BioNano Elects David Barker, Ph.D., Former Chief Scientific Officer of Illumina, as Chairman of the Board

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 08, 2016 -- BioNano Genomics, the leader in physical genome mapping, today announced that it has elected David Barker, Ph.D., former Chief Scientific Officer of Illumina, as Chairman of the Board. BioNano has further strengthened its executive management team with two additional appointments: Sean Paolino to Vice President, Finance and Warren Robinson to Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing. 

David Barker, Ph.D., commented, “The Irys® next-generation mapping (NGM) system from BioNano systematically and comprehensively detects large structural variations in the genome. These variations have the potential to revolutionize how we understand genome biology and its role in human disease. While I’ve served on the Board of BioNano for several years, I’m honored to now lead the Board as the Company navigates a strategic path forward in its next phase of commercial growth and development.”

“The appointments of David, Sean and Warren significantly strengthen our leadership team as we enter our next stage of growth,” said Erik Holmlin, Ph.D., CEO of BioNano Genomics. “Their collective deep expertise in the life sciences industry and multi-functional experience in product development, finance, and sales will be critical as we continue to demonstrate NGM as an essential tool to understand genome biology. In particular, David’s knowledge of applied genomics and expertise from leading Illumina’s early development will be instrumental to our success. Sean and Warren’s dynamic involvement in the life sciences industry, including financial planning and analysis, and sales and marketing leadership, respectively, at Life Technologies, will be synergistic in driving BioNano to the next level of achievement. We look forward to their contributions supporting the growth of BioNano.”  

About BioNano Genomics

BioNano Genomics, Inc., the leader in next-generation mapping (NGM), provides customers with genome analysis tools that advance human, plant and animal genomics and accelerate the development of clinical diagnostics.  The Company’s Irys® System uses NanoChannel arrays integrated within the IrysChip® to image DNA at the single-molecule level with average single-molecule lengths of about 350,000 base pairs, which leads the genomics industry.  The long-range genomic information obtained with the Irys System helps decipher complex DNA involving repeats, which are the primary cause of inaccurate and incomplete genome assembly.

On its own, next-generation mapping with the Irys System enables detection of structural variants, many of which have been shown to be associated with human disease as well as complex traits in plants and animals.  As a companion to next-generation sequencing (NGS), next-generation mapping with the Irys System integrates with sequence assemblies to create contiguous hybrid scaffolds that reveal the highly informative native structure of the chromosome.

Only BioNano Genomics provides long-range genomic information with the cost-efficiency and throughput to keep up with advances in next-generation sequencing.

The Irys System has been adopted by a growing number of leading institutions around the world, including: National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, BGI, Garvan Institute, Salk Institute, Mount Sinai and Washington University.  Investors in the Company include Domain Associates, Legend Capital, Novartis Venture Fund and Monashee Investment Management.

For more information, please visit www.BioNanoGenomics.com.

Notes: BioNano Genomics is a trademark of BioNano Genomics, Inc. Any other names of actual companies, organizations, entities, products or services may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

BioNano Genomics:
Kirsten Thomas  
The Ruth Group
[email protected]
(508) 280-6592