Scientific Advisory Board
T. Chris Boles, PhD
VP and CSO, Sage Science
Dr. Boles's expertise is in the development of molecular research instruments, consumables and reagents. Dr. Boles served in VP R&D of Matrix Technologies and CSO of Mosaic Technologies, and he is currently the CSO at Sage Science. He is an inventor of numerous patents, mostly chemistry related, in the bioscience tools area. Prior to his career in industry, he served as an Asst. Professor at Brandeis University and as a Post Doctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley. Dr. Boles also directs laboratory research and development at Sage Science Dr. Boles directs and carries out the Company's molecular biology work, developing the actual processes that will be performed by its instruments.
Dr. Boles received his PhD from Princeton University.
Michael Cima, PhD
Professor of Engineering, Material Science & Engineering, MIT
Dr. Michael J. Cima is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has an appointment at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Cima joined the MIT faculty in 1986 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to full Professor in 1995. He was elected a Fellow of the American Ceramics Society in 1997.
Dr. Cima now holds the Sumitomo Electric Industries Chair at MIT. Prof. Cima is author or co-author of over two hundred peer reviewed scientific publications, forty-five patents, and is a recognized expert in the field of materials processing. Prof. Cima is actively involved in materials and engineered systems for improvement in human health such as treatments for cancer, metabolic diseases, trauma, and urological disorders. Prof. Cima's research concerns advanced forming technology such as for complex macro and micro devices, colloid science, MEMS and other micro components for medical devices that are used for drug delivery and diagnostics, high-throughput development methods for formulations of materials and pharmaceutical formulations. He is a co-inventor of MIT’s three dimensional printing process. His research has led to the development of chemically derived epitaxial oxide films for HTSC coated conductors. He and collaborators are developing implantable MEMS devices for unprecedented control in the delivery of pharmaceuticals and implantable diagnostic systems. Finally, through his consulting work he has been a major contributor to the development of high throughput systems for discovery of novel crystal forms and formulations of pharmaceuticals. Prof. Cima also has extensive entrepreneurial experience. He is co-founder and a director of MicroChips Inc., a developer of microelectronic based drug delivery and diagnostic systems. Prof. Cima took two sabbaticals to act as senior consultant and management team member at Transform Pharmaceuticals Inc. a company that he helped start and that was ultimately acquired by Johnson and Johnson Corporation. He is a co-founder at T2 Biosystems a medical diagnostics company. Most recently, Prof. Cima co-founded Entra Pharmaceuticals a specialty pharmaceutical company and Taris Biomedical a urology products company.
He earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1982 (Phi Beta Kappa) and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1986, both from the University of California at Berkeley.
Lee Josephson, PhD
Lee Josephson was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Guido Guidotti at Harvard University, where he collaborated with Lew Cantley in discovering the biological activity of vanadate. He was a cofounder of AMAG Pharmaceuticals (formerly Advanced Magnetics), and was a pioneer in the development of magnetic nanoparticles for cell sorting, for immunoassays, and for use as contrast agents with magnetic resonance imaging. He served as the Director of Research and Chief Scientific Officer of AMAG from 1982 until 1997. He joined Dr. Ralph Weissleder at the Center for Molecular Imaging Research in 1997 and is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. He was a co-founder of T2 Biosystems, a company engaged in using MR to measure the levels of analytes in various fluids. In 2009, he joined the Center for Translational Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (CTNMI) led by Dr. Tom Brady at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he serves as the Director of Probe Chemistry. His research interests include the magnetic nanoparticles and MRI, multifunctional imaging agents, probes for imaging apoptosis and cell death, and the biological activity of viridins (natural product inhibitors of the PI3 kinases). He is an author on over 100 publications and an inventor on more than 30 issued US patents.
Lee Josephson received his BS in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Harold Kisner, Ph.D., D(ABCC), MBA
Dr. Kisner is a consultant in laboratory medicine, and nationally recognized as an expert in instrument selection, workflow design and optimization, and laboratory automation. Dr. Kisner is a valued resource to large integrated health systems and academic medical centers throughout the U.S, consults with in-vitro diagnostic companies, serves on several scientific advisory boards, and advises private equity firms on investment in the diagnostics sector.
