James G. Evans, Ph.D.
CEO

Dr. Evans has a background in cell and molecular biology with extensive expertise in fluorescence imaging and informatics. Dr Evans earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh at the Medical Research Councils Reproductive Biology Unit in 1998 and later undertook post-doctoral training in the labs of Dr Jerome Groopman (Harvard Medical School) and Prof Paul Matsudaira (Whitehead Institute and MIT). Since leaving academia, Dr Evans has been involved in commercialization of life science research both for technology platforms and drug discovery. Outside of work James enjoys surfing, ice cream and chasing around his kids!

Anthony Essex, Ph.D.
CSO

Dr. Essex is an expert in cell biology and disease models having earned his PhD from the University of California, San Diego in 2009 while working in Prof. Arshad Desai's lab. Postdoctoral work in the lab of Prof. Leanne Jones at the Salk Institute provided in-depth experience with advanced stem cell models. Tenures at several biotech companies have provided Dr. Essex with a deep understanding of how to leverage cell-based models and quantitative imaging to better understand disease. When not at work, Tony enjoys surfing, traveling with his wife, and reading.

Matthew Stoltz
Sr. Director of Business Development

Matt is a sales and business development professional with a long history of working for high end imaging and drug discovery companies.  An anthropologist by training he started his professional life by managing a lab at UMass Medical and from there moved into a 3D Imaging Specialist role.  Over the years he has worked for a number of major imaging equipment manufacturers representing both traditional microscopy and high content systems in the New England area.  Outside of work Matt enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and working on his old Suburban.

Vipat Raksakulthai
Director of Business Development East

Vipat has a background in cell biology with expertise in high throughput screening, high content imaging, and applications support. He earned his BS in Biology from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  After working at the bench at organizations such as Millennium (now Takeda), Amgen, and the Broad Institute, he then spent many years working in field application scientist roles supporting lab automation and liquid handling, cellular imaging and analysis, contract research in vitro cell biology services, and synthetic biology.  His most recent business development role included supporting the New England academic and biotech community territory for cell biology services and reagents for gene editing and modulation.  In his spare time, Vipat enjoys cooking and eating food, gardening, and keeping his two young sons and recently rescued German Shepard/pit bull puppy occupied. 

Jim Wiley
Director of Business Development

Jim has a background in molecular biology with expertise in optical imaging, biotherapeutics, and applications support. He earned his BS in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After working at the bench at Pharmacia PL Biochemicals in Milwaukee, WI, he spent many years working in Japan as a field application scientist supporting various genomics assays and their supporting imaging and reagent products. His most recent business development role included driving and supporting LI-COR Biosciences’ product and assay solutions developed for those researchers conducting proteomics based therapeutic development. In his spare time, Jim enjoys hiking, cooking, watching football and spending quality time with his family. 

Andrew Miller
Business Development Representative

Andrew has a background in chemistry and chemical engineering within the Boston biotech space. After earning his BS in Chemistry from Northeastern, Andrew spent several years at pharmaceutical and biotech startups in Cambridge, MA. There, he spent time designing experiments at the R&D benchtop while also providing technical expertise for internal teams or external clients. Outside of work, Andrew can be found reading sci-fi, baking bread, or playing the most complicated board games he can find.

Aisling Ogilvie
Business Development Representative

Aisling is a sales professional with experience supporting researchers in the life science sector. She earned her BHSc in Biomedical Science from the University of Calgary while pursuing a thesis on the vibrational profiling of Temozolomide treated glioblastomas. During her spare time, Aisling enjoys reading, exploring the outdoors, and meeting new people.

Gianna Dias
Business Development Representative

Gianna is a driven young sales professional and recent graduate of Washington State University with a B.S. in Biology. While attending WSU, she worked in a lab studying Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease. Gianna recently moved to Seattle and loves exploring all that the area has to offer. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, skiing, golfing, and traveling with friends and family.

