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Leadership Team
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Management Team
Akoya’s Leadership Team brings a diverse set of expertise and decades of experience successfully translating technical innovation to commercial success in both the research and clinical markets.

Brian McKelligon
Chief Executive Officer



Brian McKelligon
Chief Executive Officer
Brian joined Akoya Biosciences in July 2017 serving as the CEO, bringing his experience as a 25-year veteran of the life sciences market with a proven track record of building and commercializing products and services for both the research and clinical markets. Most recently, he drove corporate and business development at Cellular Dynamics International (acquired by FUJIFilm) with a focus on the development and partnering of their four cell therapy programs. Prior to that, Brian built and ran commercial organizations at 10X Genomics, Thermo Fisher Scientific / Life Technologies, Affymetrix (IPO, acquired by Thermo Fisher) and Ingenuity Systems (acquired by Qiagen). He came to Thermo Fisher and Life Technologies through their acquisition of Ion Torrent in 2010 where he was an early employee and built the global commercial organization.


Johnny Ek
Chief Financial Officer


Johnny Ek
Chief Financial Officer
Johnny has more than 20 years of financial leadership experience across the diagnostics and life sciences tools industries. He joins Akoya from Specific Diagnostics, a developer of rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests where he served as Chief Financial Officer and facilitated the Company's sale to bioMérieux in May 2022. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer at GenMark Diagnostics, a provider of multiplex molecular diagnostic solutions, and oversaw the sale to Roche Diagnostics in March 2021. Johnny served as the Vice President, Finance and Controller of eBioscience and completed it's sale to Affymetrix, when he became Vice President, Finance and International Controller. Johnny began his career at Ernst & Young and is a licensed CPA (inactive) in the state of California. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Brigham Young University and a Master of Science in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame.


Niro Ramachandran, PhD
Chief Business Officer


Niro Ramachandran, PhD
Chief Business Officer
Niro joined Akoya in August 2020 to serve as the Chief Business Officer responsible for developing a robust roadmap and commercialization strategy for Akoya’s platforms. Niro has nearly two decades of experience in developing and commercializing products in the life science market. He has commercialized over 30 products across genomics and proteomics research markets. More recently, he served as the vice president of the spatial biology business unit at Nanostring Technologies (2014 – 2020). Prior to this, Niro led product development for the protein business unit at Life Technologies (2008-2014; acquired by Thermo Fisher). Niro received his Hon. BSc in Biochemistry from University of Toronto, and PhD from University of Windsor. He completed his post doctorate work at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics, Harvard University.


Frederic Pla, PhD
Chief Operating Officer


Frederic Pla, PhD
Chief Operating Officer
Frederic joined Akoya Biosciences in April 2021 to serve as the Chief Operating Officer. He brings over 25 years of experience in launching and managing global businesses in the life sciences and healthcare industries. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI). Prior to PICI, he served as COO of Genomic Health (now part of Exact Sciences) and held senior leadership positions at Life Technologies (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) and GE Healthcare. Frederic is named on 23 U.S. patents and received a PhD in acoustics from Pennsylvania State University, a Master’s degree from the University of Southampton, UK, and an engineering degree from the University of Technology of Compiegne, France.


Jennifer Kamocsay
General Counsel


Jennifer Kamocsay
General Counsel
Jennifer joined Akoya Biosciences in February 2023 as General Counsel where she will oversee all company legal activities and provide strategic guidance and corporate governance oversight. Most recently, she served as General Counsel of Rubius Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for overseeing and managing all of the company’s legal affairs. Prior to joining Rubius, she was Associate General Counsel for Progress Software Corporation where she oversaw the company’s corporate, securities law, and mergers and acquisitions activities. Jennifer began her legal career at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she represented public and private company clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on mergers and acquisitions, securities law, and corporate governance matters.


