Suzie Alarcon CGMBS, MB(ASCP)CM is the manager of the Next Generation Sequencing Core at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and Team Leader of Team LJI - winner of the XPRIZE Rapid COVID Testing competition. Suzie has 18 years of experience working in molecular biology ... in taste, nutrition metabolomics, prenatal clinical diagnostics, epigenetics, and immunology. Her current work focuses on driving research endeavors of collaborators across the US and applies her varied experience to advise on technical development and optimization of NGS upstream workflows. She received her BS in Biology from Ursinus College, PA, US and her clinical training at Sequenom, CA, US.

Martha is a chemist with expertise in diverse areas of analytical chemistry. She had worked as an analyst at a licensed 3rd party analytical laboratory where she focused on developing and validating analytical methods for bioequivalence studies. Later, she had served as a quality ... control expert in the analytical domain and as a monitor in clinical trials. Her interest in the clinical industry led her to be a part of two of the biggest hospitals in Mexico where she gained expertise in hematology, microbiology, and blood banking. Later, she became a member of the team of forensic chemical experts and started working from day one as a specialist in narcotics and drugs. This enabled her to gain rich experience in GC-MS, FTIR, HPLC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, and other analytical techniques for the separation, detection, and quantification of different molecules such as cannabinoids. She had participated in multiple oral trials defending her legal opinions and worked as an expert consultant. She had worked on the synthesis of small molecules for testing them on multi-drug resistant bacteria and mycobacteria, further developing her analytical skills in column chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, microbiology, and compound elucidation by NMR and HRMS. She carried out a research stay at the University of Barcelona with the organic synthesis team. She had also worked on natural products in France and presented her work at conferences in the USA and France. She received awards and accolades for her exceptional work. She has participated in several conferences as a moderator as well. Martha holds a bachelor's degree in Clinical Chemistry from the Faculty of Medicine UANL and a master's degree in Pharmacy from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences UANL, Mexico.

Brian McNally, PhD is a Vice President at Kx Advisors and is based in Washington, DC. Brian brings his deep expertise in diagnostics and life sciences to create tailored growth strategies for his clients. He specializes in corporate strategy, product development, market sizing ... and forecasting, and commercial strategy. Prior to joining Kx, Brian founded Expansome, a boutique consultancy focused on life sciences and diagnostics startups. Earlier in his career, Brian served in various marketing and product development roles at Canon BioMedical and Qiagen. Brian earned his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Texas Southwestern and BS in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Paul Yip is Division Head of Clinical Biochemistry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, and is Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. Prior to his current position, he was at University Health ... Network (UHN) in Toronto as a Clinical Biochemist for 12 years. Dr. Yip is a diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry (DABCC) and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (FCACB). He has served in various leadership positions including Chair of the Chemistry Scientific Committee of the Institute of Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH), and is past Chair of the Upstate New York Section of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). Dr. Yip's professional interests are in the areas of test utilization, laboratory quality management and point-of-care testing. He is passionate about education at all levels of learning, and also the recipient of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC) Award for Education Excellence in 2018. Dr. Yip has authored over 140 journal articles, book chapters, and abstracts.

Dr. Shi earned her doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and subsequently completed a Clinical Chemistry fellowship at the University of Washington Medical Center in the United States. She holds both American and Canadian board certifications in ... Clinical Chemistry. Dr. Shi serves as a clinical biochemist at Vancouver General Hospital and the discipline lead of the tumor marker laboratory. During her training, Dr. Shi developed a strong interest in clinical proteomics, focusing on harnessing the potential of mass spectrometry for the quantitative analysis of large molecules in clinical applications. She actively contributes to knowledge translation through presentations at ADLM (formerly AACC) and MSACL. Her clinical research work, involving the mass spectrometric analysis of thyroglobulin and ACTH, has been published in the Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Chemistry, respectively.

Linda Hasadsri is the Director of the Molecular Technologies Laboratory and the Chair of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She completed her MS in Genetic Counseling at California State ... University Northridge, followed by dual MD & PhD degrees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and finally two fellowships in Clinical Biochemical and Clinical Molecular Genetics at Mayo Clinic. She has since worked at Mayo as a board certified clinical lab director for 8 years. Her areas of expertise include the laboratory diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism, mitochondrial disease, cystic fibrosis, carrier screening, hereditary amyloidoses, hemoglobinopathies, and hereditary epigenomics.

Dr. Matthew Lafrenière is currently a staff Clinical Biochemist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center (SHSC). He completed a postdoctoral training program in Clinical Biochemistry at McMaster University in June 2022 and obtained a PhD at the National Research Council of Canada ... and the University of Ottawa, where he received an NSERC-CREATE Training Program in Medicinal Chemistry and Biopharmaceutical Development. After successful completion of his PhD, he taught as a professor at the University of Ottawa's Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences.