Home: New York, NY. Profession: Molecular biologist, inventor and biotechnology entrepreneur. Organization: Weill Cornell Medicine; co-founder of Chiara BioSciences and AcuamarkDx. Title: Professor of microbiology and immunology. Alma mater: University of Illinois Chicago (B.A., chemistry); The Rockefeller University (Ph.D., microbiology); The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (postdoc, molecular biology).
Current project: Democratizing cancer care through liquid biopsy, machine learning and programmable drugs for treatment-resistant cancers. Latest accomplishment: Co-authoring two 2026 studies advancing an enzymatic liquid-biopsy assay for more affordable and accessible colorectal cancer detection. Latest contribution to others: Mentoring scientists and connecting academic, clinical and industry collaborators to help promising molecular tools reach patients. What’s been your big (or biggest) leap? Expanding from diagnostics into drug discovery by co-founding Coferon Inc. and Chiara BioSciences. Hobbies: Ballroom and swing dancing. What connects your cancer diagnostic and drug development work? Read the disease blueprint; then program the medicine.
Personality profile: Curious, persistent, collaborative and inventive. Moral compass: Listen to the data, give collaborators credit and pursue work that can alleviate suffering from disease. How do you define an ideal business relationship? Intellectual honesty, complementary expertise, shared credit and a passion for democratizing cancer care. What is your greatest joy? Turning unanticipated results into inventions that may improve or save lives. What word or phrase do you use far too often? Listen to the data. What traits matter most in becoming an inventor? Patience and persistence without the loss of enthusiasm.
Besides your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life? Professors Alexander Tomasz and Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith, who taught me rigorous microbiology and molecular biology. What’s the best advice you received in your career? Collaborate with scientists smarter than you. Whenever possible, turn potential competitors into collaborators around a shared mission. What modern technology innovation do you most appreciate? Programmable nucleic-acid technologies: PCR, digital PCR and nanopore sequencing. What is your go-to source of creative inspiration? Brainstorming with my older brother, George—an internationally renowned chemist—and my collaborators. What world event has had the greatest influence on your life? The aftermath of September 11, 2001, redirected part of our laboratory’s work toward rapid, multiplexed detection of pathogens and biothreats. What inspired you to become a scientist working to alleviate suffering from diseases? Both of my parents were Holocaust survivors who devoted their careers to muscular dystrophy. Their resilience and commitment to children affected by the disease inspired my brother and me to pursue science.
What is your big idea?
Read the disease blueprint, then program the medicine. Pair affordable molecular diagnostics with modular treatments selected for the target.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field? Moving cancer care beyond expensive, one-size-fits-all approaches toward affordable, precise detection and programmable treatments aimed at each cancer’s vulnerabilities. What widely held belief do you reject? The most expensive, highest-dimensional test is automatically the best diagnostic. What mega-trend most excites you? The convergence of molecular diagnostics, machine learning and programmable protein degradation. What mega-trend most concerns you? Black-box screening tests reaching patients before their clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness are adequately demonstrated.
What title would you choose for the movie about your life? Misadventures of a Molecular Biology Inventor. What advice would you give your younger self? Find great mentors, collaborate widely, respect your competitors, listen to the data and do not lose enthusiasm when experiments fail. What day in your life would you choose to re-live? August 19, 1991—the day I survived a serious hot-springs accident while collecting organisms in Yellowstone National Park for DNA diagnostics research. If you could solve one medical problem overnight, what would it be? Make early cancer detection accurate and affordable, then connect each result to an effective targeted treatment.
Personal mission: Help democratize cancer care and develop new drugs that may alleviate suffering, giving patients a chance to live longer. Personal motto: Find a way—no matter how many obstacles—to help patients in need. Favorite quote: “Creativity consists of seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought” (attributed to Albert Szent-Györgyi).
