Dr. Stevan Jovanovich is President and CEO of Microchip Biotechnologies, a company he co-founded in 2003 to better optimize sample preparation for the life sciences. At MBI he has been the Principal Investigator on over $10 M of grants and contracts focused on DNA sequencing, biodefense, and forensics. He currently leads a growing team of talented professionals dedicated to commercializing the technology.

Dr. Jovanovich is an internationally recognized expert in microfluidics and an experienced global commercial leader. Before co-founding Microchip Biotechnologies, Dr. Jovanovich was Vice President of Global Research at Amersham Biosciences where he led a team of 120 scientists and engineers and drove multiple business projects across six international sites.

Prior positions include Science Director at Amersham Biosciences, Manager of Advanced Research at Molecular Dynamics, Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Director of Microbiology at AbTox Inc, and founder of Molecular Solutions.

Dr. Jovanovich has proven expertise in microbiology, molecular genetics, microbial physiology, object-oriented programming, robotics, genomics, systems biology, and instrument and systems development. He is author of over 20 papers and an inventor on over 20 US patents. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics and Life Sciences from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from University of California at Davis.

Dr. Barney Saunders brings 20 years experience commercializing emergent and mature technologies into life science and biomedical research. He brings particular strengths in marketing and aligning organizations on the key results required in businesses that involve the interplay between customers and markets, IP and technology, competition, and organizational culture. Barney has a track record in strengthening business performance in existing portfolios and building revenue in new ventures.

Prior to joining Microchip Biotechnologies, Barney held the position of VP, General Manager at Agilent Technologies launching their Gene expression business. This led to Agilent’s release of the first commercially available full genome arrays for human, rat and mouse. While at Agilent, Barney also held the position of Senior Director for Science and Technology and worked with their corporate team to make equity investments in startup companies.

Barney received a B.SC. Hons. in Biological Sciences and Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, England.

Michael Wiley’s breadth of expertise with venture-backed companies offers valuable operational perspectives to Microchip Biotechnologies as a legal and financial advisor. Michael was previously a corporate lawyer at Venture Law Group, now Heller Ehrman. There, he was involved in negotiations and preparing corporate documentation for over 50 venture financings and mergers and acquisitions. Before joining Venture Law Group, Michael worked for KPMG Peat Marwick as a tax advisor and CPA.

Michael earned both his Juris Doctorate and his Accounting degree from Brigham Young University.

Roger McIntosh is Vice President of Engineering at Microchip Biotechnologies. Roger is the original designer and co-developer of DevLink automation framework software, part of the company’s product platform. He has proven expertise in laboratory robotics and precision liquid handling systems in addition to instrument development and control software.

Previously, Roger was Senior Staff Program Manager at Amersham Biosciences, where he led all engineering projects for the Advanced Research group. Other prior positions include Program Manager at Perkin Elmer, Software Development manager at Tecan, President of McIntosh Analytical Systems, and sales and engineering positions at Mettler Instuments.

Roger holds a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, and he has completed extensive electrical engineering work at Purdue University, software development at Harvard University, and bioinformatics at University of California at Santa Cruz.

Larry Kopjak is Senior Director of Sales and Business Development at Microchip Biotechnologies. Most recently, he was Director of Business Development at GE Healthcare where he negotiated strategic collaborative research and development agreements in addition to technology licensing with major pharmaceutical, biotech companies, and universities. Prior positions include Director of Business Development at Amersham Biosciences and sales and business development management positions at Molecular Dynamics. He was National Sales Manager for Applied Biosystems during the company’s early growth period. Larry spent his early career as a forensic toxicologist for Los Angeles County and at the University of Utah in the Center for Human Toxicology.

Larry earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside.

Bill Nielsen is Director of System Integration at Microchip Biotechnologies. He is a 20-year veteran of life science instrumentation research, development, manufacturing, and optimization. Previous positions include Manager of System Integration at GE Healthcare and research and manufacturing positions at Amersham Biosciences and Molecular Dynamics. During his career, Bill has been involved in the development of over a dozen industry-standard optical scanning and imaging products as well as the first high-throughput DNA sequencer. Bill also worked in analytical methods development at Syntex Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Nielsen graduated from California State University, Chico where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.

Portia Serame provides human resources leadership at Microchip Biotechnologies. She has driven growth by focusing on building the organization’s capacity with the best talent and creating a great place to work. Portia has experience in human resources and workforce development from a variety of past positions at both start-up and established life science businesses such as ParAllele BioScience and Amersham Biosciences.

Portia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Psychology from University of California at Davis. She has also completed certification in human resource management at San Francisco State University.