We are pioneering the inclusion of the African genome in research

Abasi Ene-Obong is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of 54gene. He holds a PhD in Cancer Biology from University of London, a Masters in human molecular genetics from Imperial College London and a Masters in Business Management from Claremont Colleges, California. He also worked as a cancer researcher and published a seminal paper on pancreatic cancer immunology, Gastroenterology Journal.

He has extensive experience operating in the US, UK and Nigerian healthcare industries. Prior to 54gene, Dr. Ene-Obong worked with leading healthcare organisations, including Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutions, and governments as a management consultant with PwC and IQVIA (formerly QuintilesIMS).

Dr. Ene-Obong founded 54gene, a genomics research, services and development company established to significantly improve the inclusion of African populations in clinical global genomics research. As the African genome is the most genetically diverse in the world, the insights gained by 54gene can power medical breakthroughs and discoveries for the healthcare of not only Africans, but the entire world.

Founded in 2019, 54gene has made the Time Magazine list of 12 innovations that would change healthcare in the 2020s and has been listed by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper as 1 of 5 innovations that would improve healthcare for Africans. 54gene also made the Fast Company list of the world’s ‘Most Innovative Companies’ in 2020. It was also awarded the best health technology solution by AppsAfrica and Dr Ene-Obong was listed as 1 of 30 most innovative entrepreneurs on the African continent in 2019 by Quartz Africa.

Delali Attipoe joins 54gene with over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector ranging from logistics and supply chain management to commercial marketing and managed care. Prior to 54gene, Delali was most recently the Head of Market Access for East Africa within Roche Pharmaceuticals (F. Hoffmann La-Roche AG) as well as held former roles of increasing responsibility within Genentech (a US subsidiary of the Roche group).

A significant portion of her career and personal passion has focused, and continues to focus, on better affordability and accessibility of diagnostics and treatments for patients within healthcare systems.

In addition to her diverse work background, Delali holds a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester; a Masters in Biotechnology (MB) from the University of Pennsylvania; a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business; and received a Certificate in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Washington.

Teresia Bost is the General Counsel at 54gene, and she brings on board extensive knowledge and experience in leading global legal teams across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. She oversees the legal, compliance and cybersecurity functions at 54gene by setting up efficient legal infrastructures in line with the company’s code of ethics, strategic objectives and applicable operations.

Prior to joining 54gene, she was the Vice President / Associate General Counsel, Corporate and Securities at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, where she led a global  team responsible for strategic support of securities matters, corporate governance and finance matters. She also provided legal support to the global Corporate Compliance Program, Anti-Corruption compliance activities and Supply-Chain management. While at Jazz Teresia and her team supported the multi-billion acquisition of GW Pharma. She also served on the Integration Management Office Core team where she was instrumental in contributing to the successful  integration.

Additionally, she has previously held the role of General Counsel at a healthcare technology company – Quartet Health. She also worked  at Celgene for 14 years in roles of increasing responsibility, concluding as Senior Corporate Counsel, Executive Director, where she gained extensive experience in supporting a global biotechnology organization, and contributed significantly to the success of their business, namely supporting 2 strategic acquisitions, several successful product launches and made countless other contributions. Teresia began her career in healthcare as an Associate Attorney at the law firm of Segwick.

Teresia received an LL.M. (Master of Laws) in European Business Law from the University of Amsterdam, and a J.D., Law (Doctor of Law) from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.

Colm O’Dushlaine is a data scientist with over 18 years of experience in computational biology and statistical genetics of large-scale datasets.

He was formerly an associate director of statistical genetics and machine learning at the Regeneron Genetics Center, focused on integrating large-scale genetic datasets with electronic medical record information to find new drug targets.

Prior to this, he was a senior computational biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, specializing in the genetics of psychiatric disease using association scans of array, exome and genome sequence datasets.

