Lou is the Chief Executive Officer of TMRW Life Sciences.
Lou brings over thirty years of global healthcare leadership experience and was most recently CEO of Genea Biomedx , a fertility technology, and medical device company focused on the automation and standardization of embryologist and lab workflow. While at Genea Biomedx , he led the transition from a commercial partnership with Merck Serono / KGaA to the creation of a standalone commercial organization spanning Europe, Asia, and the US, ultimately leading a successful sale of the business to private equity. Lou has also served in various senior leadership positions across healthcare, including OvaScience , Evofem Biosciences, and Auxogyn / Progyny. Prior to these, he was the Executive Vice President of Europe for Conceptus, Inc., and was a key leader in the team that completed the $1.1 billion sale of the company to Bayer AG in 2013.
Lori has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, leading sales, operations, multichannel product distribution, business development, and marketing for both startup and growth organizations.
Prior to joining TMRW, Lori was Chief Commercial Officer at women’s health company Celmatix, where she oversaw the sales and customer support functions and led commercial strategy for both the Fertilome genetic test and the Polaris predictive analytics platforms.
Prior to Celmatix, Lori spent six years with genetic testing company Good Start Genetics as its VP Sales and Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Alliances. She oversaw the launch of the first next-generation sequencing carrier screen and embryo testing and drove more than $100M in revenue in Good Start’s first three years in the market prior to the firm’s acquisition by Invitae (NASDAQ: NVTA). Lori has also held senior roles at EMD Serono and Novartis.
At TMRW, Lori oversees all commercial strategy and operations. As a mother of two who has spent her career at the intersection of fertility, data, and genetics, Lori is passionate about TMRW’s mission of helping individuals around the world to build or expand their families.
Amit has more than 20 years of experience as a leader, system architect, and systems engineer on a wide variety of platforms. Amit’s core strength is building, scaling, and monitoring extremely high volume, complex, mission-critical information systems using open-source technologies, for high-throughput and high-availability software applications.
Amit has worked in senior technical roles with the TMRW Founders for more than 15 years. Before TMRW, Amit worked with TMRW founders at Dstillery Inc. for over a decade, as the VP, Infrastructure, where he built and scaled infrastructure to handle over 160 billion events a day and over 2 million QPS using open-source technologies. He was instrumental in helping the business grow from a start up to an $80M revenue run rate. In this role, he also managed the integration of the infrastructure and technologies of an acquired mobile technology company.
A skilled negotiator and resource manager, Amit has routinely negotiated contracts and allocated services to save his companies millions while still ensuring impressive outcomes. Through technology, he focuses on strategic growth planning, optimizing performance, and streamlining operations.
As the Chief Information Officer for TMRW, Amit applies his vast range of skills to unlock the potential of automation in the IVF process and help millions of people start and grow their families.
An embryologist and medical technologist with over 20 years of experience in reproductive technology, Cynthia possesses a holistic industry perspective resulting from her diverse and comprehensive background: She has worked in a number of the nation’s foremost IVF practices and designed multiple IVF laboratories, in addition to founding and operating innovative reproductive medicine centers.
Prior to TMRW, Cynthia was Founder and CEO of Manhattan Fertility Services, a full-service fertility center with an in-house IVF lab, Cynthia built and operated the practice while developing a pioneering patient experience and viable revenue streams. Her creation of a reference andrology lab, management corporation, and associated medical practice played a critical role in the center’s growth and eventual sale.
She applied this same holistic expertise as co-Founder of Kindbody — a revolutionary reproductive firm that combines best-in-class technology, clinical excellence, and accessible pricing to connect the full patient experience on one intuitive platform. As Founder and CEO of Cellavita, an Assisted Reproductive Technology consulting service established in 2004, Cynthia offered a variety of advisory and laboratory services to a wide range of corporate clients and domestic and international clinical IVF programs.
Cynthia is a member of multiple medical organizations, including the American Board of Bioanalysis, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and American College of Embryology. She is an active researcher, and she has made dozens of published contributions to leading scientific journals, such as Fertility & Sterility, Human Reproduction, and Science. Her work has also been featured in presentations at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Cynthia leads TMRW’s Embryology Team, a role that allows her to guide TMRW's technology to best support laboratory operations. She’s proud to work on TMRW’s innovative approach to problem-solving and help develop tools that make IVF clinics safer and more efficient.
An embryologist and medical technologist with over 20 years of experience in reproductive technology, Cynthia possesses a holistic industry perspective resulting from her diverse and comprehensive background: She has worked in a number of the nation’s foremost IVF practices and designed multiple IVF laboratories, in addition to founding and operating innovative reproductive medicine centers.
