
Welcome to Exploragen
Our leadership team
Ron Andrews
Co-founder and Chief Exploration Officer
Ron’s career in the clinical and molecular diagnostics industry has focused on cancer research and using genetic sequencing can extend life. He’s led some of the industry’s most influential companies, including Thermo Fisher Scientific, Life Technologies, Clarient, Inc., and Roche Molecular Diagnostics. An advocate for the democratization of information, Mr. Andrews is active on Capitol Hill and speaks regularly on healthcare transparency. He serves on numerous boards and is a student of the Servant Leadership philosophy.
Sara Riordan
Co-founder and Head of Science
Sara Riordan is a genetic counselor with a background in molecular genetic research who believes everyone should have access to the insights that reside in their DNA. In a career spanning both academia and industry, Sara has specialized in oncology, precision medicine, and consumer genomics. Sara is excited by the potential for people to make new discoveries by interacting with their DNA information on a daily basis. A student and teacher of leadership, Sara speaks regularly at national conferences and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.
Shannon Kieran
Co-founder and Head of Operations
As a leader in personalized genomics, Shannon has vowed to make consumer access to DNA a reality. Educated with an MBA and cross-trained as a board-certified genetic counselor, she thrives at the intersection of biology and business. Her innovative roles at biotech companies including Life Technologies, Navigenics, and Thermo Fisher Scientific complement her time spent one-on-one with patients. Shannon is a serial entrepreneur at heart; she embraces the chaos of startups while offering structure and efficiency to drive her teams to success.
Ruby Gadelrab Tudor
Head of Commercial Strategy
Ruby is a seasoned genetics executive whose expertise lies in commercialization. Her previous roles included VP of Commercial Marketing at 23andMe, Head of Marketing at Invitae and Head of International Marketing at Affymetrix. She’s passionate about bringing genetics out of the lab and into the hands of consumers, in engaging, fun, and useful ways.
Carl Watts
Head of Technology
Computer science is in Carl’s DNA. He honed his skills at technology companies including Bell Northern Research, Interval Research, ParcPlace Systems, and Palm Computing. Jumping into biotech in 2008 as a senior software engineer at Navigenics, he later partnered with Life Technologies before coming to Exploragen.
Our advisors
Linda Avey
Linda Avey co-founded 23andMe, the world’s first personal genetics service, and is an internationally acclaimed entrepreneur and pioneer in direct-to-consumer genomics, with over 25 years’ experience working in the biopharma industry. She is currently the co-founder of Precise.ly and a member of the Board of Fellows at Stanford University School of Medicine. She served as the founding director for the board of Rock Health and is a board director at Perlara PBC.
Dr. Geoffrey Ginsburg
Dr. Ginsburg is the founding director for the Duke Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and for MEDx, a partnership between the Schools of Medicine and Engineering to spark innovation at this interface. His research addresses the challenges for translating genomic information into medical practice and the integration of precision medicine into healthcare.
He is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH and is a founder and co-chair of the Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative. He is co-chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Genomic and Precision Health.
Eric Rasmussen
Eric Rasmussen is a leading market research executive and advocate. Currently the Vice President, Consumer Insights at Groupon overseeing all qualitative and quantitative research for Groupon US and 17 International markets. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Rasmussen has built and scaled consumer research divisions at blue-chip organizations such as eBay, GoTo.com, Yahoo, and Shutterfly.
Dr. Stuart Kim
Dr. Stuart Kim brings nearly 30 years of scientific leadership in the area of sports genetics and the impact of aging on diseases such as kidney disease. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Developmental Biology and Genetics at Stanford University, and was a member of the National Science Advisory Council for the American Federation for Aging Research. Dr. Kim is nationally recognized as a Markey Scholar, a Searle Scholar, and an Ellison Scholar.
Michelle Cargill
Dr. Michele Cargill is a noted human geneticist with a two-decade track record of scientific innovation. She is currently a Fellow at Invitae Corporation and previously co-founded Invitae Corporation, served as Vice President of Genetics at Navigenics, and was Associate Director of Genomic Collaborations at Affymetrix.
Join Our Team
Looking to be on the cutting edge of science and technology?
We’re always looking for awesome talent.
If you’re interested, drop us a line.
Join Our Team
Looking to be on the cutting edge of science and technology?
We’re always looking for awesome talent.
If you’re interested, drop us a line.