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Leadership and Board of Directors
John Aballi has served as President and CEO since October 2022. He most recently served as SVP, GM, Urology and CLIA COO for Veracyte, a San Francisco based molecular diagnostic company. In this role, he maintained P&L responsibility for the business unit, ultimately expanding the urology franchise to $120 million-plus in annual revenue while maintaining responsibility for the company’s market access, billing and customer service functions in addition to Veracyte’s four US-based CLIA laboratories. Prior to this role, Mr. Aballi was a key member of the leadership team which transformed Decipher Biosciences to the market leader in genomic testing for prostate cancer. Decipher Biosciences was sold to Veracyte in March 2021 for $600 million and Mr. Aballi served as the SVP & Chief Operating Officer at the company, responsible for all aspects of operations including sales, quality management, medical operations, customer service, software development, assay development, billing, managed care, and laboratory operations; he assumed this role in August 2018. Mr. Aballi previously served as the Head of Operations at Molecular Stethoscope, a company developing cell-free RNA based diagnostics, from September 2015 to August 2018. Prior to joining Molecular Stethoscope, Mr. Aballi served in various senior roles at Genoptix from January 2007 to September 2015.
Mr. Aballi was a Board Member of PFS Genomics in San Diego, a molecular diagnostic company specializing in proprietary signature development in breast cancer, which was acquired by Exact Sciences in 2021. He holds an MBA from California Baptist University and dual degrees from UC San Diego in biochemistry and cell biology and economics.
Jeff Black has served as Chief Financial Officer since September 2024. Mr. Black brings more than 30 years of financial and accounting experience, having previously served in a variety of finance leadership roles for eight publicly traded companies. Prior to joining Exagen, Mr. Black served as CFO of Standard BioTools, where he played a key leadership role in executing its merger with SomaLogic, creating a diversified leader in life science tools. Prior to that, he was CFO of Apollo Endosurgery, where he was instrumental in the Company’s turnaround and eventual $650 million sale to Boston Scientific. Previously, he spent over four years as CFO of Alphatec Spine, where he successfully closed nearly $500M in financing transactions, to support accelerated growth, two strategic acquisitions and expansion of the company’s market cap from $20M to over $1B during his tenure. He graduated from the University of Arizona with dual degrees in Accounting and Marketing before beginning his career at EY.
Dr. Mike Nerenberg has served as Chief Medical Officer since May 2023, having previously served in a variety of executive roles at eight medical diagnostic/biotech companies in California. Prior to joining Exagen, Dr. Nerenberg served as SVP for Medical and Clinical Affairs at Curative Inc, a COVID testing and vaccination company that evolved into a commercial insurance provider where he helped grow their product pipeline. Prior to this role, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Alamar Biosciences, a Bay Area company that developed ultrasensitive immunodetection products for the early detection of cancer from liquid biopsies. He also held the position of CMO of Molecular Stethoscope, an RNA-based liquid biopsy company in San Diego. Dr. Nerenberg’s longest tenure was at Genoptix, where he helped develop the business model and grow the team from 10 to over 750 employees prior to its acquisition by Novartis. He is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and 20 patents. Dr. Nerenberg graduated from Yale Medical School and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a postdoc at the NCI and served as faculty at the Scripps Research Institute prior to entering industry.
Dr. Prashanti Reddy brings over 15 years of expertise in Flow Cytometry, Diagnostic Hematopathology, and Oncology to her role at Exagen. With a distinguished career including leadership positions at Berkeley's Kaiser Permanente and Genoptix Medical Laboratories, she has made significant contributions to both clinical practice and research. Dr. Reddy's efforts in flow cytometry assay development have helped enhance diagnostic methodologies and her contributions to digital pathology integration have similarly propelled advancements in the field. Holding an MD from JSS Medical College, India, and completing her residency and fellowship in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and Hematopathology respectively at UC Davis, she further augmented her skills with an M.S. in Medical Informatics from the same institution. Dedicated to spearheading advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic drug monitoring, Dr. Reddy remains steadfast in her commitment to developing pioneering products that elevate patient care and enhance outcomes.