Prior to TMRW, Cynthia was Founder and CEO of Manhattan Fertility Services, a full-service fertility center with an in-house IVF lab, Cynthia built and operated the practice while developing a pioneering patient experience and viable revenue streams. Her creation of a reference andrology lab, management corporation, and associated medical practice played a critical role in the center’s growth and eventual sale.
She applied this same holistic expertise as co-Founder of Kindbody — a revolutionary reproductive firm that combines best-in-class technology, clinical excellence, and accessible pricing to connect the full patient experience on one intuitive platform. As Founder and CEO of Cellavita, an Assisted Reproductive Technology consulting service established in 2004, Cynthia offered a variety of advisory and laboratory services to a wide range of corporate clients and domestic and international clinical IVF programs.
Cynthia is a member of multiple medical organizations, including the American Board of Bioanalysis, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and American College of Embryology. She is an active researcher, and she has made dozens of published contributions to leading scientific journals, such as Fertility & Sterility, Human Reproduction, and Science. Her work has also been featured in presentations at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Cynthia leads TMRW’s Embryology Team, a role that allows her to guide TMRW's technology to best support laboratory operations. She’s proud to work on TMRW’s innovative approach to problem-solving and help develop tools that make IVF clinics safer and more efficient.
Amit has more than 20 years of experience as a leader, system architect, and systems engineer on a wide variety of platforms. Amit’s core strength is building, scaling, and monitoring extremely high volume, complex, mission-critical information systems using open-source technologies, for high-throughput and high-availability software applications.
Amit has worked in senior technical roles with the TMRW Founders for more than 15 years. Before TMRW, Amit worked with TMRW founders at Dstillery Inc. for over a decade, as the VP, Infrastructure, where he built and scaled infrastructure to handle over 160 billion events a day and over 2 million QPS using open-source technologies. He was instrumental in helping the business grow from a start up to an $80M revenue run rate. In this role, he also managed the integration of the infrastructure and technologies of an acquired mobile technology company.
A skilled negotiator and resource manager, Amit has routinely negotiated contracts and allocated services to save his companies millions while still ensuring impressive outcomes. Through technology, he focuses on strategic growth planning, optimizing performance, and streamlining operations.
As the Chief Information Officer for TMRW, Amit applies his vast range of skills to unlock the potential of automation in the IVF process and help millions of people start and grow their families.
As the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Innovation at TMRW, James oversees all product innovation and engineering development. His team of multidisciplinary product specialists and engineers are responsible for the full life cycle and management of the company’s suite of products.
James has spent his entire career in life sciences solving complex automation challenges. He is a fixer and loves solving problems by looking at things from a different perspective.
James has always had a passion for creating innovative and disruptive technology, but it was not until his sister, a breast cancer survivor went through the IVF process did it become personal.
Michael has 25 years of reproductive health experience spanning medical affairs, clinical development, drug discovery, scientific communication, regulatory affairs, and managed markets and business development. He has also played an important role in the expansion of the reproductive health business units at both Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Organon Inc.
While at Ferring, Michael held various positions, including Director of Scientific Training, before moving to Director of Strategic Accounts, a role in which he built and led a strategic account team in the successful execution of several high-profile programs and projects.
Michael holds a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive Physiology from Louisiana State University and has published work on many different levels within scientific literature. He is a member of ASRM, The Endocrine Society, and the Society for the Study of Reproduction, where he was appointed to the Annual Meeting Industry Relations Committee in 2013.
At TMRW, Michael spearheads the development, design, and execution of laboratory studies, and then helps to communicate the findings. As a non-clinical scientist, his primary goal is to continue to scientifically define the TMRW platform. He’s passionate about bringing the advancements of cryogenic technology to reproduction.
Alicia is a clinical operations executive with a foundation in academic research and over 15 years of clinical research acumen. Before TMRW, she was a Clinical Research Manager at ReproSource, a reference laboratory for infertility diagnostics, she worked with multiple IVF professionals on clinical studies aimed at improving patient care. In the laboratories she has worked in, Alicia has successfully introduced and implemented new protocols and procedures in IVF labs, as well as developed, obtained funding for, and led Institutional Review Board-approved clinical research studies. This remit included the design, development, monitoring, and evaluation of study protocols in compliance with FDA and GCP standards and regulatory guidelines critical for obtaining scientifically sound and valid data.
Over her tenure as a full-time embryologist at Midwest Fertility Specialists and The Center for Reproductive Biology, she spearheaded clinical research, publishing numerous peer-reviewed studies in industry journals and presented results at industry conferences.
Alicia’s background enables her to forecast and understand the needs and challenges of embryologists so that she can collaborate with TMRW’s engineers and designers to develop embryologist-friendly technologies that make their workflow both safer and more efficient. She works directly with TMRW’s software development team to test and continue to advance TMRW’s software.
Driven by her desire to advance IVF, Alicia remains an instructor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she earned her Ph.D. in Reproductive Clinical Sciences and where she mentors the next generation of embryologists. Since 2006, she has also served as a Technical Supervisor in Embryology and Andrology certified by the American Board of Bioanalysts. She was a member-at-large of the Society for Reproductive Biologists and Technologists, as well as a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Society for the Study of Reproduction, and Society for Male Reproduction and Urology.
Robert is a cryogenic expert with over 20 years of GLP and GMP experience gained at leading Fortune 500 companies. He has a proven track record of using innovation and automation to reduce the operational costs and occupational risks of biorepositories while simultaneously improving the integrity, chain-of-custody, and secure storage of specimens under his watch. He has led several successful campaigns focused on reconciling, centralizing, and digitizing large collections of diverse biological assets and their associated metadata.
As Global Head of Biological Archiving at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Robert led a team of international scientists tasked with creating, qualifying, storing, and distributing biological samples to the company’s global scientists, affiliates, and external partners. Under his leadership, GSK became the first pharmaceutical company to automate tube-level cryogenic storage and retrieval of biologic assets housed in ultra-low temps.
Before GSK, Robert was Head of Cell Biology and Lab Support Services at Centocor. Upon their acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), he subsequently held senior scientific roles at J&J’s Janssen division. He was responsible for the forecasting and financial oversight of an annual operating budget exceeding $15 million. This included leading operational support for biorepository operations, banking activities, bioreactor growth trending, and associated quality control for clinical pipeline and marketed therapeutic biologics. He holds two medical patents and has authored or co-authored multiple peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals.
At TMRW, Robert directs a concerted and conscientious effort to fundamentally change how clinics store, retrieve, and track precious fertility cells. He leads specimen management of biorepository activities, specimen logistics, specimen reformatting, and inventory services, and acts as the biorepository operations liaison for all TMRW-affiliated biorepositories.
Kaylena is a member of the Specimen Services team at TMRW. Having spent her entire professional career as a clinical embryologist, Kaylena has helped many couples and individuals create a family of their own.
Prior to joining TMRW, Kaylena worked as a clinical embryologist in the Kansas City metro area, notably at the Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine with the University of Kansas Hospital, and most recently directed the laboratory at the SVF Foundation in Newport, RI - partnering with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to cryopreserve germplasm from rare and endangered species of livestock.
Kaylena’s experience in Embryology has helped her ensure every gamete and embryo recovered, created and cryopreserved in the IVF lab has a traceable audit trail to ensure the safety and authenticity of each specimen.
At TMRW, Kaylena is responsible for ensuring the safety of legacy specimens as they are transferred into the TMRW platform. Kaylena’s role is to mitigate problems to ensure future viability for the cryopreserved specimens.
Ashley brings over 15 years of research and training experience within the biotechnology world. She is passionate about creating engaging training protocols to translate complex subjects and share new technologies within the IVF laboratory.
Prior to TMRW, Ashley served as the Senior Manager of Operations and Research at Magapor, a pioneering company focused on artificial insemination of porcine livestock, where she built out their first U.S. research laboratory. She previously managed reproductive testing laboratories and acted as an andrology bench scientist at Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics and Quest Diagnostics. Throughout her time in the fertility industry, Ashley has gained frontline experience with fertility diagnostics, swine reproduction, clinical research studies, and refined her speciality within the field of andrology. She was also responsible for cancer cell research and antibody development as a research associate at Cell Signaling Technology. Ashley began her career into reproductive science through her passion for breeding horses.
At TMRW, Ashley is committed to advancing the future of fertility through education. She will work closely with partner clinics to provide embryologists with comprehensive and interactive training on the TMRW platform. As a core member of the TMRW on-site training team, Ashley will provide practical instruction, guide practice sessions and administer examinations to ensure every embryologist is confident and ready to use TMRW’s groundbreaking technology. She is excited to bring new and impactful tools to the IVF community.
For the past 30 years, Ellen has devoted her career to improving patient outcomes in the embryology lab. She is thrilled to be a part of the solution to a problem that she has witnessed increase over the course of her career. TMRW’s vision aligns with her own passion to help families who wish to build a family.
Before joining TMRW, Ellen worked in her local clinic’s embryology lab where she saw the ever-increasing demand for trained, skilled embryologists to work in a per diem capacity. She then started her own consulting business visiting clinics across the country helping them train new, entry level embryologists in procedures.
At TMRW, Ellen is a part of our training team where she utilizes her years of lab experience along with her love of training to instill confidence and positive experience for our clients.
Prior to founding TMRW, Joshua and his TMRW co-founder Alan Murray — with whom he has been business partners for 20 years — founded, seed-funded, and served as co-CEOs of several companies at the intersection of data, machine learning, and software development. The scale and technical achievement of these firms was significant. The most recent to exit was Integral Ad Science (purchased by the private equity firm VISTA for $850 million in 2018), which processed more than 180 billion real-time data transactions daily.
His keen ability to recognize patterns in problems and technologies drawn from traditionally siloed fields has led Joshua to develop solutions where others have allowed for stagnation or acceptance of suboptimal experience and outcomes. His ventures have been unique category creators, establishing entirely new business models which others have emulated.
“Nothing in my life has been more meaningful or rewarding than being a father. It’s a special privilege to help millions of people, who could not become parents without IVF, to experience the joy of having children. Our work at TMRW ensures that the irreplaceable vitrified eggs and embryos, which are at the heart of nearly every IVF birth, are always safe, secure, and perfectly cared for — and never a cause for anxiety for either clinicians or those looking to start or grow their families.”
Emily has served as Vice President of Business Development for 23andMe since 2010, a position in which she has demonstrated a passion for accelerating clinical progress and improving patient care by disrupting healthcare inefficiencies.
At 23andMe Emily is responsible for setting company strategy, including leveraging and monetizing the firm's innovative database. She oversees business and corporate development as well as alliance management. She has a proven track record of forging groundbreaking partnerships with leaders in pharma, biotech, digital health, big data, retailers, CPG, traditional healthcare, and academia.
Deeply involved in capital strategy, Emily was instrumental in developing 23andMe’s partnership with GlaxoSmithKline which resulted in a $300 million equity investment from GSK.
Prior to 23andMe, Emily spent 10 years conducting research that combined genetics and neuroimaging to understand neuropsychiatric disease. She was a Research Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health and is a co-author on more than 30 academic publications. She formerly served on the Advisory Board of Lesbians Who Tech, an organization dedicated to increasing diversity representation in the technology industry. She also previously served on the board of the UCSF Alliance Health Project, a clinic which provides services to the LGBT and HIV-affected communities in San Francisco.
Emily received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University School of Medicine, where she held fellowships from the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense. She graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Psychology and Business.
Alan is a serial entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience spanning data innovation, machine learning, software, hardware, and logistics and engineering. His diverse background, as well as his ability to see unique solutions where others only see problems, has allowed him to successfully piece together knowledge from disparate fields to repeatedly build and scale complex products, solutions, and the innovative companies that bring them to market.
“Some of the most important breakthroughs in technology and product innovation have involved taking proven solutions from one industry and adapting them to benefit others. Decades of working in diverse fields, from civil engineering to data science, has afforded me the opportunity to frequently lead efforts of cross-pollination. At TMRW, we call this ‘stringing the pearls.’ We’ve taken the best insights from leading voices across diverse, often siloed fields to come up with a totally new and innovative solution — our version of a pearl necklace.
As both a parent and an entrepreneur, I’m laser-focused on creating a solution that will keep hundreds of millions of precious eggs and embryos safe by building the software and platform that will be responsible for the safe conception of millions of IVF children in coming decades.”
Robbie Myers has been leading top media brands for over 25 years.
Robbie most recently served for 18 years as the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE, the number one fashion magazine in the world. Under her leadership, the brand experienced unprecedented success—including a 53% increase in readership—while maintaining its reputation for covering fashion, luxury, beauty, culture, and social and political issues from an elevated perspective, informed by Robbie’s commitment to journalistic integrity, and bold visual storytelling, eventually reaching more than 28 million readers, users, and fans across all mediums, including print, digital, mobile, and social. During her tenure, ELLE enjoyed 16 straight quarters of revenue growth—twice—and with the September 2015 issue, published the largest issue in parent company Hearst’s 128-year-history. Robbie also made sure ELLE was the first fashion magazine brand to: capture an immersive VR fashion experience; partner with an unscripted TV show, Project Runway; feature content on Google Glass; debut a weekly interactive tablet edition; and introduce a social shopping platform.
Robbie is a former vice president of the American Society of Magazine Editors and has been recognized for her accomplishments throughout the media and fashion industries. Forbes included her on its list of Most Powerful U.S. Fashion Magazine Editors; The Business of Fashion featured her as one of the most influential people shaping the global fashion industry; and Gotham dubbed her a Media Power Player. She has received six ASME nominations over her career, including General Excellence, she’s been honored by New York Women in Communications with a Matrix Awards and received the Marylou Luther Award for Fashion Journalism.
A member of the faculty at Cornell Weill Medical School, one of the nation’s best known thoracic surgeons, and a successful serial entrepreneur, Jeff has also pioneered medical technologies and founded multiple entrepreneurial ventures. He has a unique ability to address complex problems both from an on-the-ground clinical perspective and the bird’s eye view of an innovator.
Jeff has taken on a leadership role in developing the robotic surgical program at Cornell. He has also developed an interest in minimally invasive approaches to the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of thoracic malignancies. He has recently integrated Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) and Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopy (ENB) into the thoracic surgical program. These techniques offer a minimally invasive approach to lung cancer diagnosis and staging.
While teaching and practicing surgery fulltime, Jeff has founded and chaired two companies: Angiocrine Bioscience, which creates cellular therapies designed to drive stem cell renewal in a variety of diseases, and RF Surgical Systems, which introduced the use of innovative micro-RFID chips in surgical applications to eliminate the dangerous problem of surgical material being left behind in patients post closure. The RF Surgical technology has become the standard of care at hospitals worldwide. The company was purchased by Medtronic in 2015 for $235 million.
“Human eggs and embryos are the most precious, delicate cells used in medicine. IVF patients and their doctors want and deserve the most advanced, sophisticated care possible for these irreplaceable cells. That’s what TMRW offers and why I feel so strongly about our work. Through the innovative use of RFID and other advanced technologies, TMRW assures that millions of people worldwide can feel confident about the care and management of the eggs and embryos at the heart of every IVF procedure. As a physician, entrepreneur, and a father, developing the technology to bring these unprecedented new levels of safety and assurance to IVF has been indescribably gratifying.”
Andrew J. Schwab is a Founder and Managing Partner of 5AM Ventures. Prior to founding 5AM in 2002, Andrew was a Principal at Bay City Capital where he was involved with companies such as Cubist, PTC Therapeutics, Symyx and Syrrx.
Previously Andrew was Vice President of Business Development at Digital Gene Technologies and a Vice President in the life science investment banking group of Montgomery Securities. At 5AM, he has led the firm’s investments in and served on the Boards of Biodesy, Bird Rock Bio, Cleave, DVS (acquired by Fluidigm), Escient, Flexion (NASDAQ: FLXN), Ikaria (acquired by Mallinckrodt and spun-out Bellerophon (NASDAQ: BLPH), Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), Miikana (acquired by EntreMed), Novome, Panomics (acquired by Affymetrix), Pear Therapeutics, Precision NanoSystems, Purigen, Synosia (acquired by Biotie), TMRW, and Viveve (NASDAQ: VIVE).
Andrew also serves on the Boards of Trustees of the California Academy of Sciences, Davidson College and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). He received a B.S. with Honors in Genetics & Ethics from Davidson College and was a member of its 1992 Final Four soccer team. Andrew is based in the San Francisco, CA office.
Vinay is an investor at Transformation Capital and joined the team in September 2016 and has over ten years of consulting and investment experience across multiple healthcare subsectors. He was instrumental in sourcing Fund I investments in PatientPop and Aktana, and he serves as a board observer at PatientPop, Aktana, PatientPing, Scientist.com, and Protenus.
Most recently, Vinay was a Senior Analyst at Longitude Capital, where he invested in healthcare technology and services companies. Previously, he was an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked extensively with healthcare and private equity clients. Vinay also co-founded Sherpa Clinical, a technology company focused on improving the clinical trials process.
Vinay graduated from Princeton University, where he focused his studies on health policy within the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He also received an MBA from the healthcare management program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
When he’s not working with healthcare entrepreneurs, Vinay enjoys skiing, craft beers, and rooting for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
Josh is a Venture Partner at healthcare investment manager Sightline Partners, which provides late-stage medical device and diagnostic companies with capital.
Josh has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, varying from product development and innovation to mergers and acquisitions to investing.
He has been a private equity investor since 2004. Josh previously served as a Managing Director at venture capital firm Split Rock Partners and a lead investor and board member for healthcare companies with an aggregate, realized value of over $2 billion. His venture investment track record includes the acquisition of Ardian by Medtronic for $800 million, Stryker’s sale of Entellus Medical for $662 million, Medtronic’s acquisition of RF Surgical for $235 million, and Allergan’s purchase of SkinMedica for $250 million. He previously worked at St. Paul Venture Capital, Piper Jaffray’s investment banking group, and Boston Scientific.
As a Board Director at Aegea, Colorescience, Koya Medical, Magnolia Medical, and ViewPoint Medical, Josh helps those companies focused on addressing underserved healthcare challenges.
Ellen is Chief Business Officer of Impel Neuropharma, a private neuroscience therapeutics company, where she leads corporate development activities and strategy. Prior to joining Impel, she served as the Vice President of External Science & Innovation at Allergan, where she was responsible for strategic expansion of the company’s pipeline in a variety of disease areas, including women’s health.
Ellen has 20 years of biopharmaceutical corporate development and Wall Street industry experience, including roles at Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celtic Pharma Management, L.P., and Robertson Stephens.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of Dauntless Pharmaceuticals and GeneCentric Therapeutics.
Mina is a renowned international expert in assisted reproduction. During her 35 years in the field, she has worked extensively on improving IVF laboratory performance and outcomes. Mina has lectured worldwide on ART topics, and she has authored and co-authored more than 70 articles and book chapters on laboratory aspects of assisted reproduction.
Early in her career, Mina worked with Dr. Jacques Cohen to establish the laboratories of The Center for Reproductive Medicine at Cornell University Medical Center (now Weill Cornell Medicine) in New York, and the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey as two of the leading reproductive medicine laboratories in the world.
More recently, Mina has served as a laboratory director, clinical consultant, and research scientist for ART labs in the U.S. and abroad. During her time as Director of Laboratories at the Center for Human Reproduction of North Shore University Hospital (now Northwell Health) in Long Island, she led the laboratory team in successfully implementing the center’s first blastocyst biopsy program.
Mina is an editor of the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online and an Editorial Board member of the journal Fertility and Sterility. She is also an Executive Board member of Alpha Scientists in Reproductive Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. from Monash University in Australia, and she is certified as a High-Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director and Clinical Consultant.
Jacques is the pioneering Dutch academic, embryologist and entrepreneur who has been associated with many of the critical innovations in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) over the past 40 years.
After receiving his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the State University of Leiden, Jacques went on to receive an M.Sc. in Reproductive Physiology from Leiden University. In 1981, he was awarded his Ph.D. in Medicine from Erasmus University.
Immediately after receiving his doctorate, Jacques joined the groundbreaking Bourn Hall Clinic Cambridge as an Embryologist, working with Patrick Steptoe and Robert G. Edwards on techniques geared towards improving human conception through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Edwards was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 2010 in recognition of his pioneering work including the birth of Louise Brown, the first IVF child. It was in Cambridge that Jacques was the first scientist to successfully freeze and thaw a human blastocyst for use in IVF, an achievement that provided the foundational platform for many of the innovations that were to come in ART during the next 30 years. Evidence of his many contributions to the field, Jacques is the author of 12 patents relating to ART.
A serial entrepreneur, Jacques is the co-founder of Althea Science, which develops software solutions for laboratories and clinics. He was co-founder of Reprogenetics, a genetic screening service used in fertility clinics, which was acquired by Cooper Genomics in 2015. In addition, Jacques co-founded Life-Global/IVF-Online, a company also acquired by Cooper Surgical in 2018. Jacques was the founder of Alpha – Scientists in Reproductive Medicine, a leading global professional group for scientists working in ART.
A widely published author, Jacques has written more than 300 articles for peer-reviewed scientific publications and authored several foundational textbooks concerning issues in ART. He is also Emeritus Chief Editor of Reproductive Biomedicine Online.
Jacques is the founder and Director of the ART Institute of Washington, which was selected by the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to develop and run their joint IVF program at Walter Reed.
DAVID SABLE DIRECTS HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCE INVESTING FOR THE SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUNDS AND IS PORTFOLIO MANAGER OF THE SPECIAL SITUATIONS LIFE SCIENCES FUND.
After graduating from the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, David trained in obstetrics and gynecology at New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, and in reproductive endocrinology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He co-founded and served as director of the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, was founder and CEO of Assisted Reproductive Medical Technologies, which was acquired by Saint Barnabas in 1999, and co-founder of Reprogenetics, acquired by Cooper Surgical in 2015. After leaving clinical medicine, Dr. Sable managed a proprietary healthcare portfolio at Deutsche Bank before joining the Special Situations Funds.
David is an adjunct in the department of biology at Columbia University, and teaches “Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology” at Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He has lectured on healthcare investing, policy, and biotechnology business development at the Wharton School, NYU, Rockefeller University and Rutgers; has delivered keynote addresses to the American Fertility Society, the Texas Fertility Society and the Mexican Fertility Society; and appeared on the CBS Morning News, ABC World News Tonight, NY1 News and PBS’ Nova to discuss innovation in reproductive medicine. He has served as a board member for Genenews Inc, Hamilton Thorne Ltd, and for the nonprofit advocacy organization RESOLVE, and on the medical and scientific advisory boards of Ovascience and Progeny. In addition to his academic publications, he is a regular contributor to Forbes, covering the reproductive medicine industry.
Born in Laredo, Texas, Matthew earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Cornell University in Animal Science, Cum Laude with Distinction in Research, and the nickname ‘Tex’.
Tex received his PhD in Epigenetics from The University of Birmingham. He completed his first post-doctoral fellowship in the chromatin and gene expression laboratories at the Institute of Biomedical Research in Birmingham, UK. He completed a second fellowship in the Laboratory of Mammalian Molecular Embryology at the RIKEN institute in Kobe, Japan.
He returned to the United States as an embryologist at Shady Grove Fertility in Maryland. He then became the Director of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Andrology laboratories at The University of Pennsylvania Fertility Care. From there, Tex moved to Auckland to serve as Scientific Director at Fertility Associates of New Zealand.
After 17 years, Matthew was recruited to return to Texas as the Scientific Director of Texas Fertility Centers. He is currently the Vice President of Scientific Advancement for Ovation Fertility. Matthew remains active on multiple professional committees and scientific advisory boards.
Sangita Jindal earned her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Toronto, Canada, and became a high-complexity clinical lab director in 1997. Dr. Jindal has served on the faculty at New Jersey Medical School Rutgers, and for the last 21 years, has been on the faculty at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York as Professor and Laboratory Director in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health.
She has mentored grant-supported translational research projects for several trainees at academic programs. She is also an off-site lab director of private and academic IVF labs across the country. Dr. Jindal currently serves as President of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) and serves on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Practice Committee. She was the President of the Society for Reproductive Biologists and Technologists (SRBT) in 2011 and served as Research Committee chair for SART from 2015-2020. She is a member of the Editorial Boards of Fertility and Sterility Reviews and the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. She is a reviewer for Human Reproduction and Fertility and Sterility.
Dr. Jindal has published over sixty peer-reviewed journal articles and is regularly invited to speak at international meetings and conferences.
Alicia is a clinical operations executive with a foundation in academic research and over 15 years of clinical research acumen. Before TMRW, she was a Clinical Research Manager at ReproSource, a reference laboratory for infertility diagnostics, she worked with multiple IVF professionals on clinical studies aimed at improving patient care. In the laboratories she has worked in, Alicia has successfully introduced and implemented new protocols and procedures in IVF labs, as well as developed, obtained funding for, and led Institutional Review Board-approved clinical research studies. This remit included the design, development, monitoring, and evaluation of study protocols in compliance with FDA and GCP standards and regulatory guidelines critical for obtaining scientifically sound and valid data.
Over her tenure as a full-time embryologist at Midwest Fertility Specialists and The Center for Reproductive Biology, she spearheaded clinical research, publishing numerous peer-reviewed studies in industry journals and presented results at industry conferences.
Alicia’s background enables her to forecast and understand the needs and challenges of embryologists so that she can collaborate with TMRW’s engineers and designers to develop embryologist-friendly technologies that make their workflow both safer and more efficient. She works directly with TMRW’s software development team to test and continue to advance TMRW’s software.
Driven by her desire to advance IVF, Alicia remains an instructor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she earned her Ph.D. in Reproductive Clinical Sciences and where she mentors the next generation of embryologists. Since 2006, she has also served as a Technical Supervisor in Embryology and Andrology certified by the American Board of Bioanalysts. She was a member-at-large of the Society for Reproductive Biologists and Technologists, as well as a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Society for the Study of Reproduction, and Society for Male Reproduction and Urology.
Michael has 25 years of reproductive health experience spanning medical affairs, clinical development, drug discovery, scientific communication, regulatory affairs, and managed markets and business development. He has also played an important role in the expansion of the reproductive health business units at both Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Organon Inc.
While at Ferring, Michael held various positions, including Director of Scientific Training, before moving to Director of Strategic Accounts, a role in which he built and led a strategic account team in the successful execution of several high-profile programs and projects.