Pascal Bamford
Senior Vice President, R&D and Laboratory Operations


Pascal Bamford
Senior Vice President, R&D and Laboratory Operations
Pascal joined Akoya Biosciences in October 2021 in the role of Senior Vice President, Research and Development and Laboratory Operations. He possesses deep scientific and operational experience leading teams in developing and implementing successful and innovative products through international regulatory agencies to customers and patients worldwide. Prior to joining Akoya, he served as Senior Vice President of Products and Services Research and Development at Exact Sciences and has previously held leadership positions at Epic Sciences, Ventana Medical Systems, and Monogen. Pascal earned a PhD in cell image analysis from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Bristol, UK, and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, France.


Peter Miller
Vice President, Research & Development


Peter Miller
Vice President, Research & Development
Prior to joining Akoya Biosciences, Peter was Director of R&D for PerkinElmer’s Quantitative Pathology Business Unit. Peter was a co-founder of CRI, Inc., where he was responsible for product development, technology assessment, licensing, and intellectual property management. He has been a Principal Investigator on NSF, NASA, and Air Force grants; is a named inventor on more than 25 US patents, and sat on the OSA’s Richardson Medal committee. He holds a BS from Williams College in Physics & Astronomy, and an MS from Dartmouth’s Thayer School.


Paul Grass
Senior Vice President, Sales


Paul Grass
Senior Vice President, Sales
Paul joined Akoya in January of 2018 as the head of sales. He has over 20 years of experience in customer support, marketing, and sales leadership roles. Paul has most recently led large commercial sales teams at both Thermo Fisher Scientific and Bio-Rad Laboratories focused in both the Life Science and Clinical industry respectively. Paul holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Seattle Pacific University.


Elliot Shelton
Vice President, Product Management


Elliot Shelton
Vice President, Product Management
Elliot joined Akoya Biosciences in September 2021 as Vice President, Product and Portfolio Management. He brings over 15 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Most recently, Elliot held the role of Senior Director & General Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he managed a portfolio of genomics products. Elliot earned his Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering: Biotechnology and Master of Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA.


Sarilyn Johnson-Carter
Vice President, Global Commercial Operations


Sarilyn Johnson-Carter
Vice President, Global Commercial Operations
Sarilyn joined Akoya Biosciences in May of 2022 as Vice President, Global Commercial Operations responsible for Sales Operations and Analytics, Commercial Training and Customer Care – Experience Management. She brings deep experience in commercial and operations strategic planning through execution for Diagnostics and Medical Devices to include customer acquisition, retention, and new product launch. Most recently she served as head of US Sales for BioRad Clinical Diagnostics. Prior to that, over 25 years, Sarilyn advanced to senior leadership roles at Abbott Laboratories serving as Global Senior Commercial Director, General Manager and Commercial Area Director. Sarilyn has a degree in Microbiology & Chemistry from Louisiana State University and completed graduate studies at L SU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Board of Directors


Robert Shepler
Chairman of the Board


Robert Shepler
Chairman of the Board
Bob has served on Akoya Bioscience’s board since the company’s inception in 2015. Bob was a founder and served as a Managing Director of Telegraph Hill Partners (THP), a growth equity/late-stage venture capital investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare related companies, since its founding in 2001 until August 2020 when he became Partner Emeritus. Prior to THP, Bob was a principal in the investment firm of Mackowski & Shepler and an officer in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch & Co. In addition to Akoya Biosciences, Bob currently serves on the boards of Agena Biosciences, Inc. and Dynex Technologies, Inc. Previously, Bob served on the boards of Kinetikos Medical (acquired by Integra), AcroMetrix, Inc. (acquired by Life Technologies), Aurora Discovery, Inc. (acquired by NEXUS Biosystems), Applied Precision (acquired by GE), LDR Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:LDRH), Endoscopic Technologies, Inc. (acquired by AtriCure), Sage Labs, Inc. (acquired by Horizon Discovery), Vidacare Corporation (acquired by Teleflex), ReloAction, Inc. (acquired by Hewitt Associates), Microinterventional Systems, Inc. (acquired by Medtronic), Reading Glass Company, Inc., One Body, Inc., R.D. Percy & Company, RareCyte, Inc. and was chairman of Genomics Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNSL). He also was a board observer at Magstim, Inc. and Precision Nanosystems, Inc. (acquired by Danaher). Bob received a BA from Duke University and an MBA from New York University.