He received a BSc in biotechnology from Maynooth University followed by a PhD from Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He gained post-doctoral experience at Trinity College Dublin and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Peter Fekkes joins 54gene with 20 years of industry experience in company environments ranging from major global pharmaceutical to well-established biotech to start-up companies. He brings depth and breadth of experience in discovering molecules against a broad range of targets through diverse drug modalities.

Prior to joining 54Gene, Peter held roles of increasing responsibility at Phylos, SRU Biosystems, the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, H3 Biomedicine, HotSpot Therapeutics and FogPharma.

Most recently, he headed the Discovery Bioscience group at FogPharma, where he was responsible for the hit-to-lead progression of stabilized alpha-helical peptide hits using rigorous biochemical, biophysical, structural and cellular biology approaches to confirm the mechanism of action. In addition, he and his team developed and implemented a multiplexed peptide cell penetration measurement method to help inform on cellular target engagement.

Previously, Peter headed the New Target Platform at HotSpot Therapeutics, where he applied artificial intelligence approaches to the identification of targets with suitable pockets that are functionally involved in allosteric regulation. He also guided the drug discovery efforts on the early target portfolio.

Before that, he successfully built the early drug discovery group at H3 Biomedicine and supported the entry of molecules into the clinic for three different programs, all starting form a well-defined mode-of-action hypothesis and backed by genetic and genomic observations. A signature accomplishment at H3 was the pivotal role he played in elucidating the mode of action of a novel spliceosome modulator now in clinical development.

Peter holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego.

Bari J. Ballew is an experienced human genomics scientist with in-depth knowledge of next generation sequencing data analysis. Her focus at 54gene is on creating robust, scalable, reproducible bioinformatic pipelines, and on applying those pipelines to generate insights into the genomics of African populations.

She previously managed a team at the National Cancer Institute, at the National Institutes for Health, that was responsible for developing analysis capabilities for whole exome, whole genome, metagenomic, and genotyping array data in support of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. Before that, she worked with Personal Genome Diagnostics, where she analyzed NGS data to identify medically actionable mutations in tumors.

Ballew received a BS in cell and molecular biology from The Johns Hopkins University, followed by a PhD in biology from UC San Diego; she received post-doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute.

Arjun is a human geneticist with a focus on patterns of genetic diversity and its implications for complex trait variation. At 54gene, he develops robust and scalable bioinformatic tools to draw population genetic insights and establish evidence for drug targets from African populations.

He previously worked on the population history of modern and ancient populations in Eurasia and ancestry across populations in southern India. He is excited to apply these techniques to better understand population history in African populations and their relationship to the underpinnings of medically actionable traits.

Arjun received a BS in computer science from Cornell University, followed by a PhD in human genetics from the University of Chicago. Prior to 54gene, he conducted his post-doctoral training at Oxford University.  

Esha is a Bioinformatics Engineer on the GDS team at 54gene, responsible for developing and maintaining the data analysis pipelines used for various types of bioinformatics work conducted by the team. This includes implementing and developing pipelines for sequencing and array datasets that are used for performing gene discovery analyses across rare and complex diseases. 

Before joining 54gene, Esha worked for the public health arm of the provincial government of Ontario on COVID-19 genomics data, as a part of a national effort to answer important biological questions about the virus. Her past experience also includes working at a Toronto-based genomics startup to develop a real-time search engine used to crowdsource genetic mutations implicated in disease, and at the The Hospital for Sick Children where she worked on a visual analytics platform used to help curate disease-causing genes and mutations in large sets of sequencing data. 

Esha received a BS in Molecular Genetics, followed by a MSc in Human Genomics and Bioinformatics both from the University of Toronto.

Jumi Popoola is a Molecular Genetics scientist with over a decade of experience. She has worked at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital in London, in collaboration with Merck KGaA, Germany. She designed and implemented screening assays, which enabled fast tracking of drugs into clinical trials for patient benefit.

