Nikesh Kotecha, PhD
Jonathan Irish, PhD
Peter Krutzik, PhD
Nikesh Kotecha, PhD
Dr. Kotecha has worked in multiple roles in the life sciences and informatics arena. His interests are in developing informatics approaches for using molecular technologies in translational research. The Cytobank project grew out of his focus in Dr. Garry Nolan’s lab at Stanford University on infrastructure and analysis methods for signaling based flow cytometry assays. Dr. Kotecha used them in his work towards developing a diagnostic for juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (Cancer Cell 2008, cover). Dr. Kotecha’s past experiences include work at TIBCO Spotfire Inc. and Wyeth Ayerst Inc. on developing and presenting software applications for visualization and analysis of various biomedical technologies across the drug development pipeline. He has worked in multiple roles and departments including engineering, technical sales and business development. He received his PhD in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University and his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University.
Jonathan Irish, PhD
Dr. Irish received his PhD from the Cancer Biology program at Stanford while working in Dr. Garry Nolan’s lab. He created a predecessor of Cytobank in order to analyze data from his groundbreaking study of cell signaling events which predict and stratify leukemia patients’ therapy responses (Cell 2004, US Patent 7393656). He was honored as a James H. Clark Fellow (2000-2003) for his innovative research approach, which blends computational and biological techniques, and as a G.J. Lieberman Fellow (2003-2004) for his doctoral thesis on leukemia cell signaling and leadership in the Stanford community. He continued his postdoctoral studies in Dr. Ronald Levy’s lab at Stanford University, where he used clinical signaling profiles to identify a novel type of therapy-resistant cancer cell present in aggressive tumors. He has been a Fellow of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (2005-2008) and is an NIH/NCI Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Awardee (2009-2013).
Peter Krutzik, PhD
Dr. Krutzik has focused his research on the application of flow cytometry to medical discovery, from understanding autoimmune diseases and cancer to automation and high-content drug screening. His technical innovations and biological insights have resulted in over 15 publications in journals such as Nature Chemistry and Biology, Nature Methods, and Cell, and multiple patents related to flow cytometry. He constantly seeks to innovate and to push the boundaries of software analysis tools and cytometry methods, as evidenced by his multiplexing technology, Fluorescent Cell Barcoding. Dr. Krutzik received a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from Stanford University where he was supported by the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral fellowship. He graduated summa cum laude with BS degrees in Chemistry and Biological Sciences from UC Irvine.