Board of Directors

The management team at AltheaDx has a proven record of success in clinical diagnostics.

Ann Kessler Ph.D

Dr. Kessler has 27 years of full-time pharmaceutical industry experience in the United States and Europe with Hoffmann - La Roche, where she served as Director of International Project Management and was responsible for global project development decisions. She also held previous positions as Director of the Division of Exploratory Research, the Departments of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy and the Department of Biochemical Nutrition. Her managerial responsibilities in Research and Development concerned the discovery and development of novel drugs for global registration and launch in a number of therapeutic areas, including nervous system disorders. She holds 16 patents concerning pharmacological approaches to diseases.

James Glavin, Director, Althea Technologies, Inc.
Healthcare Industry Executive

Mr. Glavin has been active in the healthcare industry for more than forty years, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of Althea Technologies since December 1997. Mr. Glavin was Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Immune Response Corporation, where he also served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining The Immune Response Corporation, Jim served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Smith Laboratories, Inc., a medical products company. Jim has also been a healthcare analyst on Wall Street, a venture capitalist and has helped turn-around several struggling companies. Jim served as a Director of Inhale Therapeutic Systems, Inc., AVANIR Pharmaceuticals and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Meridian Fund. In addition, Jim has assisted with founding several healthcare startup companies and has served in top management positions therein. Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Holy Cross College and a MBA degree from Harvard Business School.

J. Matthew Mackowski, Director
Chairman, Managing Director, Telegraph Hill Partners

Mr. Mackowski has served on Althea Technologies’ Board since 2006. He has been a healthcare-focused venture capital investor since 1980. He began his venture capital career with Citicorp Venture Capital, where he was VP and a member of the investment executive committee. Mr. Mackowski later joined Robertson, Stephens and Co. and was partner and Chairman of the Venture Capital Group. In 1991 he formed Mackowski and Shepler, an investment partnership focused on developing life science and medical technologycompanies and the predecessor to Telegraph Hill Partners (THP) where he serves as Chairman and Managing Director. He received a BA from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School.

Deval Lashkari Ph.D.
Director, Partner, Telegraph Hill Partners

Dr. Lashkari joined Althea Technologies’ Board of Directors in 2006. He has been actively involved in developing and commercializing novel technologies in the life sciences area over the past 16 years. Dr. Lashkari gained corporate and business development experience through senior management positions in a number of biotechnology companies. In addition, he was a founding Research Director at Synteni, which was acquired by Incyte Genomics, where he was Director of Product Development and with Operon Technologies, which was acquired by Qiagen. He received a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Magda Marquet Ph.D.
Founder and co-Chair Althea Technologies

Dr. Marquet is a co-founder of Althea Technologies, Inc., a San Diego company that provides services and technologies to streamline drug development. Dr. Marquet has over twenty years of experience in the biotechnology industry in the United States and Europe. She was formerly Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Development at Vical Incorporated, where she patented several novel methods for the production of clinical grade DNA for use in gene therapy and DNA vaccines. Prior to joining Vical, Dr. Marquet held management positions at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Protein Polymer Technologies, Syntro Corporation and Transgene. Dr. Marquet is a member of the board of Directors of BIOCOM and UCSD Athena. Dr. Marquet holds a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Toulouse/INSA, France. Dr. Marquet has received numerous prizes throughout her career. She was the winner of the 2005 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Life Sciences category, the 2005 UCSD Athena Pinnacle award in Technology and the 2004 Women Who Mean Business award from the San Diego Business Journal.

François Ferré Ph.D.
Founder and co-Chair Althea Technologies

Dr. Ferré is a co-founder of Althea Technologies, Inc, a San Diego company that provides services and technologies to streamline drug development. He has over twenty years of experience in cancer research and HIV clinical development. Dr. Ferré has held management positions at Cytometrics and The Immune Response Corporation. Dr. Ferré is a leader in gene quantification and biomarker development with over fifteen years of experience in the field. He has published several authoritative reviews on the topic of gene quantification, co-edited a bestseller book on PCR with Dr. Kary Mullis and Dr. Richard Gibbs, and edited a book on the topic of gene quantification. Dr. Ferré received his Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology from the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France and did his post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ferré was the winner of the 2005 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Life Sciences category.