She has also worked in Chevron as well as with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, to launch the drug Prostatonin into the Nigerian market, for the treatment of enlarged prostate (BPH). She is an active participant in the global drug discovery community.

She graduated from the University of Lagos with a BSc. in Medical Microbiology, as well as from the University of Sheffield, U.K. with both a Masters degree in Molecular and Genomic Medicine and a PhD in Cancer Research.

Kemi Williams is a strategic and results-driven biotechnology leader with over 19 years combined experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics industries.

Her focus at 54gene is on establishing clinical and regulatory services with enabling infrastructure for the successful conduct of clinical trials in Africa and beyond. She brings years of driving clinical excellence, regulatory competence, and operational efficiency to position 54gene as the company of choice for end-to-end clinical development services.

Prior to joining 54gene, Kemi held positions of increasing responsibility at major biotechnology companies, such as Roche, Abbott and Medtronic. Most recently, she was the Head of Clinical Affairs for Siemens Healthineers US molecular business, where she led the development of strategies, structures, and processes for delivering global clinical studies. Some of her accomplishments include active leadership of clinical trials that supported the successful launches of multiple abdominal aortic aneurysm stents, a mitral regurgitation clip for heart failure patients, and multiple in-vitro diagnostic assays and instruments for oncology, infectious diseases and women’s health.

Kemi is passionate about advancing organizational strategies and is driven by a vision to deliver impactful healthcare solutions, through regulatory affairs oversight, clinical evidence generation, and scientific marketing. She holds a B.Sc, Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and an MBA from California State University, Monterey Bay.

Dr. Hinkle established research informatics at Alnylam in 2007 and is responsible for all aspects of in-silico design of RNAi therapeutics as well as the compute infrastructure to support large scale human genetics. Prior to joining Alnylam, Greg established the bioinformatics group within the RNAi platform at the Broad Institute and worked in the bioinformatics groups of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Cereon Genomics.

Jeff Hammerbacher is a Founder and General Partner at Related Sciences. Prior to founding Related Sciences, Jeff was the Principal Investigator of Hammer Lab, a founder and the Chief Scientist of Cloudera, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Accel, the founder and manager of the Data team at Facebook, and a quant at Bear Stearns. In addition to his work at Related Sciences, Jeff is an angel investor with Techammer and is a board member at Ciox and Cytel. Jeff has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Harvard University.

Dr. Manuel Rivas is a biomedical data scientist focusing on population analytics using genomic and phenotype data. He develops statistical models, algorithms, and computational tools for the analysis of millions of samples, with a special emphasis on increasing diversity in genetic studies of human diseases.

Dr. Michael F. Murray’s work is focused on understanding the value of using DNA-based screening of populations in order to identify individuals with disease risk, such as cancer and heart disease, for which preventive-care interventions are available. He joined Yale in 2018 as the director of clinical operations in the newly formed Yale Center of Genomic Health.

In 2019, he led the launch of “Generations”, a population health project that will enroll at least 100,000 volunteers. This project links genomic data with electronic health data in order to enable both research and patient care delivery.

From 2013 to 2018, he was the Geisinger Health System’s first director of clinical genomics. At Geisinger he led the design and implementation of the GenomeFIRST program. GenomeFIRST delivers risk results regarding cancer and heart disease to patients and their healthcare providers, and then guides their clinical management in ongoing screening and prevention.

Prior to his time at Geisinger he was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and was the clinical chief of genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for nine years. He is a physician and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Genetics.

Abasi Ene-Obong is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of 54gene. He holds a PhD in Cancer Biology from University of London, a Masters in human molecular genetics from Imperial College London and a Masters in Business Management from Claremont Colleges, California. He also worked as a cancer researcher and published a seminal paper on pancreatic cancer immunology, Gastroenterology Journal.

He has extensive experience operating in the US, UK and Nigerian healthcare industries. Prior to 54gene, Dr. Ene-Obong worked with leading healthcare organisations, including Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutions, and governments as a management consultant with PwC and IQVIA (formerly QuintilesIMS).