Vicki Racicot
Director of Application Scientists

Vicki has a background in cell biology with extensive expertise in cell based assay development, high content imaging, and applications support. She earned her BA in Biology/Biotechnology from Assumption College in Worcester, MA and a MS in Plant Cell Biology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Vicki began her career working as a bench scientist for several biotech/pharma companies, with significant experience in developing secondary cell based assays to advance early phase oncology drug discovery programs.  She then spent many years working in field application scientist roles supporting high content imaging, bioproduction, and microarray scanning instrumentation and software and most recently contract research in vitro cell biology services. In her spare time, Vicki enjoys seeing live music, cooking for friends and family, camping, and international travel.

Ana Wang, Ph.D.
Product Manager

Ana has a background in biochemistry/chemical biology with expertise in proteomics. She has a BSc in biochemistry from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA and a PhD in chemical biology from Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA. Ana has worked in a start-up company to develop novel sample preparation workflows for proteomic analysis and in another biotech company as a scientific writer. In her spare time, Ana can be found in a local studio teaching yoga, on the trails backpacking/hiking, or cuddled up with her 16-lb cats with her nose in a book.

Sarah Wang
Digital Marketing Associate I

Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree in Computational Media at the Georgia Institute of Technology and has a background in graphic design and web development. Prior to working at PhenoVista, she was the marketing administrator for a reseller of land surveying equipment and supplies. In her free time, Sarah likes drawing, playing video games, and watching sitcoms.

Chris Koehler, Ph.D.
Director of Scientific Operations

Chris values efficiency.  B.S. with honors in Biology from Trinity University, M.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology from UCSD, Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from UCLA.  Dr. Koehler has extensive experience in microscopy, cell culture, and genetics with a particular interest in stem cell metabolism and aging.

Erika Martin
Director of Laboratory Operations

Erika Martin is an industry-experienced scientist with a background in molecular and cellular biology with an extensive 10 year background in quantitative fluorescent imaging, garnered at the Whitehead Institute and MIT. Supplemented with valuable experience in embryonic stem cell biology while employed at the Salk Institute. Upon moving into Laboratory Manager positions in GLP environments, became skilled in the development and running of high content screening assays and managing a GLP lab space. Mrs. Martin has been the laboratory manager at PhenoVista since 2015. Outside of the lab, Erika can be found at brunch with friends, taking pictures of her cats, or getting lost in a book or video game.

Ladan Naghavian
Project Manager

Ladan has a background in bioengineering. She received her BSc & MSc from University of California San Diego (UCSD) Department of Bioengineering. She worked in several research labs at UCSD, and her research focus was cancer biology and optogenetics. She switched gears to project management for biotech & drug discovery companies after graduate school. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Marshall Peterman, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Scientific Operations

Marshall is a cell biologist with extensive experience in early stage-drug discovery programs. He earned a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Diego where he used fluorescence microscopy to elucidate oncogenic mechanisms of the first-known Golgi oncogene. He has experience in preclinical R&D for drug targets in the areas of oncology, neurodegeneration, ophthalmology, and antivirals. Outside of work, Marshall enjoys spending time (especially camping!) with his wife and their three children.

Nimesha Tadepalle, Ph.D.
Scientist III

Nimesha has a background in Cell and Molecular Biology with experience in neurodegenerative disease modeling. She earned her PhD from University of Cologne, Germany where she studied the role of lipid metabolism in the neurodegenerative disease Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. She then went on to do her postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California where she investigated the contribution of mitochondrial-mediated inflammation in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. In her free time, you can find Nimesha going for long walks/on trails, cooking, traveling, or trying (and often failing) to learn a new skill.

Stephen Gilmore, Ph.D.
Scientist II

Stephen is a cell biologist focused on understanding neuronal biology and disease with over 10 years of biochemistry and fluorescent microscopy experience. During both his Ph.D. and postdoctoral work, Steve used a variety of fluorescent imaging techniques to understand how compromised cell biology systems, such as mitochondria and the endo-lysosomal pathway, contribute to the development and propagation of neurodegenerative disease. Steve enjoys being on the cutting edge of microscopic imaging and capturing visually striking, data-rich images of dynamic cellular processes. In his free time, Steve enjoys riding his bikes, cooking, and spending time with his wife and son.

