Team

Our Team

We have assembled a world-class interdisciplinary team of experts in systems biology, cancer biology, clinical research, and technology development and commercialization.

Nitin S Baliga, M.S., Ph.D.

Co-founder and Chief Science Officer

Dr. Baliga is a Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, where he also serves as the SVP and Director, in addition to his responsibility as co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Sygnomics. He heads a multi-disciplinary group of scientists to develop and integrate technologies and computational tools into a systems biology framework, specifically for the study of complex biological systems. Dr. Baliga’s group has extensive experience in integrating computational methods and experimental techniques to develop predictive models for characterizing and manipulating complex phenotypes across diverse cancers. Specifically, his team has developed and advanced SYGNAL analysis towards generating predictive models for risk prediction and therapy prioritization for GBM and MM patients.

Dr. Baliga has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles in top international journals grossing more than >40,000 citations. He has served in editorial roles on several international journals including BMC Systems Biology, BMC Bioinformatics, Environmental Microbiology, Nature Scientific Data, and Royal Society Open Science. He has also served on governing and advisory boards of NGOs (e.g., Climate Solutions, DIYBio), and biotechs (e.g., BlueNalu, Syapse). In addition to being a Google SciFoo alumnus, his work has been widely profiled in magazines and journals including The Scientist, Genome Web, Wired Magazine, Genetic Engineering News, ArsTechnica, Xconomy, and Nature Methods. Research in his lab has been supported by NASA, DOE, DOD, NIH, NSF, Kuni Foundation, Paul G Allen Family Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also made significant contributions to science education and outreach through the Systems Education Experiences program he founded over 15 years ago, for which he has won the Alvin J. Thompson award. SEE has impacted more than 2.5 million students and teachers across more than 100 countries. His work on SYstems Genetics Network AnaLysis (SYGNAL) of multi-omics tumor biopsy data from glioblastoma (GBM) and Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients has accelerated the discovery of novel genetic and chemical interventions that act synergistically to alter cancer phenotypes in both cancers. His team also advanced SYGNAL analysis towards inference of causal and mechanistic disease-perturbed transcriptional regulatory networks directly from single cell transcriptomics of an individual patient’s tumor biopsy. SYGNAL networks generated from bulk and single-cell tumor profiling are now being applied toward enabling therapy selection in a clinical setting.

Ashutosh Tiwary, M.S.

Co-Founder and CEO

Mr. Tiwary is the Co-Founder and CEO at Sygnomics in addition to being an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Institute for Systems Biology. Mr. Tiwary is a serial entrepreneur and has founded, built, and sold two technology companies. In addition, he has built software technology businesses for companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Teradata. At Sygnomics he is responsible for all aspects of the execution and delivery for the company, its software technology and its business.

At heart, I am an entrepreneur, innovator and a lifelong learner. After a 30+ year career in the tech industry, I am taking my career in the direction of new learning to focus on mission-oriented disruption in higher education and healthcare/life-sciences so that I can impact the lives of real people every day. ​

As a founder and board member at Sygnomics, our mission is to find SYGNAL in genomics and multi-omics data to find new therapies and re-purpose existing therapies to deliver precision medicine for each patient’s cancer.​

As the first SVP and Executive Dean of the College of Information Technology at Western Governors University, my mission is to deliver high-quality, market relevant, and affordable technology education to the underserved population.​

My prior professional experience spans CEO, General Manager, and SVP roles across the IT Industry, including at Microsoft, AWS, and Teradata. After running two start-ups and two acquisitions, creating and running a product unit at Microsoft, and leading a set of cloud services at AWS, and building the cloud business at Teradata, I am now focused on disruption in higher education and healthcare/life-science.​

Anoop Patel, M.D.

Clinical Lead, Founding member

Dr. Patel is the Clinical Lead for all patient and partner interactions at Sygnomics. He is the subject matter expert for clinical oncology and is responsible for all aspects of clinical engagements with oncologists, tumor boards and our partners. He is currently an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Duke University and the Director of Translational Genomics and Precision Medicine at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. He is an active clinician and researcher, providing him with networks of oncologists in various subspeciality fields that he is able to connect with and leverage to drive clinical engagements on behalf of Sygnomics.

Dr. Patel is a founding member and clinical lead of Sygnomics, Inc. He leads interactions with our clinical partners/collaborators, which include a wide array of both academic and nonprofit/private institutions. Some examples of partnerships that he has worked to develop include academic institutions such as Washington/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Miami, as well as private organizations such as All4Cure and XCures. By facilitating connections between these different organizations, He has been able to further Sygnomics mission of bringing systems biology to the clinic. His primary role is to use my real-world clinical experience in the care of cancer patients to help oversee and guide the design of the SYGNAL Precision Oncology user experience. In particular, he gives guidance on the types of information that need to be included as evidence to support risk and therapy prioritization algorithms, and helps facilitate the development of the SYGNAL precision oncology platform into a highly refined product that adds value to the care of oncology patients.