Ron Rocca
President & CEO
Fortunato Ron Rocca has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors since December 2011. From 2005 to October 2011,...
Dr. Thierry Dervieux
Chief Scientific Officer, Medical Director, New York
Thierry Dervieux, Ph.D. has served as our Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Laboratory Director since October 2010. Dr. Dervieux has nearly 20 years of experience...
Kamal Adawi
Chief Financial Officer
Kamal Adawi has served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2017. Kamal previously held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and...
Arthur Weinstein, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Arthur Weinstein, M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since October 2017 and has been a member of our board of directors since December 2013. Dr. Weinstein...
Claudia Ibarra
Senior Vice President Laboratory Operations
Claudia Ibarra has served as our Senior Vice President, Laboratory Operations since January 2017, after being our Vice President, Laboratory Operations from 2014. She...
Mark Hazeltine
Vice President of Finance
Mark Hazeltine has served as our Vice President of Finance since June 2017. Mr. Hazeltine served as Exagen’s Sr. Director of Financial Planning and Analysis...
Brian Littlefield
Vice President, Information Services
Brian Littlefield has served as our Vice President, Information Services since April 2014. Prior to joining Exagen, Mr. Littlefield served as the Senior Director,...
Brian McEvilly
Vice President of Marketing
Brian McEvilly has served as our Vice President of Marketing since February 2016. Brian joined us with nearly 20 years of medical marketing experience including his...
Tami Powell (York)
Vice President, Corporate Payer and Reimbursement Strategy
Tami Powell has served as our Vice President of Corporate Payer and Reimbursement Strategy since September 2017, after being our Senior Director, Corporate Payer...
John Wegener
Vice President, Sales & Managed Markets
John Wegener has served as our Vice President, Sales and Managed Markets since November 2013. Prior to joining Exagen, Mr. Wegener served in various capacities with...
Board of Directors
Tina S. Nova, Ph.D. has extensive experience growing dynamic commercial organizations in new markets within the molecular diagnostics field. Dr. Nova currently serves as president of Veracyte's U.S. CLIA business. She previously held the position of president & chief executive officer of Decipher Biosciences until March 2021.
Dr. Nova has also worked as president and chief executive officer of Molecular Stethoscope, Inc., and served as senior vice president and general manager of Illumina’s oncology business unit. Dr. Nova was a co-founder of Genoptix, a medical laboratory diagnostics company, and served as its president and chief executive officer from 2000 to 2014. Genoptix was acquired by Novartis AG in 2011. Dr. Nova was co-founder of Nanogen, a provider of molecular diagnostic tests, and served as its chief operating officer and president from 1994 to 2000. She previously served as chief operating officer of Selective Genetics, and held various positions with Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Hybritech. Dr. Nova serves as the chair of the board of directors for Arena Pharmaceuticals and as a member of the board of directors of Veracyte, a diagnostics company.
Dr. Nova received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine, and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside.
John Aballi has served as President and CEO as well as on the board of directors since October 2022. He most recently served as SVP, GM, Urology and CLIA COO for Veracyte, a San Francisco based molecular diagnostic company. In this role, he maintained P&L responsibility for the business unit, ultimately expanding the urology franchise to $120 million-plus in annual revenue while maintaining responsibility for the company’s market access, billing and customer service functions in addition to Veracyte’s four US-based CLIA laboratories. Prior to this role, Mr. Aballi was a key member of the leadership team which transformed Decipher Biosciences to the market leader in genomic testing for prostate cancer. Decipher Biosciences was sold to Veracyte in March 2021 for $600 million and Mr. Aballi served as the SVP & Chief Operating Officer at the company, responsible for all aspects of operations including sales, quality management, medical operations, customer service, software development, assay development, billing, managed care, and laboratory operations; he assumed this role in August 2018. Mr. Aballi previously served as the Head of Operations at Molecular Stethoscope, a company developing cell-free RNA based diagnostics, from September 2015 to August 2018. Prior to joining Molecular Stethoscope, Mr. Aballi served in various senior roles at Genoptix from January 2007 to September 2015.
