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Leadership Team

About CIRCULOGENE

CIRCULOGENE was founded and is operated by proven leaders and scientists from the diagnostics industry. Via their guidance, CIRCULOGENE has been able to develop a proprietary cfDNA/cfRNA recovery technology and has incorporated best-in-class laboratory methods which result in the most complete and accurate menu offering of actionable markers. This makes CIRCULOGENE best-in-class for molecular cancer diagnostics. And – Patients deserve the best.

Leadership Team

President, CEO

Mike Mullen
Chief Financial Officer

Richard Brand
Co-Founder, Chief Administrative Officer

Scott Rezek
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Jonice Vanterpool Johnson
Chief Commercial Officer

Travis Wold
Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technology Officer

Lou Apicella
Vice President of Revenue

Jessica Absher
Lab Director

Anthony L. Schmidt, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Vice President of Finance

Christy Roden Lee
Vice President of Translational Medicine

Dr. Eric Thompson
Vice President of Laboratory Operations

J. Kevin Day, Ph.D., HCLD(ABB)
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Paul Walker

President, CEO

Mike Mullen

Mike Mullen has more than 25 years in executive and financial leadership positions and has been involved with over $200M in liquidity and capital transactions during his career. Prior to founding Circulogene in 2015, he was the President and CEO of Atherotech Diagnostics, leading the Company’s expansion to over $120 million in revenue and led its sale to a private equity firm. He has held various C-level and financial positions with several companies, including Ernst & Young where he worked in the healthcare practice for over 6 years. Mike holds medical technology and accounting degrees from Auburn and UAB. In 2014, he was the Southeast recipient of the Ernst and Young HealthCare Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Chief Financial Officer

Richard Brand

Richard Brand has been a CFO with private diagnostics companies, resulting in accomplishments such as raising $86 million, generating 9x returns, and earning best performing biotech IPO. Richard has had a career in financial firms where he managed one-third of an institutional investment fund’s portfolio, helping it grow to $1 billion from $400 million. He also managed Robertson Stephens’s biotech private placement business, boosting it to a number two ranking. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago where he was a former board member as well as being a board member for the Booth School’s NYC Alumni Clubs.

Co-Founder, Chief Administrative Officer

Scott Rezek

Scott Rezek has been an entrepreneurial leader, managing commercial and service teams and transformation initiatives for the duration of his 25+ year career. He started his career as an account representative at a Boston-based PR Agency and grew into leading cross-functional teams and managing 100+ person departments. Prior successes include growing revenues 5x at Atherotech Diagnostics, where he served as the Chief Commercial Officer, and growing online revenues 15x at Invitrogen (now part of ThermoFisher), where he served as the Director of Marketing/Global E-Business. He holds a master’s degree in marketing from Auburn University.

Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Jonice Vanterpool Johnson

Jonice Vanterpool Johnson has over 14 years of combined legal and executive experience. Prior to CIRCULOGENE, Jonice served as Chief Legal Officer and Senior VP for an independent registered investment firm, and as a Senior VP for Sterne Agee & Leach, a national investment banking firm. She has also practiced with national law firms. Jonice has a law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law and a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Alabama – Birmingham.

Chief Commercial Officer

Travis Wold

Travis Wold has been in diagnostic oncology sales for over 15 years and joined CIRCULOGENE in 2019 from Mayo Clinical Labs where he managed commercial sales. Prior to Mayo, he built the sales teams for Veracyte over an 8 year period, growing sales to over $60M. He has also held sales leadership roles with Myriad Genetics and Caris Life Sciences. Travis holds an MBA from UNC, Chapel Hill and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska where he had a basketball scholarship.

Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technology Officer

Lou Apicella

Lou Apicella has more than 25 years of professional experience delivering strategic leadership and oversight of technology, steering process, and performance optimization. Prior to CIRCULOGENE, Lou served as an executive leader to some of the largest laboratories in the US, implementing and designing Laboratory Information Systems, system architecture, and workflow process change. In addition, Lou led and designed the Technology department at NeoGenomics Laboratories and created the first online customer experience reporting system for clients. Lou holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Buffalo in Management Information Systems.

Vice President of Revenue

Jessica Absher

Jessica Absher has more than 15 years of experience optimizing cash flow operations, maintaining consistent revenue growth and improving productivity and financial performance.  Jessica is an established healthcare leader and has a proven track record of maximizing revenue, increasing patient access and reimbursement and building collaborative, high-performing teams.  Prior to CIRCULOGENE, Jessica has held various leadership roles and received multiple awards for her successes at Merz Therapeutics and KentuckyOne Health.  Jessica holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Western Kentucky University and a bachelor’s in psychology from Eastern Kentucky University.

Lab Director

Anthony L. Schmidt, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Dr. Anthony Schmidt is board-certified in anatomical and clinical pathology, and in hematology and transfusion medicine. His expertise in advanced diagnostics is focused on achieving improved patient outcomes through precision testing and clinical support. Dr. Schmidt earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Florida Atlantic University and his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. After completing his pathology residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, Dr. Schmidt received fellowship training in transfusion medicine and hematopathology from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa.

Vice President of Finance

Christy Roden Lee

Christy Roden Lee has 20+ years of experience in financial reporting, analysis, forecasting, budgeting, cash management and controls for healthcare organizations. Christy’s focus has been on reorganizing, streamlining and strengthening financial operations to maximize performance and profitability. Prior to CIRCULOGENE, Christy held the positions of Chief Financial Officer for Lakewood Management Services, Controller for Grandview Medical Center and Assistant Controller for American Family Care. Christy earned both her Bachelor’s in Finance and her MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Vice President of Translational Medicine

Dr. Eric Thompson

Dr. Eric Thompson had years of experience managing and providing consulting services regarding biomarker research across a number of different organizations, including serving as Assistant Director of the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium (PSTC) at The Critical Path Institute. He has been involved in designing and enabling clinical use of molecular profiles for cancer patients. Dr. Thompson has extensive experience in the fields of pharmacology, toxicology, and molecular biology, and spearheaded the development of a proprietary evidence-based medicine engine. He is also responsible for working on business development efforts related to biomarker strategy and custom biopharma assay development. Prior to joining CIRCULOGENE, Dr. Thompson was a Paradigm Diagnostics founder and held the position of Vice President of Biomarker Research. Dr. Thompson has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona and did his Research Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

Vice President of Laboratory Operations

J. Kevin Day, Ph.D., HCLD(ABB)

Dr. J. Kevin Day, Ph.D. is a seasoned laboratory operations leader in the clinical diagnostics arena.  His approach for laboratory excellence is the use of Lean Six Sigma methodologies to engage team members in driving continuous improvement initiatives and quality and cost efficiencies into laboratory processes. Dr. Day is certified through the American Board of Bioanalysis (ABB) as a High Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD). His greater than 20 years of laboratory operations experience was gained across a broad diversity of genetic and genomic-based diagnostic testing methods (including Next Generation Sequencing) in a testing environment regulated by CAP, CLIA, New York State, AABB, and ISO 17025 and ISO 9001. Dr. Day did his doctoral studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia in Biochemical Genetics and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Brigham Young University in Molecular Biology.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Paul Walker

Dr. Paul Walker is the former Director of Thoracic Oncology at East Carolina University and has been the past Program Director and Chief of Hematology/Oncology for the Brody School of Medicine as well as the Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Office. Dr. Walker has multiple medical journal publications including cancer biotherapy with breast and lung cancers. Dr. Walker has been the principal investigator on multiple clinical trials including immune therapy, immune modulating and boosting therapies. He earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, completed his residence at Ball Memorial Hospital, and his medical oncology fellowship at the Medical College of Ohio.

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