PREDICTIVE ONCOLOGY :
Basic Facts
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors is composed of industry experts with the expertise and passion to support Predictive Oncology’s vision of eliminating cancer.
Our Board of Directors is composed of industry experts with the expertise and passion to support Predictive Oncology’s vision of eliminating cancer.
Between 2012 and 2021, he was CEO of Engle Strategic Solutions, a consulting and coaching company focused on CEO issues. From 2009 to 2012, he was CEO and Chairman of Thermogenesis, a cell separation company. From 2002 to 2007, he was Regional Head/Director, North America at Merck Generics and CEO of Dey Laboratories, a respiratory company. From 1996 to 2001, he was CEO and Chairman of Anika Therapeutics, an orthobiologics company. From 1980 to 1995, he was with Allergan, Inc., an eye and skin care company, where he served as CFO, Managing Director (living in Toronto), and other positions with the firm.
“ Eliminating cancer is our overall goal. This is not an easy task. We are working hard every day to make this happen, using our novel technology and talented team of employees. ”
University of Southern California
School of Business
MBA, Finance
University of Colorado Boulder
BS, Accounting
Dr. Chung-Welch is currently an independent consultant advising life science companies and their institutional investors on life science companies, technologies and industries with an emphasis on the research product/tools market. Previously she was a Director, Business Development at Cell Signaling Technology and was Director, Business Development at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Technical Marketing Manager for Fisher Scientific. She has over 25 years of marketing and business development experience in the life sciences market. Dr. Chung-Welch has a balanced blend of business and technical/analytical strengths to provide a sound foundation for technology/IP assessments and external partnerships. She has a strong record of domestic and international experience in business and customer needs analysis, technology assessment, licensing, distribution deals, partnerships, strategic alliances, strategic customer relationships, mergers/acquisitions. She previously served as Instructor in Surgery and Assistant in Physiology at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital with expertise in basic science research, including cell biology, tissue culture, vascular physiology, genomics, proteomics, and lab automation applications. She is also a hands-on marketing executive and has conceptualized, launched, and managed products and services in the laboratory, medical, biotech/pharma, academic and government markets. She received her Ph.D. in Vascular Physiology and Cell Biology from Boston University.
“ Joining the POAI Board gives me the opportunity to work with people with lived experiences improving equity, diversity and inclusivity within healthcare with meaningful impact in the lives and outcomes of cancer patients.”
Dr. Handley serves as a Professor and the Director of the Clinical and Translational Genome Research Institute of Southern California University of Health Sciences. Previously, he was the Chief Scientific Officer of the Clinical and Translational Genome Research Institute, a Florida 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. During that time, he also held a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. He previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Advanced Healthcare Technology Solutions, Inc., Life-Seq, LLC, as a senior researcher at the Procter & Gamble Co., a senior administrator, researcher, and laboratory manager at the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, and as a founding biotechnology inventor for the National Genetics Institute. He holds a B.A. in Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in Logic and Computation from Carnegie Mellon University, a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his post-doctoral training at Magee-Women’s Research Institute researching advanced genomic technologies applied to fetal and maternal health. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served as a nuclear propulsion instructor.
“ As a scientist who has been personally involved in cancer research and computational systems biology, I’ve known about and have been impressed with Predictive Oncology’s work for a number of years. I’m honored to now be on the company’s Board of Directors, and am optimistic we will make a tremendous impact on improving outcomes for cancer patients with advanced computational and biomedical technologies.”
Dr. Christina Jenkins (“CJ”) has a lifelong commitment to using technology and trusted relationships to improve health, at scale. Her expertise spans clinical medicine, venture capital, health systems, and health plans, and she applies her unique perspective of providers, payers and consumers to help optimize growth and health outcomes.
Dr. Jenkins is a Venture Partner at Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP), focusing on hardware-enabled companies that transform the way we diagnose, monitor, and treat health conditions. She also leads investments for Portfolia’s FemTech and Active Aging and Longevity funds, focusing on early-stage digital health and device companies targeting the health and well-being of women.
Previously, Dr. Jenkins was the founding CEO of OneCity Health Services, a subsidiary of NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H), leading a successful $1.2B effort to redesign the continuum of care and accelerate readiness for value-based payments. In that role, she scaled technology-enabled care models throughout a newly-created partnership of over 200 hospital and community-based organizations.
In addition to POAI, she is a Board Director for Independence Health Group (parent of Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas), a Board Observer for Madorra and FIGUR8, and an advisory board member of multiple value-generating healthcare companies. She is also a member of the Kauffman Fellows, a global leadership program in venture capital.
“ I’m pleased to support POAI as Mel Engle and his talented team strategically position for further growth and impact on health outcomes. ”
Mr. Nuzum was appointed to the Board on July 9, 2020. He has extensive experience as a CFO that ranges from private start-ups to large publicly traded companies. Mr. Nuzum presently provides financial consulting services on a project basis to companies such as McKesson, BioMarin, AutoDesk and Squire Patton Boggs, mentors start-up companies and serves on the Board of Directors of several companies. Previously he was co-founder and CFO of the Tyburn Group, a financial services company that creates and delivers prepaid payroll and general-purpose card programs for customers. For the four years prior, Mr. Nuzum served as the Controller of Dey, L.P., a large pharmaceutical manufacturing subsidiary of Merck KGaA. Prior to that he was co-founder, Executive Vice President and CFO of SVC Financials Services, one of the first companies in the field to integrate a mobile money solution for global distribution, Vice President of Finance and Administration at Tiburon, Inc., a leader in public safety and justice information systems, and CFO of Winebid.com the world’s leading e-commerce wine auction company. For more than two decades, Mr. Nuzum was CFO of Loomis Fargo & Co., the well-known international provider of ATM systems, armored cars and other security services. Mr. Nuzum, a Certified Public Accountant, earned his BA at the University of Washington at Seattle. He served with the U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam earning the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal during combat operations, other international postings and served with distinction as an intelligence officer in Washington, D.C.
“ I was excited to join the Board of Directors of Predictive Oncology because it gives me an opportunity to use my skills working for an organization that is dedicated to developing improved cancer treatments and ultimately eliminating cancer. ”
Mr. St. Clair has more than three decades of hands-on experience in building and growing companies across a diversity of markets. As an innovator and entrepreneur, his experience encompasses executive leadership, strategic planning, compliance, reimbursement and revenue integrity and cycle management. His professional and personal endeavors reflect his continuing commitment to the integration of the financial needs and market niche opportunities for health systems and related biomedical organizations.
He is Founder and a Managing Member of SunStone Consulting, LLC. Prior to that, Mr. St. Clair worked as a national vice president for CGI, ImrGlobal, and Orion Consulting and as a national director for Coopers & Lybrand.
“ Having worked in the healthcare industry for over 30 years, helping the companies who deliver patient care utilize the best technology, improve their processes and receive all the revenue they can within all compliance standards;
I was excited to join Predictive Oncology’s Board of Directors in helping to guide this exciting company with all of their cutting edge capabilities for improving
the health care of patients
with cancer.”
Raymond F. Vennare brings more than thirty years of experience as an accomplished senior executive, board director and biotechnology entrepreneur to Predictive Oncology, Inc. As a seasoned professional who has founded, built and managed multiple companies on behalf of institutional investors, private foundations and research institutions, Raymond is a well-respected expert in the practice of company creation, technology commercialization, business development and corporate governance. In 2015, Mr. Vennare was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Cvergenx, Inc., a genomic informatics company developing decision-support tools for radiation oncology. Previously, Mr. Vennare was Co-founder, President and CEO of ThermalTherapeutic Systems, Inc.; President and Chief Executive Officer of ImmunoSite, Inc.; Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of TissueInformatics, Inc.; and Founder and President of VSInteractive. From June 2018 to December 2020, he served as Vice Chairman of Guangzhou INDA Biotechnology Company, Ltd. In 2019, he joined the Board of Directors of Cvergenx Technologies India Private, Ltd. In addition to his board service and company affiliations, Raymond is a frequent advisor to organizations as diverse as nationally-ranked universities, philanthropic foundations, multi-national publicly traded companies and early-stage start-ups.
“ Last year an estimated 1.9 million people were diagnosed with cancer. Nearly 600,000 of those patients did not survive their diagnosis. This is unacceptable to me. Having lost my mother, my father and my brother to cancer, this fight is personal. I joined the board of Predictive Oncology because I want to make a difference — when you have exhausted all possibilities, said Thomas Edison, you have not.”
Dr. Kirshner has over 15 years of experience in cancer research, including preclinical model design, drug discovery and efficacy testing. Dr. Kirshner’s expertise spans multiple aspects of cancer biology including the development of physiological organotypic 3D cell culture models for preclinical drug testing, molecular target and biomarker discovery, evaluation of drug-resistance, tumor microenvironment, tumor heterogeneity and cancer stem cells, and tumor immunology.
As the founder of zPREDICTA, Dr. Kirshner leads the team in developing tumor-specific in vitro models for oncology drug discovery and research. The company is focused on accelerating the drug development process through its expertise in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and the tumor microenvironment. zPREDICTA’s complex in vitro models recapitulate the physiological environment of human cancer tissue and thus provide a more clinically relevant testing platform than commonly used alternatives.
Prior to starting zPREDICTA, Dr. Kirshner was an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University.
“ Combining zPREDICTA’s technology with Helomics, TumorGenesis, and Soluble Biotech will allow us to make true progress towards our joint mission of eliminating cancer.”
Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Davis
B.S., Genetics
Pamela Bush comes with more than twenty years of experience in venture creation, finance, and business development in the life sciences industry. At POAI, she leads the sales efforts and business development activities across the portfolio.
Prior to joining POAI Pamela worked at Eli Lilly & Company in various roles including Corporate Business Development, Finance and Patient Services. In addition to her Lilly work experience, Pamela has worked in economic development, academia, and business consulting supporting the creation and growth of 80+ life sciences start-ups.
“ POAI has developed solutions to help biopharma partners increase the probability of success of their oncology pipeline.”
Ph.D., Molecular Biology
MBA, Tepper School of Business
Dr. DeLucas is the Vice president of Operations for Predictive Oncology and President and co-founder of Soluble Biotech, Inc. DeLucas is currently working to complete development of GMP facilities at Soluble Biotech and at TumorGenesis. In addition, he oversees Soluble Biotech’s solubility and stability contracts for numerous pharmaceutical/biotech companies.
From 1981-2016 Dr. DeLucas was a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) where he served as a Professor in the School of Optometry, Senior Scientist and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center X-ray Shared Facility, and Director of the Center for Structural Biology. Dr. DeLucas received five degrees from UAB culminating in a Doctor of Optometry degree and a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry. He also received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from The Ohio State University, Ferris State University, the State University of New York (SUNY), and the Illinois College of Optometry. He has published 164 peer-reviewed research articles in various scientific journals, co-authored and edited several books on protein crystal growth and membrane proteins and is a co-inventor on 43 patents involving protein crystal growth, novel biotechnologies and structure-based drug design. DeLucas was a payload specialist NASA astronaut and member of the 7-person crew of Space Shuttle Columbia for Mission “STS-50”, called the United States Microgravity Laboratory-1 (USML-1) Spacelab mission. Columbia launched on June 25, 1992, returning on July 9. In 1994 and 1995, Dr. DeLucas served as the Chief Scientist for the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Dr. DeLucas was recognized as one of the scientists who could shape the 21st century in an article published by “The Sunday Times” of London titled “The Brains Behind the 21st Century.” In 2004, he was recognized as a Top Ten Finalist for the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Birmingham Business Journal.
“ Soluble Biotech is continually demonstrating to pharmaceutical and biotech companies the significant value of its novel HSC technology for optimizing protein therapeutic formulations to treat a variety of chronic and infectious diseases. ”
Dr. Arlette Uihlein is Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality for Predictive Oncology and Site Leader of Helomics, serving as the Vice President of Operations, Pathology Services and Medical Director of Helomics® Clinical and Research Labs since 2011. Dr. Uihlein is Board Certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Cytopathology and Family Medicine. Dr. Uihlein completed her Pathology Residency at Allegheny General Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident in Pathology and completed Fellowships in Cytopathology and Surgical Pathology. During that time, she conducted extensive clinical research involving molecular pathology diagnostic and predictive markers, imaging of solid tumors, and novel applications of cellular tumor markers. While serving as Medical Director at Helomics, a CLIA and New York State certified lab, Dr. Uihlein has published research in molecular assay development, lab automation, and tissue and cell processing. She is a Designated Civil Surgeon for the U.S. Dept. of Justice and a certified Medical Review Officer for the Department of Transportation. She is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathology, NYSDOH Certificate Qualified, and a member of ASCO.
“ At Helomics we’re delivering better-informed decision making saving pharma time and money, while providing cancer patients with appropriate therapies.”
Medical College of Ohio
Doctor of Medicine
Baldwin-Wallace University
BS, Biology
“ Patients are always first, is our driving force. Oncology is a tough space, and we are determined to bring the best validated science to help cancer patients and as our CEO says, ‘Eliminate Cancer.’ That takes teamwork and a lot of smart hard-working people, our team members at POAI are up to the challenge. ”
Ohio Dominican College
BS, Chemistry
Mark is currently Chief Technical Officer at Predictive Oncology. Using the power of AI, Mark is responsible for leveraging Helomics’ vast repository of physical and digital tumor samples, to build multi-omic predictive models of tumor drug response and outcome. Such models can be applied to the discovery of new targeted therapies for cancer as well as used in clinical decision support to help oncologists individualize treatment.
Dr. Mark Collins embarked on a career in the pharmaceutical industry following his postdoctoral work. Pursuing a passion for both biology and computing, Mark has held multiple executive roles in a variety of discovery, informatics and bioinformatics functions within global pharma, and founded three startup software companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) and drug discovery space. Mark relocated to the USA in 2001 to work for Cellomics (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific), where he played a pivotal role in establishing the High-Content cell analysis market, building, and commercializing several key informatics and bioinformatics products.
Since leaving Thermo Fisher, Mark has focused on developing and commercializing informatics solutions for clinical and translational research, specifically in the specimen tracking, ‘omics data management and NGS analysis space, through key roles at BioFortis, Global Specimen Solutions and Genedata
“ I have been pursuing a vision since the late 1990s that AI will help deliver better patient therapies. I firmly believe at POAI we will deliver on that vision. ”
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Undergraduate Degree, Applied Science
Executive Officer, Compliance Officer, Corporate Secretary, and member of the Senior Leadership Team. Responsible for Finance, Administration, Human Resources, Investor Relations, and IT. Skyline Medical Site Leader.
Numerous years as CEO/Controller consultant including medical devices companies. Executive positions with CES Computer Solutions, Computer Accomplishments, Hi-Tech Stationary & Printing, Capital Distributors Corp, International Creative Management American Express, Showtime Entertainment and public accounting with Laventhol & Horwath, CPA’s.
“ It’s a privilege to work with a highly talented team to pursue oncology advances, while protecting and increasing shareholder value. ”
Adelphi University
MBA, Finance
Hofstra University
BBA, Public Accounting
