Prevencio Leadership
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CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Michele McCarthy, B.S.
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Chief Technology Officer
Grady Barnes, Ph.D.
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Chief Scientific Officer
Naseruddin Höti, PhD
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President, CEO, & Chief Translational Officer
Rhonda F. Rhyne, M.B.A.
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Vice President, Clinical Market Development
Aparna Rao, M.S.
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CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Missy Martin-Kemp, B.S.
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CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Celine Peters, R.N., M.N.
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CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER FOR FUNCTIONAL & CONCIERGE MEDICINE; SCIENTIFIC & CLINICAL ADVISORY BOARD
Katherine Kass, ND
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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR; CHAIR OF THE SCIENTIFIC & CLINICAL ADVISORY BOARD
James L. Januzzi, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C.
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CHIEF ANALYTICS OFFICER
Craig A. Magaret, M.S.
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VP, Quality and Regulatory
Caitlyn Dzhafarov, B.S.
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CO-FOUNDER, CONSULTANT, CHIEF GENOMICS TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, ALLEGHENY HEALTH NETWORK
William A. LaFramboise, Ph.D.
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SCIENTIFIC & CLINICAL ADVISORY BOARD
Mark Houston, MD, FASH, ABIM, ABAARM
Board of Directors
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Rhonda F. Rhyne, M.B.A.
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Michele McCarthy, B.S.
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John F. Cramer, III, M.D.
Rhonda Rhyne has spent the past 20 years in executive management for biotechnology and medical technology companies. She has served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Translational Officer, and Board Director for Prevencio since August 2013. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer and then President of CardioDynamics, a publicly traded, innovative cardiovascular medical device company from 1996 to 2009. The company was sold to Sonosite, Inc. (now Fujifilm Holdings Corp., OTCPK: FUJIY) in August 2009.
Ms. Rhyne served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director for Culture Technology, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company specializing in growing skin for severely burned patients from 1992 to 1995.
Ms. Rhyne also founded Rhyne Life Sciences Consulting, a consultancy practice focused on emerging life science technologies.
She has received numerous awards including Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for Medical Products; Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 award for the 50 fastest-growing technology and life science companies in Southern California for successive nine years; San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business award; and Athena’s Pinnacle award for supporting women in bioscience business.
Ms. Rhyne has an MBA from The Anderson School of Management at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Washington State University.
Naser Uddin Höti, PhD, serves as Chief Scientific Officer and has extensive experience and expertise in the fields of clinical laboratory sciences, toxicology, virology and advanced diagnostic assays. He is at the forefront of specialized diagnostic and toxicological assay development and implementation. Dr. Hoti completed a prestigious ComACC accredited Clinical Chemistry Fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Center where he mastered skills in clinical laboratory operations, quality control, laboratory management, and analytical methodologies. His contributions included the development, validation, and implementation of innovative laboratory test methods.
Dr. Höti holds an adjunct appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology at UT Health Sciences in San Antonio, Texas. His academic contributions in translational research have made an enduring impact. Following his graduation, he embarked on a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, working under the guidance of Dr. Ronald Rodriguez. During this tenure, Dr. Höti’s contributions to the field were prolific, with a series of high-impact publications on prostate cancer and CRAd viral vectors design.
As a principal investigator for numerous research grants and a former junior faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Department of Urology, Dr. Höti exemplifies dedication to advancing the frontiers of diagnostic and laboratory medicine. His commitment to combatting cardiac disease and cancer through innovative research and clinical practices underscores his unwavering resolve to make meaningful contributions to healthcare.
Grady Barnes, PhD, serves as Chief Technology Officer and has a 20+ year history as a Research & Development executive with leadership experience as a Product Developer, Director, VP, and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining the company, Grady held various positions at Abbott, Meridian Biosciences, Fujirebio Diagnostics, and Leica Biosystems.
Dr. Barnes has launched more than 100 in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products, including diagnostic assay kits, hardware, and software. He has rich knowledge of the entire product life cycle from concept to post-market surveillance and has been involved in National and International product launches including Europe, Canada, Japan, and China.
Dr. Barnes received his Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences/Biology from The John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Florida State University at Tallahassee, Florida.
Michele McCarthy has more than 20 years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant and as a financial consultant. She began her career with Ernst & Young as an Audit Specialist and then became a Litigation Specialist for Klewer & Sullivan, a company specializing in forensic accounting. In 1993, McCarthy founded Michele McCarthy Consulting, a financial consulting firm
Ms. McCarthy was co-owner of a number of companies including Torrefazione Italia, DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine, and Pagliacci Pizza, Inc. Presently, she is co-owner of Macrina Bakery, Columbia Pulp, LLC, and 6th Avenue South, LLC.
Ms. McCarthy previously served as Trustee and Finance Council Chair for Seattle Preparatory School, was Pastoral Assistant for Administration at St. Monica's Catholic Church and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for Columbia Pulp, LLC. She is also a board member for Casa Italia, an advisory committee member for the Archdiocese of Seattle, and a finance council member for Christ Our Hope Catholic Church.
Ms. McCarthy received her Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Santa Clara University in 1989 and became a Certified Public Accountant in California in 1992.
Celine Peters is Chief Operating Officer for Prevencio. Prior to joining Prevencio, Ms. Peters held positions within healthcare as a Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist, Quality Management Director, Patient Safety Officer, and Clinical Research & Outcomes Management Director. She has also held clinical marketing positions for pharmaceutical and medical device companies including CardioDynamics/Sonosite, and Crisi Medical/Becton Dickinson.
Ms. Peters' industry positions included development of strategy and research plans; Human Factors research; educational strategies to support product development and sales; publications; operations; and regulatory approval of medical devices.
Ms. Peters received her Master’s in Nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Missy Martin-Kemp has 15 years of senior commercial leadership in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies within the cardiometabolic space. Previously, she served as Vice President of Sales for Renalytix plc (NASDAQ: RNLX) (LSE: RENX), Chief Commercial Officer for Fibronostics, Vice President of Channel Development for CardioDx, and Senior Sales Manager for GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK).
Ms. Martin-Kemp’s industry positions have centered around commercialization of new products and technologies from launch to scalability. Her broad experience in both strategic and tactical leadership roles offers unique perspective to the advanced personalized diagnostic and prognostic testing continuum.
Ms. Martin-Kemp received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders with a minor in Physics from Louisiana State University.
Aparna Rao is Vice President, Clinical Market Development for Prevencio. Prior to joining Prevencio, Ms. Rao founded 2 companies, worked as a senior researcher at the University of Calgary, and as a University professor in Houston. Life Sciences, health care, entrepreneurship and education has been a part of her professional passion for the past 20 years.
Ms. Rao’s professional history includes being a senior scientist at University of Calgary’s Neuroscience and Biochemistry departments working on Neural pathways and Diabetes-focused research; founding a cross cultural assimilation startup (Cross Cultural Resources); and co-founding a college educational startup (Unitactics).
Ms. Rao has worked as a professor of Biochemistry and Anatomy at the Houston Community College system for 3 years. Ms. Rao has a Bachelor of science in Genetics from India and a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Calgary, Canada.
Craig Magaret has extensive experience with data analysis and management in a regulated clinical environment, as well as bioinformatics and high-dimensional data mining.
His work history includes more than fifteen years with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), where he focused on the analysis of data from genomic sequences, expression arrays, and various proteomic and immunological assays. As the Associate Director of the Computational Biology Core of the FHCRC's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Mr. Magaret led and performed bioinformatic and analytical efforts with various data-driven discovery and analysis projects. His work has contributed to the efforts of several international NIH-funded clinical research networks, as well as the Coalition for AIDS Vaccine Discovery funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr. Magaret was also the Bioinformatics Manager with Immunexpress, Inc., where he managed the day-to-day bioinformatics, data management, and analytics efforts with gene expression and proteomic biomarker discovery, and the development of diagnostic and monitoring algorithms. Additionally, Mr. Magaret has served as an analytical consultant for various firms in the capacity of biomedical research and data mining, assisting small clients with high-dimensional data analysis, typically in the field of biomarker discovery and molecular diagnostics. Among his work in this area was a two-year collaboration with the Naval Medical Research Center, doing proteomic biomarker discovery in the domain of combat medicine.
Mr. Magaret has a Master's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington, where he specialized in computational biology and data mining, as well as Bachelor's degrees in Statistics, Zoology and Anthropology, also from the University of Washington. Between his sessions in undergraduate and graduate school, Mr. Magaret completed a post-baccalaureate research fellowship with Stanford University in mathematical biology.
Dr. Januzzi is the Chair of Prevencio's Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board and is the company’s Principal Investigator for the Casablanca trial, a senior staff cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Hutter Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has extensive experience with cardiac biomarker testing, including troponins, inflammatory markers, novel tests such as ST2, galectin-3, GDF-15, and the natriuretic peptides.
Dr. Januzzi has served as Chair or Vice-Chair of numerous consensus and policy documents regarding biomarker testing, and has contributed to clinical practice guidelines for heart failure. He is widely published with more than 750 peer-reviewed manuscripts, reviews and chapters, as well as five textbooks. He serves as an Associate Editor at JACC and JACC Heart Failure, and Guest Editor in Chief at JACC Cardio-Oncology and JACC Case Reports.