In 2003 Dr. Kisner founded and continues to serve as President of NorthEast Clinical & Anatomic Pathology Solutions dba NECAPS, including;
NECAPS LLC, a laboratory consulting firm specializing in the technical and operational aspects of clinical and anatomic pathology;
NECAPS GPO LLC, a boutique group purchasing organization servicing independent, physician office and integrated health network laboratories;
NECAPS FMDx, LLC, a specialized consulting firm assisting clients with the design and management of flow cytometry and molecular diagnostics laboratories;
NECAPS CRDx, LLC, a contract research and development company helping design clinical studies and linking in-vitro diagnostic vendors with laboratories providing and alpha and beta site testing.
In 2006 Dr. Kisner co-founded ConVerge Diagnostic Services, LLC, an anatomic pathology laboratory with an emphasis on the integration of traditional anatomic pathology services with molecular diagnostics and flow cytometry. After the sale of ConVerge Dx to Water St. Health Partners (WSHP) in 2009, Dr. Kisner remains a consultant to the company.
Prior to founding NECAPS, Dr. Kisner was COO and Laboratory Director of Path Lab Inc. from 1987-2003. As one of the fastest growing and most dynamic integrated health network laboratories in the country, Dr. Kisner was instrumental in helping design, implement and oversee the various management models servicing seven hospitals and six large group practice physician office laboratories, with which he had full P&L responsibility. He was also responsible for all the technical and medical aspects of the clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories associated with Path Lab.
Dr. Kisner serves as special advisor to the board of the Clinical Laboratory Management Review (CLMR), authors it’s “Talking About Technology” column, and has previously served as editor of the “Diagnostics Report”, a newsletter on the diagnostics industry. He has numerous publications on both scientific and management topics and frequently speaks at national and local conferences on strategic laboratory issues. Dr. Kisner received his Ph.D. in Clinical Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island, and his MBA from an executive program at Loyola College in Maryland.
Alexander M. Klibanov, PhD
Novartis Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Klibanov is currently Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests include enzyme chemistry and biotechnology, protein drug delivery and formulation, stability and stabilization of pharmaceutical proteins, and biochemistry in extreme environments. Professor Klibanov has authored over 280 scientific papers and 16 issued U.S. patents and is a member of seven journal editorial boards. He has received numerous prestigious professional awards including the Leo Friend Award, the Ipatieff Prize, the Marvin J. Johnson Award, and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, as well as the International Enzyme Engineering Prize. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the National Academy of Engineering of the United States. In addition, Dr. Klibanov has started five biotechnology companies and has been a scientific advisor/consultant for numerous pharmaceutical and chemical companies.
Dr. Klibanov received his MS in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Chemical Enzymology from Moscow University in Russia.
George Parsons, PhD
Former key executive of several diagnostics companies
Dr. Parsons is the Managing Director and founder of Parsons Group LLC, an in vitro diagnostics consulting company, serving clients in the U.S. and Europe. After teaching for 2 years at Boston University, he entered the business world as a development chemist for Clinical Assays, Inc in Cambridge, MA. Within 2 years he was made Technical Director and managed a team of 40 professionals developing state of the art immunoassays. Leaving Clinical Assays, he joined the founding management team of Medical & Scientific Designs in Rockland, MA where he managed a team developing assays in a novel format for one of the first computer controlled immunoassay instruments. Seeking experience in a new area, he joined Gene-Trak Systems and helped develop DNA probe assays for various food pathogens. There he became General Manager of the Food Diagnostics Division and had overall P&L responsibility for the operation. Returning to his R&D roots, he did an R&D turnaround at T-Cell Diagnostics with novel cell surface marker immunoassays as VP of R&D. He then joined PerSeptive Biosystems to explore immunoassays on HPCL, Capillary Electrophersis and Mass Spectrometry. At Chiron Diagnostics he managed groups of 40-80 scientists developing magnetic particle chemiluminescent assays on automated random access platforms. As Director of Business Development for Future Diagnostics, B.V. he was responsible for marketing contract assay development services to companies ranging from well established multinationals to startups. In January 2008, he launched his own consulting company Parsons Group LLC. Dr. Parsons is the inventor or co-inventor on 11 allowed U.S. patents, has authored many peer reviewed articles and book chapters on immunoassay. In the 35 years he has been in the industry, Dr. Parsons and his groups have introduced more than 85 assays to the market. He has also been the Chair of the Oak Ridge meeting sponsored by AACC and has been active in local AACC Section activities as Program Chair, Chair and currently Membership Chair.
Dr. Parsons received his B.A. in Chemistry (magna cum laude) from Boston University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from Brandeis University.