Maggie Boyd, Ph.D.
Scientist I

Maggie has a background in biomedical engineering with experience using fluorescence microscopy to study encapsulated in vitro protein expression systems. She has bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Physics from the University of Montana and earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University, where she was awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship to develop biologically based biosensing platforms for the detection of water contaminants. Outside of work, Maggie is often hiking, skiing, playing video games, or drawing.

Dennis McDuffie, Ph.D.
Scientist I

Dennis' background is in biomedical engineering, with experience in both computational biology and tissue engineering. He earned his Bachelors in biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia where he worked to develop in silico genome-scale metabolic models. He then completed his PhD, also in biomedical engineering, at the University of Miami where he developed a liver-on-chip platform. Outside of work, Dennis enjoys running, hiking, and traveling.

Tyler Collins
Associate Data Analyst

Tyler is experienced with computational modeling and processing large data sets. He earned his bachelors in Bioengineering at UC Merced, and then pursued a masters in Bioengineering: Biomechanics from SDSU where he created a predictive algorithm for migrating cancer cells in 3D. He spends his free time producing electronic music and playing pinball.

Jonathan Taylor
Data Analyst

Jonathan has a background in neurobiology and data analytics. He earned his B.S. in neurobiology from Carnegie Mellon, and during that time he conducted research projects in the systems neuroscience and cell & molecular biology fields. He then stayed at Carnegie Mellon and earned his M.S. in data analytics for science, where he focused on developing data science/machine learning techniques to analyze scientific data. In his free time, Jonathan is always chillin’. You will probably find him playing/watching basketball, practicing the guitar, blasting music or playing video games.

Jake Buford
Assistant Laboratory Manager

Jake is a researcher with experience in microbiology, biochemistry, and clinical lab techniques. He earned his B.S. in Biomedical Science and Psychology at the University of New Hampshire. While attending UNH, he worked in an animal medical lab. After graduation, Jake moved out west to start work as a research associate at Phenovista Biosciences. In his free time, he likes to walk his dog, play disc golf and listen to the Stuff You Should Know podcast.

Kourosh Kouhmareh
Senior Research Associate

Kourosh is a researcher that has experience with genome assembly and genome annotation. He earned his B.S in Bioengineering & Bioinformatics at UC Santa Cruz. Kourosh worked at Mesa Biotech where he helped design lateral flow assay tests before joining PhenoVista. His biggest dream is to become a professor and teach biochemistry at a four year university. In his free time, Kourosh enjoys surfing, listening to rap music, watching sports, and drawing.

Charlene Vong
Research Associate II

Charlene is a recent UCSD graduate with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology and minor in Computer Science. Prior to Phenovista, she assisted studies on enhancing the defense mechanism of various plants. She hopes to spend her free time exploring and learning more about the beauty of mycological species, but currently spends her free time on the internet looking at them.

Alexandra Shea
Research Associate II

Alexandra is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Sociology. She hopes to one day return to school to further her education. In her free time she enjoys reading, playing board games and hiking with her dog.

Trevor Jones
Research Associate I

Trevor is a researcher with experience in biochemistry and microbiology. He is a graduate of UCSD with a B.S. in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. Before coming to PhenoVista, he was working with a small start-up cancer research team called January Therapeutics. During his free time, he is working toward going to medical school and spending time in the ocean on his kayak.

Reese Prentice
Senior Research Associate I

Reese is a recent graduate from UC San Diego. She earned her B.S. in Cognitive and Behavioral
Neuroscience with a minor in Global Health. Reese wants to further her education by attending graduate school in the future. In her free time, Reese enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles, playing video games, and spending time with family.

Ekaterina Kirik
Research Assistant I

Ekaterina has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration. However, she decided to challenge herself and switch careers. Upon completion of the required coursework, she earned her Associate’s in Biology and transitioned into the biotech industry becoming a Research Assistant at Phenovista. In her free time she enjoys hiking, yoga, and playing tennis.

Christina Flores
Office Manager

Christina has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Healthcare Administration and background in government and non-governmental administration. She served three years as a U.S. Diplomat at the U.S. Embassy, Guatemala City and U.S. Embassy Windhoek, Namibia. Christina also has 10 years experience in end of life care coordination. She enjoys lifting, volleyball, anything sci-fi, and hosting parties.