Dr. Januzzi is an active and experienced cardiology clinician, with a large clinical practice focused on heart failure and coronary artery disease. He is a Trustee of the American College of Cardiology and has also served as cardiovascular disease consultant to the Boston Red Sox baseball club since 2005.
Dr. Katherine Kass is Prevencio's Chief Clinical Officer for Functional & Concierge Medicine and also serves on its Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board. She is a licensed primary care physician in Washington state with 8 years of experience as owner and medical director of a robust concierge medical practice.
Her clinical model, which integrates advanced laboratory testing, AI driven biomarkers like Prevencio's HART blood tests, genomics and data from wearable health tech appeals to the proactive, and effectively targets the shortcomings of the standard primary care experience for the aging patient.
Dr. Kass is passionate about primary and secondary prevention of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Working in conjunction with cardiologists and using multimodal testing and imaging, she's assisted thousands of patients with cardiac risk stratification and tailored interventions.
Dr. Kass holds a bachelor's degree from University of California San Diego, a doctorate degree from National University of Natural Medicine, and holds certificates in Functional Medicine, Age Management Medicine , and Advanced Hormone Replacement Therapies.
Dr. Mark Houston is an internist, hypertension and cardiovascular specialist at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also the co-founder and Director of the Hypertension Institute. Founded in 1995, the Hypertension Institute immediately received national acclaim as one of the leading institutes in the U.S. for the treatment of hypertension and related cardiovascular disorders.
Dr. Houston is triple boarded in hypertension as an American Society of Hypertension (ASH) specialist and Fellow of the American Society of Hypertension (FASH), Internal Medicine (ABIM), and Anti-aging medicine (ABAARM). He also has a Master’s in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a Master of Science degree in Functional and Metabolic Medicine from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Dr. Houston has published more than 150 articles and scientific abstracts, and authored more than 70 clinical research studies in hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular disease. As a world-renowned physician and member of numerous medical societies, Dr. Houston promotes a version of healthcare with his mantra: "A wise healer uses that which works."
Dr. William (Bill) LaFramboise is a Prevencio co-founder who has an active and diverse research program spanning numerous departments and institutions at the Allegheny Health Network. Currently, he is Chief Genomics Technology Officer, Allegheny Health Network and Allegheny Cancer Institute. One of Dr. LaFramboise research interests is the study of clinically important cardiac proteins.
Previously, Dr. LaFramboise was the Director of Clinical Sequencing Facility/Cancer Biomarkers Facility at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Dr. LaFramboise also collaborated with the UPMC Department of Cardiology.
Dr. LaFramboise has held positions including: Associate Professor and Director of the Applied Molecular Research Microarray Facility, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA; Director of Laboratory Development & Operations at TissueInformatics, Inc., in Pittsburgh; and Director of Cellular & Molecular Myology Laboratory in the Department of Pediatrics at Drexel University Medical School.
He has a Ph.D. in Molecular Neurobiology from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Washington.
Ms. Dzhafarov has extensive experience as a quality and regulatory professional with a diverse product portfolio in the regulated medical devices industry. With a background in quality systems, software quality engineering and regulatory affairs, Ms. Dzhafarov has made significant contributions toward the development and commercialization of unique device innovation.
Her experience has allowed her to bring critical and novel device technology to the global market, including the US, EU, Canada, S. Korea, Argentina, Australia, China, Japan, Brazil and Argentina. She has assisted organizations in achieving successful ISO 13485:2016 certification, MDSAP certification, FDA breakthrough device designation, 510(k) clearances, De Novo and CE marking, and has extensive experience developing 513g, presub, BDD, 510(k), De Novo, PMA, HDE, EUA and IDE/HREC submissions.
Ms. Dzhafarov is proficient in risk management, clinical/regulatory strategy, quality systems management, product project management, international standards and regulation gap analysis, software classification and validation, GDPR compliance, materials compliance, and general manufacturing engineering principals.
Dr. Cramer is a specialist in hospital based Internal Medicine, and practiced for 34 years at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, where he started and managed a large hospital team. In the past he also served as Network Medical Director for Aetna U.S. Health Care.
He is on the clinical faculty of both medical schools in Washington, and is actively involved in teaching students. He has a special interest in Health Care Systems and the economics of medicine. He has had multiple medical experiences in the developing world, including India, Nepal, Thailand, and Ethiopia.
Dr. Cramer graduated with honors from Harvard College and received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He subsequently obtained an MBA from the University of Washington.