In addition to his role at Sygnomics, He is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Duke University and the Director of Translational Genomics and Precision Medicine for the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. His research lab focuses on the use of multiomic single cell profiling methods to better understand brain tumor heterogeneity and evolution. As a clinician who interacts with neurosurgeons, neurologists/neuro-oncologists, and pathologists, He is able to facilitate collaboration between these groups. He will continue to have an active surgical practice operating on patients with malignant brain tumors to support his basic science research. As part of his role at Duke, he will continue to expand his basic science research interests in single cell multiomic profiling, precision medicine based on single cell analysis, and developing patient specific model systems for preclinical and clinical testing.

Thomas Brown, M.D., M.B.A.

Clinical Advisor, Founding Team Member

Dr. Brown is a Chief Medical Officer at Syapse. Experienced Executive Director with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry. Skilled in Oncology, Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), Healthcare Management, Healthcare, and Cancer. Strong business development professional who graduated from Rice University. ​

Edward R Truitt, III

Business Advisor, Founding Team Member

Edward R. Truitt, III, JD – Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lubris BioPharma – is a biotech entrepreneur and former corporate attorney. Lubris BioPharma is developing recombinant human lubricin for the treatment of dry eye, osteoarthritis and other age & inflammation-related conditions. Mr. Truitt is also a co-founder of Biological Dynamics, Inc., a company developing novel liquid biopsy diagnostics. Mr. Truitt received his JD from the University of San Diego and his B.A. from UC Santa Barbara. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Mr. Truitt had an active practice in corporate law, focusing on business formation and technology licensing.

Serdar Turkarslan, Ph.D.

Science & Computational Biology Lead, Founding Team Member

Dr. Turkarslan is the Science Lead at Sygnomics in addition to being a Senior Research Scientist at the ISB with training in Cell and Molecular biology and extensive experience and track record for computational biology. He led the development of several web portals for exploration, visualization, and analysis of SYGNAL network models (e.g., Multiple Myeloma Network Portal) and published data management and processing-focused articles for dissemination of large omics datasets. He has both experimental and computational expertise in large-scale omics data analysis and the design and development of computational pipelines. He developed a prototype application SYGNAL Precision Oncology Platform that includes a Clinical Insights Workbench and a patient reporting system that is the foundation for the Clinical Decision Support System.

Science Team

Christopher Uhl Ph.D.

Computational Oncology

Senior Research Scientist with 10 years of experience specializing in the analysis of clinical datasets and development of cell based in vitro and ex vivo assays for cancer therapies. Excel at experimental design and implementation of novel analysis techniques to obtain key outcomes from unique datasets. Proficient at solving complex problems and distilling multifaceted datasets down to actionable insights. Enjoy conveying scientific findings across a wide range of audiences.

Yu He Ph.D.

Machine Learning

Dr. He is working on developing machine learning algorithms for therapy prioritization for cancers. He has over 6 years of experience in machine learning, especially deep learning. He obtained his PhD in Computational and Systems Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He developed a deep-learning based tool to integrate multi-omics data and estimate single-CPG DNA methylation. He was a research scientist at Institute for Systems Biology before joining SYGNOMICS. He developed machine learning models to predict risk for patients with Glioblastoma.

Software Engineering Team

Paul Coleman

Software Architect

Paul Coleman brings over two decades of experience in software engineering, with a specialization in scalable system architectures and cloud computing. With a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Florida, his career is distinguished by a deep commitment to technical excellence and innovation.

At Sygnomics, Paul serves as Software Architect, focusing on the architecture, development, and implementation of the software platform that supports the company’s mission in systems biology and clinical research. His expertise in cloud-native solutions and high availability architectures contributes to the robustness and scalability of Sygnomics’ technology platform, ensuring the reliable analysis and processing of complex biological data.

Prior to joining Sygnomics, Paul’s work spanned several industries where he honed his skills in building maintainable, high-performance software solutions. His roles have consistently emphasized problem-solving, operational efficiency, and the fostering of collaborative environments to drive the successful completion of projects. Paul’s professional journey reflects a continuous pursuit of knowledge and a dedication to leveraging technology for impactful outcomes.

Within the team, Paul is recognized for his methodical approach to challenges and his ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable solutions. His contributions are instrumental in enhancing the company’s computational capabilities, aiming to accelerate research and development efforts in the field of health tech.

Paul’s philosophy centers on the pragmatic application of technology to address real-world problems, a principle that aligns with Sygnomics’ goals of advancing medical science and improving patient outcomes. His work is driven by a passion for innovation and a belief in the transformative power of collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts.

Ethan Repp

Software Lead

Ethan Repp is a leader in software development with over 15 years of experience including over 5 years managing high-performing teams. He possesses deep technical expertise in architecting and designing web applications, cloud services, data analytics, engineering infrastructure, and release strategies. Passionate about connecting customers to products by building frictionless experiences that users love. Known for nurturing products from incubation to maturity, he ensures high standards and quality are maintained through the entire DevOps cycle from development to operations. Before joining Sygnomics, he built dozens of products and services from scratch in the technology and marketing industries. His skills span the entire application stack, and he is as comfortable crafting a beautiful UI as tuning a web service to support millions of users. His deep expertise in cloud-native architecture will be critical in scaling the next phase of the SYGNAL precision oncology platform.