Dr. Ene-Obong founded 54gene, a genomics research, services and development company established to significantly improve the inclusion of African populations in clinical global genomics research. As the African genome is the most genetically diverse in the world, the insights gained by 54gene can power medical breakthroughs and discoveries for the healthcare of not only Africans, but the entire world.

Founded in 2019, 54gene has made the Time Magazine list of 12 innovations that would change healthcare in the 2020s and has been listed by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper as 1 of 5 innovations that would improve healthcare for Africans. 54gene also made the Fast Company list of the world’s ‘Most Innovative Companies’ in 2020. It was also awarded the best health technology solution by AppsAfrica and Dr Ene-Obong was listed as 1 of 30 most innovative entrepreneurs on the African continent in 2019 by Quartz Africa.

Delali Attipoe joins 54gene with over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector ranging from logistics and supply chain management to commercial marketing and managed care. Prior to 54gene, Delali was most recently the Head of Market Access for East Africa within Roche Pharmaceuticals (F. Hoffmann La-Roche AG) as well as held former roles of increasing responsibility within Genentech (a US subsidiary of the Roche group).

A significant portion of her career and personal passion has focused, and continues to focus, on better affordability and accessibility of diagnostics and treatments for patients within healthcare systems.

In addition to her diverse work background, Delali holds a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester; a Masters in Biotechnology (MB) from the University of Pennsylvania; a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business; and received a Certificate in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Washington.

A practicing medical oncologist, she is the Walter L Palmer Distinguished Service professor of medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago Medical Center. As a clinician scientist, Dr. Olopade’s research is focused on advancing novel strategies to prevent and treat cancer based on an understanding of the altered genetic pathways in individual patients.

Dr. Olopade has received numerous honors and awards, including honorary degrees from Bowdoin, Princeton, North Central, and Dominican universities. She is also a recipient of the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist and Exceptional Mentor Award, an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Franklin Roosevelt Freedom from Want Award, The Gregory Mendel Medal, and Officer of the Order of the Niger Award.

Dr. Olopade is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She currently serves on the board of directors for the MacArthur Foundation, the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and is a Scientific Board Advisor for Tempus and Cancer IQ. Dr. Olopade received her bachelor’s and medical degree from the University of Ibadan in her native country Nigeria.

Jenny has worked in finance for more than 16 years, beginning as an investment banker advising corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity financings at Goldman Sachs’ Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco offices. She has always been passionate about improving the health and lives of those living in low- and middle-income countries and spent time working and living in Kenya and China. In Kenya, Jenny spent almost a year as a volunteer consultant for Technoserve, a non-profit business consultancy for small-holder farmers and small to medium businesses.

In 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was expanding its strategic investment efforts from a pilot program to a larger scale fund. As part of a small but growing team, Jenny pushed the envelope on how private foundations could achieve charitable objectives by using philanthropic capital and program-related investments to complete equity, debt, structured finance, and guarantee investments in companies and investment funds. Jenny led transactions across the foundation’s focus areas in global health, agriculture, nutrition, and education. She represented BMGF’s interests on numerous boards including Kymab (UK), Acrobatiq (US), Ustar Technologies (China), and Owl Ventures (USA). She also serves on the Investment Advisory Committee at the Reproductive Health Investors’ Alliance (US).

Jenny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in History of Science.

Patrice Milos is a biotech CEO with a PhD in molecular genetics and biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic and over 25 years of industry experience as an entrepreneur and senior executive operating at the intersection of genomics and medicine in companies focused on translational science ranging from start-ups to global pharmaceutical leaders.

As an expert on precision care and translational sciences across multiple therapeutic areas, she also serves as an NIH grant reviewer and sits on the tech advisory boards of Creyon Bio, Paradigm4, Binx Health, UltraPlaCad, and SeqLL.