Scientific Advisory
Christopher Tompkins
Dr. Tompkins has 25 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience focused in the areas of process development, operations, and the commercialization of new technologies. Dr. Tompkins was formerly General Manager of Degusa-Proligo a provider of synthetic DNA and RNA based in Boulder, CO. At Proligo, Dr. Tompkins led the development team and designed the reactor technology for the marketed macular degeneration treatment, Macugen™. Prior to Proligo, Dr. Tompkins led the oligonucleotide engineering group at NeXstar Pharma and was jointly responsible for the engineering development, scale-up, and technology transfer of the F-FU pro-drug Xeloda™ at Hoffmann-La Roche. Dr. Tompkins graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Joel Bedford
Dr. Bedford is currently a Professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State Universtiy and holds a joint faculty appointment in the University Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology. His programs have been funded by NIH, DOE and NASA since 1966. He has served as a regular member and Chairperson of the NIH Radiation Study Section, as a Counselor, Associate Editor, and later as President of the Radiation Research Society. He has received various awards such as the Failla Award and the Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Radiation Research Society. He has been a regular member of the National Academies’ Board on Radiation Effects Research, and then on the National Academies’ Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board. He served a 5-year term on the Scientific Council of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan, and is a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Professor Bedford has authored 140 peer-reviewed articles, including several book chapters, and is an inventor on two patent applications. Professor Bedford received his B.A. degree in Chemistry from the University of Colorado, an M.S. degree in Radiology from the University of Colorado Medical School, and Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Radiobiology from Oxford University.
Susan M. Bailey
Dr. Bailey is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University. She previously worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bioscience Division, doing research involving the development and application of the CO-FISH technique. Dr. Bailey’s current research program, funded by the NIH and NASA, revolves around what chromosomes and telomeres can tell us about cancer and other human disease states. She also serves on the Editorial Board of two scientific journals, is an author on over 50 peer-reviewed publications, three book chapters and an inventor on one patent application. Dr. Bailey received her B.S. degree in Biology from Colorado State University, and M.S. and PhD. degrees in Biomedical Sciences from the University of New Mexico, School of Medicine.
Michael Cornforth
Dr. Cornforth is currently a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas (UTMB). His formal training is in radiation biology with emphasis on the study of chromosome aberrations produced by various forms of ionizing radiation, and how chromosomal rearrangements are affected by changes in ionization density, total dose, and the rate at which total dose is delivered. Current funding includes support from the Department of Energy (DOE), NIH (NIAID) and NASA. Dr. Cornforth previously worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, has served on the editorial boards of two international journals, as Councilor for Biology for the Radiation Research Society, and currently holds a position on the Scientific Council of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, and has published three book chapters dealing with radiation effects on chromosomes. Professor Cornforth received his doctoral degree at Colorado State University.
Vic Myer
Dr. Myer joins KromaTiD’s Board with extensive experience in biotechnology, R&D, building enterprise value, and pharmaceutical company executive leadership. He is currently Entrepreneur in Residence at Atlas Venture where he is involved in new company creation as well as working with existing Atlas portfolio companies. Prior to Atlas, Dr. Myer served for five years as Chief Technology Officer of Editas Medicine, a leading developer of gene editing-based therapies. Prior to Editas, Dr. Myer served over 10 years in various leadership roles within the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) in Cambridge, MA, including as executive director and site head for their Developmental and Molecular Pathways department. He also served in roles focused on leveraging and scaling omics technologies at Millennium, Akceli and Corning.
Ginny Orndorff
Ginny Orndorff has over 30 years of bioscience company management experience. She is CEO of Sieyax, LLC, a University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus spin-off company working on novel cancer drugs. She previously served on the Board of Directors of KromaTiD Inc. and was CEO of the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device, and Diagnostic Development. She co-founded Evolutionary Genomics, Inc., now a publicly held company of Longmont, CO and was its CEO for 10 years, continuing today on its Board of Directors. Prior to that, she was CEO of GenoPlex of Denver, CO. She also served as Director of Technology/Business Development for NeXstar of Boulder and Director of Biotechnology Programs at the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute. Ginny began her bioscience career as a lab supervisor then Director of Technology Development at Genex in Gaithersburg, MD. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, a Master’s in Microbiology from California State University San Jose, and an MBA from Loyola College in Baltimore.
F. Andrew Ray
Dr. Ray is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University. Previously, he was a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. As a graduate student he published a landmark paper showing that a viral protein was responsible for generating chromosomal instability in human cells enabling subsequent transformation to a tumorigenic phenotype. He was formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at Albany Medical College. He is a contributing author on 40 scientific publications and an inventor on three issued and four pending patents. Dr. Ray received a B.S. in Biology from Stetson University and M.S. and PhD degrees in Medical Sciences from the School of Medicine at the University of New Mexico.