Thomas Raffin, MD
Board Member


Thomas Raffin, MD
Board Member
Tom has served on the Akoya Board of Directors since the inception of Akoya Biosciences. Tom spent 24 years on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine where he remains the Colleen and Robert Haas Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Biomedical Ethics, former Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Co-Founder and Director Emeritus of the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics. Over the past two decades he has worked extensively in the healthcare and medical device sectors and is a co-founder of Rigel Pharmaceuticals. In addition to Akoya, Tom has represented THP on the boards AngioScore (acquired by Spectranetics), Aquaro, Confirma (acquired by Merge), LDR Spine (NASDAQ:LDRH), PneumRx (acquired by BTG Plc), Freedom Innovations (acquired by Health Evolution Partners) and Magstim. He was an observer on the boards of Estech (acquired by AtriCure) and Vidacare (acquired by Teleflex). Tom received a BA from Stanford University and an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine and completed his medical residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.


Matthew Winkler, Ph.D.
Board Member


Matthew Winkler, Ph.D.
Board Member
Dr. Winkler has served on our board of directors since July 2017. Dr. Winkler is the former Chairman and founder of Asuragen. Asuragen was sold in 2021 to Bio-Techne. He also founded Mirna Therapeutics(MIRN) (merged with Synlogic 2017) and Ambion, Inc. Ambion was acquired in 2006 by Applied Biosystems, now Thermo Fisher Scientific. Dr. Winkler currently serves on the board of directors of “The Breakthrough Institute”, “Revive and Restore” and KLRU Television, all from 2017 to present. Dr. Winkler was an Assistant and Associate Professor (1983-1991) in the Department of Zoology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also currently a member of several advisory boards. Dr. Winkler received his B.S. in Genetics and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. The board of directors believes that Dr. Winkler is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operational experience with global life sciences companies, and particularly his expertise in business development and corporate strategy.


Garry Nolan, PhD
Founder Board Member & Head of the Scientific Advisory Board


Garry Nolan, PhD
Founder Board Member & Head of the Scientific Advisory Board
Garry co-founded Akoya Biosciences in 2015, and is the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. As a co-inventor of the CODEX technology, Garry has focused his research efforts on developing novel technologies and computational methods for research into cancer, leukemia, immunology and autoimmune disease. Dr. Nolan was the founder of a number of life sciences companies in addition to Akoya, including Rigel Inc. (NASDAQ: RIGL) and DVS Sciences and serves as an advisor and board member for several biotechnology companies. He has published over 220 research articles and is the holder of 20 US patents, and has been honored as one of the top 25 inventors at Stanford University. He trained with Leonard Herzenberg (for his Ph.D.) and Nobelist Dr. David Baltimore. Garry is the first recipient of the Teal Innovator Award (2012) from the Department of Defense and has been honored with a number of awards including Nature Publishing “Outstanding Research Achievement”, Stohlman Scholar from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator Award.


Tom Schnettler
Board Member


Tom Schnettler
Board Member
Tom is vice chairman of Piper Sandler Companies, a managing director in the merchant banking group and co-CEO of PSC Capital Partners LLC, the registered investment adviser to the Piper Sandler merchant banking funds. Tom has held a number of leadership roles at Piper Sandler, including president and chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Earlier in his career, he cofounded and led the healthcare investment banking group.
Tom has served on the board of, or held board observation responsibility for, Akoya Biosciences, Torax Medical, Sapphire Digital, Sport Ngin, Xenex Disinfection Services and Elligo Health Research.
Tom graduated from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota and holds a Juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.