Michael holds a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive Physiology from Louisiana State University and has published work on many different levels within scientific literature. He is a member of ASRM, The Endocrine Society, and the Society for the Study of Reproduction, where he was appointed to the Annual Meeting Industry Relations Committee in 2013.
At TMRW, Michael spearheads the development, design, and execution of laboratory studies, and then helps to communicate the findings. As a non-clinical scientist, his primary goal is to continue to scientifically define the TMRW platform. He’s passionate about bringing the advancements of cryogenic technology to reproduction.
Robert is a cryogenic expert with over 20 years of GLP and GMP experience gained at leading Fortune 500 companies. He has a proven track record of using innovation and automation to reduce the operational costs and occupational risks of biorepositories while simultaneously improving the integrity, chain-of-custody, and secure storage of specimens under his watch. He has led several successful campaigns focused on reconciling, centralizing, and digitizing large collections of diverse biological assets and their associated metadata.
As Global Head of Biological Archiving at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Robert led a team of international scientists tasked with creating, qualifying, storing, and distributing biological samples to the company’s global scientists, affiliates, and external partners. Under his leadership, GSK became the first pharmaceutical company to automate tube-level cryogenic storage and retrieval of biologic assets housed in ultra-low temps.
Before GSK, Robert was Head of Cell Biology and Lab Support Services at Centocor. Upon their acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), he subsequently held senior scientific roles at J&J’s Janssen division. He was responsible for the forecasting and financial oversight of an annual operating budget exceeding $15 million. This included leading operational support for biorepository operations, banking activities, bioreactor growth trending, and associated quality control for clinical pipeline and marketed therapeutic biologics. He holds two medical patents and has authored or co-authored multiple peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals.
At TMRW, Robert directs a concerted and conscientious effort to fundamentally change how clinics store, retrieve, and track precious fertility cells. He leads specimen management of biorepository activities, specimen logistics, specimen reformatting, and inventory services, and acts as the biorepository operations liaison for all TMRW-affiliated biorepositories.
Ashley brings over 15 years of research and training experience within the biotechnology world. She is passionate about creating engaging training protocols to translate complex subjects and share new technologies within the IVF laboratory.
Prior to TMRW, Ashley served as the Senior Manager of Operations and Research at Magapor, a pioneering company focused on artificial insemination of porcine livestock, where she built out their first U.S. research laboratory. She previously managed reproductive testing laboratories and acted as an andrology bench scientist at Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics and Quest Diagnostics. Throughout her time in the fertility industry, Ashley has gained frontline experience with fertility diagnostics, swine reproduction, clinical research studies, and refined her speciality within the field of andrology. She was also responsible for cancer cell research and antibody development as a research associate at Cell Signaling Technology. Ashley began her career into reproductive science through her passion for breeding horses.
At TMRW, Ashley is committed to advancing the future of fertility through education. She will work closely with partner clinics to provide embryologists with comprehensive and interactive training on the TMRW platform. As a core member of the TMRW on-site training team, Ashley will provide practical instruction, guide practice sessions and administer examinations to ensure every embryologist is confident and ready to use TMRW’s groundbreaking technology. She is excited to bring new and impactful tools to the IVF community.
Kaylena is a member of the Specimen Services team at TMRW. Having spent her entire professional career as a clinical embryologist, Kaylena has helped many couples and individuals create a family of their own.
Prior to joining TMRW, Kaylena worked as a clinical embryologist in the Kansas City metro area, notably at the Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine with the University of Kansas Hospital, and most recently directed the laboratory at the SVF Foundation in Newport, RI - partnering with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to cryopreserve germplasm from rare and endangered species of livestock.
Kaylena’s experience in Embryology has helped her ensure every gamete and embryo recovered, created and cryopreserved in the IVF lab has a traceable audit trail to ensure the safety and authenticity of each specimen.
At TMRW, Kaylena is responsible for ensuring the safety of legacy specimens as they are transferred into the TMRW platform. Kaylena’s role is to mitigate problems to ensure future viability for the cryopreserved specimens.
For the past 30 years, Ellen has devoted her career to improving patient outcomes in the embryology lab. She is thrilled to be a part of the solution to a problem that she has witnessed increase over the course of her career. TMRW’s vision aligns with her own passion to help families who wish to build a family.
Before joining TMRW, Ellen worked in her local clinic’s embryology lab where she saw the ever-increasing demand for trained, skilled embryologists to work in a per diem capacity. She then started her own consulting business visiting clinics across the country helping them train new, entry level embryologists in procedures.
At TMRW, Ellen is a part of our training team where she utilizes her years of lab experience along with her love of training to instill confidence and positive experience for our clients.