Christian Cizek
Business Development Manager, SF Bay Area, Biognosys
Christian Cizek is Biognosys’ Business Development Manager in the Bay Area, where he helps connect next-generation proteomics solutions with researchers and industry partners across the life sciences. Before joining Biognosys, he co-founded Niangua, a company focused on providing bioinformatics services across the broad range of multi-omics disciplines. Christian completed his graduate work at the University of British Columbia in bioinformatics and plant science and his undergraduate in biological sciences and chemistry at Northwestern University. At Biognosys, he works closely with partners to integrate Biognosys’s advanced proteomics platforms into diverse applications, including biomarker discovery, targeted proteomics, and target deconvolution, driving innovation in areas such as drug development and translational research.
Georgiana Miller, PhD
Senior Scientist, Biology, Trace Neuroscience
Georgiana Miller is a Senior Scientist in the Biology group at Trace Neuroscience, where she leads efforts in in-vitro assay development and biomarker discovery. Originally from Southern California, Georgiana earned a B.A. from Williams College and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she developed a strong foundation in scientific research. Motivated by a desire to translate scientific discovery into meaningful outcomes for patients, she joined Maze Therapeutics in 2020, contributing to early-stage research in ALS disease biology and target validation. At Trace, Georgiana continues to leverage her expertise to advance their ALS program targeting UNC13A restoration that aims to impact patient health through innovative biological insights and robust experimental design.
Courtney Noah, PhD
VP, Scientific Affairs, BioIVT
Dr. Courtney Noah is BioIVT's Vice President of Scientific Affairs. She leads a team that provides solutions for BioIVT’s clients and business partners. Dr. Noah received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Stony Brook University, and her BS is in Food Science from Cornell University.
Philip B. Verghese, PhD
Senior Vice President, R&D and Laboratory Operations, C2N Diagnostics
Dr. Verghese is the Senior Vice President of Research & Development and Laboratory Operations at C₂N Diagnostics. He brings over 15 years of experience in neurodegenerative disease research, diagnostics, and drug development, with a strong track record of advancing biomarker, therapeutic, and diagnostic programs from discovery through regulatory milestones.
At C₂N, Dr. Verghese leads the scientific strategy, technical execution, and cross-functional integration of R&D and laboratory operations to deliver novel diagnostic solutions in neurodegenerative diseases. He was instrumental in the development and commercialization of the PrecivityAD®, PrecivityAD2™, and Precivity-ApoE™ blood tests, which have significantly advanced Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics through clinically validated and widely accessible tools.
Dr. Verghese serves as Co-Principal Investigator on a $7 million grant from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Diagnostics Accelerator, focused on decentralized clinical-grade mass spectrometry for Alzheimer’s blood testing. He is also Principal Investigator on a project funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation aimed at identifying shared biomarkers and therapeutic targets across Parkinson’s disease, Lewy Body Dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
A protein and lipid biochemist by training, Dr. Verghese has conducted research on both acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, with a primary focus on Alzheimer’s disease. His work has centered on key molecular targets including apolipoprotein E (ApoE), ApoE receptors, amyloid-beta (Aβ), and tau. He has contributed to translational drug development and biomarker discovery, advancing the understanding of disease mechanisms and enabling the transition of scientific innovations into commercial diagnostic and therapeutic applications. His research has been published in high-impact journals, covering a broad spectrum from basic science to clinical translation.
Prior to his current role, Dr. Verghese served as Vice President, Translational Sciences at C₂N, where he was involved in preclinical and clinical programs and translational biomarker strategy. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. David Holtzman at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, supported by a BrightFocus Foundation fellowship.
Mark Warren, PhD
Senior Director, Santa Clara Operations, BioIVT
Mark S. Warren, Ph.D., is Senior Director of Santa Clara Operations at BioIVT and has nearly 30 years’ experience in the drug transporter field.
He has been in the contract research services field for fifteen years, initially at Optivia Biotechnology, and then at BioIVT, when BioIVT acquired Optivia in 2018. In this role he has worked with clients to design and complete more than a thousand transporter studies for IND filings. Additionally, he collaborates with clients to determine how ADME and PK properties of investigational drugs are influenced by transporter mechanisms. He currently leads the operations of the Santa Clara business unit of BioIVT, overseeing all departmental functions.
Previously, Mark worked at XenoPort, Inc., where his work on improving drug PK properties by modifying chemical structures to take advantage of active transport mechanisms led to several clinical candidates, including the FDA-approved gabapentin enacarbil. Mark also worked at Microcide Pharmaceuticals developing inhibitors of bacterial efflux transporters. Mark received his B.S. in Genetics from UC Davis, his M.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from UC San Diego, and he completed postdoctoral work on enzyme reaction mechanisms at the Pennsylvania State University.
Sheng Zhong, PhD
Professor, University of California San Diego
Sheng trained at Peking University, Stanford University, and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is a Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he directs the Center for Liquid Biopsy Research. Sheng is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA). He founded Genemo, Inc. for blood-based diagnostics and Neurospan LLC for Alzheimer’s therapeutics. Outside of work, Sheng enjoys tennis and visiting museums.