Scott Mendel
Board Member


Scott Mendel
Board Member
Scott joined the Akoya Biosciences Board of Directors in June 2021, and brings over 30 years of financial and operational leadership experience. Most recently, he served as CEO and President and a member of the board of directors of GenMark Diagnostics, a highly innovative and successful molecular diagnostics company acquired by multinational healthcare company Roche. Scott joined GenMark as CFO in 2014 and was promoted to CEO in 2020. Prior to GenMark, he held senior-level leadership positions with The Active Network and GE Healthcare. Scott earned a B.S. in finance from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.


Myla Lai-Goldman, MD
Board Member


Myla Lai-Goldman, MD
Board Member
Myla joined the Akoya Biosciences Board of Directors in September 2021. A true pioneer and leader in the diagnostic industry, Dr. Lai-Goldman held various roles including Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) and its predecessor company, Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc from 1990 to 2008. Myla is currently the Chair of GeneCentric Therapeutics, a precision medicine company, which she co-founded and previously served as CEO and President. She is also a venture partner with Hatteras Venture Partners and managing partner of Personalized Science, LLC, a diagnostic consulting company that she founded in 2008. Board-certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology, she received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.



Brian McKelligon
Chief Executive Officer



Brian McKelligon
Chief Executive Officer
Brian joined Akoya Biosciences in July 2017 serving as the CEO, bringing his experience as a 25-year veteran of the life sciences market with a proven track record of building and commercializing products and services for both the research and clinical markets. Most recently, he drove corporate and business development at Cellular Dynamics International (acquired by FUJIFilm) with a focus on the development and partnering of their four cell therapy programs. Prior to that, Brian built and ran commercial organizations at 10X Genomics, Thermo Fisher Scientific / Life Technologies, Affymetrix (IPO, acquired by Thermo Fisher) and Ingenuity Systems (acquired by Qiagen). He came to Thermo Fisher and Life Technologies through their acquisition of Ion Torrent in 2010 where he was an early employee and built the global commercial organization.
Co-Founders


Yury Goltsev, PhD
Co-Founder


Yury Goltsev, PhD
Co-Founder
Yury is one of the original co-inventors of the CODEX Technology in the lab of Dr. Garry Nolan at Stanford University. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist focusing on single cell transcriptomic and protein biomarker analysis in the Baxter Laboratories at Stanford in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Yury is the author of a number of publications and patents in the fields of Immunology and Cancer Biology with particular focus toward advanced single cell methods. Yury earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Immunology in the lab of Dr. David Wallach at the Weizmann Institute of Science and his Masters of Science in Biophysics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.


Nikolay Samusik, PhD
Co-Founder


Nikolay Samusik, PhD
Co-Founder
Dr. Nikolay Samusik is one of the original co-inventors of the CODEX Technology and is currently a post-doc in the Baxter Laboratories lab at Stanford University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology under the supervision of Dr. Garry Nolan. Nikolay’s research focuses on innovative technology development and computation methods for single cell transcriptomic and protein biomarker analysis. Nikolay is the author of a number of publications and patents in the fields of Immunology and Cancer Biology with particular focus toward advanced single cell methods. Nikolay received his Ph.D. in Computational Systems Biology at MPI-CBG/TU Dresden, and his Bachelors of Science in Biology from the St. Petersburg State University.
First Employee


Nadya Nikulina
First Akoya Employee, Applications Scientist


Nadya Nikulina
First Akoya Employee, Applications Scientist
Nadya was the first employee of Akoya Biosciences in July 2016 and has passionately dedicated to the development of the CODEX system to advance innovation, driven by her passion for developing a deeper understanding of biological processes, ultimately leading to improved treatments and therapies. Prior to Akoya, she conducted clinical research at Diagnostic BioSystems and the Center of New Diagnostic Technologies, Medical Laboratory. Nadya has completed a dual Master of Science program in Biochemistry with a specialization in Immunology and Masters in Biology with a focus on Cell Biology at the UDSU in Izhevsk, Russia.