Mr. Aballi was a Board Member of PFS Genomics in San Diego, a molecular diagnostic company specializing in proprietary signature development in breast cancer, which was acquired by Exact Sciences in 2021. He holds an MBA from California Baptist University and dual degrees from UC San Diego in biochemistry and cell biology and economics.
Ana Hooker has served as the SVP, Chief Laboratory Officer at Exact Sciences Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, since 2022. Ms. Hooker joined Exact Sciences as their Senior Vice President in March 2013 with a focus on opening a new clinical laboratory in preparation for the launch of Cologuard. Prior to joining Exact Sciences Corporation, Ms. Hooker was at ARUP Laboratories for 15 years. While at ARUP Laboratories, Ms. Hooker held positions of increasing responsibility, including Group Manager for the Divisions of Oncology and Genetics, Technical Supervisor of the University of Utah Hospital Clinical Laboratories, Vice President, Division Manager for genetics and Senior Vice President, Division Manager for anatomic pathology, oncology and genetics. Ms. Hooker currently serves on the boards of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Dane County and the Overture Center for the Arts. Ms. Hooker is also a member of the Latino Professional Association (LPA), Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA), Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP), and the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS). Ms. Hooker earned a Bachelor of Science from Kansas State University, a medical technologist degree from Hays Pathology Laboratories, and an M.B.A. from Westminster College.
Bruce Robertson, Ph.D. is a Managing Director of H.I.G. BioHealth Partners, the healthcare affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm with over $31 billion under management.
Dr. Robertson has been active in the life sciences sector for more than 30 years. Prior to joining H.I.G., he served most recently as Managing Director at Toucan Capital, a venture capital fund focusing on healthcare investments. Prior to his private equity career, Dr. Robertson was Director of Business Development at IGEN International, where he was responsible for formulating and implementing IGEN's partnering and M&A strategies. Dr. Robertson started his career as a Research Manager at W.R. Grace & Co., focusing on medical devices.
Dr. Robertson currently serves on the boards of Apollo Endosurgery, RxSight, CardioFocus, Clarus Therapeutics, Iconic Therapeutics, and Intact Vascular.
Dr. Robertson holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering and BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Stokes has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Castle Biosciences, Inc., a skin cancer diagnostics company, since December 2017. From January 2017 to December 2017, Mr. Stokes served as Chief Financial Officer of Hammock Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of women's health and urology products. From May 2011 to December 2016, Mr. Stokes served as a Managing Director of Leerink Swann (now SVB Leerink). Mr. Stokes also held positions as a Managing Director at Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Wachovia Securities, LLC. While at SVB Leerink and Robert W. Baird & Co., Mr. Stokes led life sciences, tools and diagnostics sector investment banking efforts and managed financings and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Mr. Stokes obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Jurisprudence, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mr. Kim currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Fulgent Genetics (Nasdaq: FLGT), a full-service genomic testing company built around a foundational technology platform. He has held that position since February 2016 and led growth initiatives, increasing revenues from $10M in 2015 to $990M in 2021, during the COVID-19 era. Mr. Kim has over 30 years working in accounting and finance, and over 15 years as a Chief Financial Officer of several publicly traded companies. Mr. Kim is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Kahn has a distinguished career in life sciences spending over 30 years in global leadership positions. Prior to starting his career in the life science industry, he was an assistant professor of organic chemistry at the University of Illinois. He spent over 10 years at the scientific software company, Accelrys, where he held several positions with increasing responsibility including SVP, General Manager and Chief Science Officer. He then joined Illumina as its first Chief Information Officer and spent 12 years with the sequencing leader. He was most recently with LunaPBC as the Chief Information and Privacy Officer. Dr. Kahn currently holds Board positions at Blue Circle Health, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine and Rady Children's Hospital. Dr. Kahn received a B.S. in Chemistry from Rider College, a Ph.D. in Theoretical Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine and was a Fellow Commoner at Churchill College and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge, England.