Management

François Ferré, Ph.D., CEO and President 

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.

Joe Monforte, Ph.D., Executive Vice President 

Dr. Monforte has over 20 years experience with genomics research and development. Prior to joining AltheaDx, Dr. Monforte served as Chief Scientific Officer with Althea Technologies. He was also co-founder of GeneTrace Systems where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. He has held management roles at the DOE Joint Genome Institute and within the Toxicology department at SRI International. Dr. Monforte has a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Steven Daniel, Ph.D., Director, Sales and Business Development

Dr. Daniel has over 15 years in the genomics industry, first as a founding scientist of Synteni, Inc., a Stanford University spin-out company pioneering the first cDNA-based microarray technology, later acquired by Incyte Pharmaceuticals.  Since then, he has held sales and business development roles in related companies, including Boulder, CO-based Dharmacon, Inc., and Santa Clara, CA-based Affymetrix.  Dr. Daniel earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California-Davis and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively.

Holly Trotter, Sr. Director, Testing Services

Ms. Trotter manages operations for GLP testing laboratory services. She joined Althea Technologies in early 2001, and brings more than 20 years experience in regulated testing services environments. Early work in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) included managing the BSL Level 3 foreign animal disease testing laboratory at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg. Ms. Trotter and her team notched a significant achievement in garnering the lab ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. Upon arriving in the US, she joined the Virology team at the prestigious San Diego Zoo's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES) as Laboratory Coordinator. Ms. Trotter holds a diploma in biological sciences from the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology in Saskatoon, Canada.

Carin Sandvik, Chief Financial Officer

Prior to joining AltheaDx in December 2009, Ms. Sandvik served as Chief Financial Officer for NovaRx Corporation, where she was responsible for all financial, administrative, and contractual matters. Before her time at NovaRX, she worked as an independent financial consultant serving life sciences companies in the San Diego area, either as the functioning Chief Financial Officer or performing special projects. Ms. Sandvik was also Vice President of Finance for Corautus Genetics for five years, and she also worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for twelve years specializing in acquisitions and SEC reporting. Carin graduated from University of San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.