing at Luminex Molecular Diagnostics.

Finally, Jennifer Ross-Carriere has joined Spartan as chief legal and administrative officer. Ross-Carriere most recently served as general counsel, corporate secretary, and vice president, people and culture at IFS (previously Mxi Technologies).