Leadership
Barney E. Saunders, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Barney is CEO of CDI Labs, serving since July 2023.
Barney brings three decades of leadership experience and is passionate about scaling and commercializing life science tools, and diagnostics businesses. Prior to CDI Labs, Barney was CEO of Purigen Biosystems where the team, launched the Ionic® System for preparing nucleic acid from valuable clinical and ultra-long DNA template. At NanoString Technologies, he headed Sales and Marketing, driving strong revenue growth that supported the company’s IPO. As VP and GM at Agilent Technologies, Barney led the team that launched the first full genome arrays for human, rat, and mouse and Agilent’s array CGH solutions. Barney began his career with Amersham International, which was acquired by General Electric. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Birmingham University, England.
Ignacio Pino, DVM
Chief Operating Officer; Co-Founder; Board Member
Ignacio is a co-founder, and Chief Operating Officer of CDI Labs and has been developing and commercializing monoclonal antibodies and proteomic tools since co-founding the company. Ignacio led CDI Labs as President and CEO for many years, establishing sites in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Baltimore, MD. He built successful academic and industrial partnerships across the US, Europe, China, South Korea, and the Caribbean. Ignacio, and the team, established the mMabs monoclonal antibody development pipeline at CDI Labs and HuProt, the world’s most comprehensive protein microarray.
Ignacio successfully raised angel and private investments, and secured over $11.5 million in local and NIH grants for CDI Labs. This included funding to develop highly-specific monoclonal antibodies in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, and funding to produce commercial HIV vaccines in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. He and the team have developed HuProt, VirD, and PhIP-Seq services that transform how ligands, antibodies, and drugs that bind human membrane proteins, are screened to develop novel biomarkers and drug targets.
A graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Ignacio earned a DVM from the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, followed by clinical training at Kansas State University. Prior to founding CDI Labs, he ran a veterinary consultation business, and conducted tick-borne disease and vaccine research at University Products, LLC. Ignacio was a Guayacán Tech Fellow at the MIT Entrepreneurship Development Program, and represented CDI Labs at the first White House Demo Day, hosted by President Barack Obama.
Scott Paschke
Vice President of Sales and Business Development
Scott Paschke is CDI Labs’ Vice President of Sales and Business Development. With over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology sector working with renowned R&D reagent companies, Scott leads our business and commercial strategy to help clients accelerate their research and discoveries with CDI Labs’ innovative tools.
Scott received a BA in biology and a MA in biochemistry from State University College at Buffalo. Prior to joining CDI Labs, Scott was Director of Business Development at Active Motif, and was President and Chief Technology Officer at Lake Placid Biologics. He also held leadership positions at Serologicals Corporation, Lake Placid Biologicals and Upstate Inc. Scott’s background in fundraising, biotechnology licensing and tech transfer was instrumental in shaping CDI Labs’ business plan for an initial round of fund-raising. In addition to directing sales and marketing and business development, he also works closely with staff scientists on operational issues. Scott has played a key role in creating partnerships between academic researchers and CDI Labs, helping them commercialize innovative products.
Tyler Hulett, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, VP Research & Development
Tyler helps lead CDI’s seromics platform expansions for HuProt and PhIP-Seq to meet unmet needs for immuno-oncology, autoimmunity, and other biomedical applications.
Tyler has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from Oregon Health & Science University; he primarily trained at the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute (EACRI) at the Providence Portland Cancer Center studying antigen-specific autoantibody and T cell responses to cancer vaccines and checkpoint blockade.
Shaohui Hu, PhD
Director, Proteomic Sciences
Shaohui Hu is one of the original co-developers of the HuProt human proteome microarray.
With over 15 years of experience in high-throughput studies of networks and pathways using protein microarray technology, Dr. Hu supervises the proteomic research activities and client projects at CDI, including high-throughput subcloning and protein purification, protein microarray production and applications in biomarker discovery, protein-protein, -RNA, -DNA interactions, antibody specificity characterization and substrate identification, etc. Dr. Hu is also in charge of the optimization and troubleshooting of array products and services, as well as development of new technologies and products.
TJ Lowden
Chief Financial Officer
TJ Lowden has 18+ years of experience in the finance and accounting, including 9 years in public accounting.
He has acted as CFO for two early-stage start-ups and combines with extensive experience in corporate controllership, corporate finance and corporate development expertise. He is holds a CPA in the State of Virginia and obtained an MBA from Georgetown University.
Board of Directors
Jef Boeke, PhD
Co-Founder; Board Member; SAB Member
Jef is a co-founder of CDI Labs, and the Founding Director of the Institute for Systems Genetics at NYU Langone Medical Center. His foundational work on retrotransposition led to technological innovations in genetics, genomics and synthetic biology, used to study how retrotransposition affects human reproductive cells, non-reproductive cells, and cancer. Jef also leads the Synthetic Yeast Genome Project, an international and collaborative effort aiming to design and build the 16 synthetic chromosomes of the world’s first designer eukaryotic cell.
A graduate of Bowdoin College, Jef received a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University, followed by postdoctoral work at MIT/Whitehead Institute. He was on the faculty of the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1986-2014, where he also founded the High Throughput Biology Center. He is a co-founder of the biotechnology companies Avigen and CDI Labs, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2013.
Jon Brennan-Badal
Board Member
Jon Brennan-Badal is the CEO of Opentrons, leading business operations, strategy and growth.
Previously, Badal worked at Amazon as the Director of Strategy at comiXology (exited to Amazon in 2014). As an early employee at comiXology, he helped the company become the leading platform for discovering, buying, and reading digital comic books and the #1 Top Grossing non-game iPad app. Prior to comiXology, Badal was an analyst at early-stage VC Rose Tech Ventures. He graduated from Columbia University as a history major
Antoine de Marsily
Board Member
Antoine de Marsily is the Managing Director at Independent Capital LL, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He represented Apollo Ventures, the lead investor of CDI’s Series A round. He has also served as the Executive Vice President at Grupo VL, LLC since 2011. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President at Alara Pharmaceutical Corp, and VP of Operations at Mova Pharmaceutical Corp. Antonine received a degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from WSU. He also received an MBA and a Masters in International Economics and Management from SDA Bocconi in Italy. A native of France, Antoine is the Honorary Consul for France in Puerto Rico.
Aaron Fisher
Board Member
Aaron Fisher is a Vice President at BroadOak Capital Partners, where he originates, executes, and manages growth capital investments. Aaron has a finance background and extensive experience working with companies in the healthcare ecosystem, from early-stage to middle-market.
He previously worked as a private equity investment professional with Northwood Healthcare Partners and H.I.G. Growth Partners, and played a key role in incubating Envision Genomics, a clinical genomics business focused on rare diseases, which was a HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology associate company. Aaron began his career as an investment banking analyst with Stephens, Inc. He holds a B.S. from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, as well as an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Scientific Advisory Board
Heng Zhu, PhD
Co-Founder; SAB Member
Heng is a co-founding member of the CDI Labs. He is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins Medical School. A graduate of Beijing University, he earned his PhD at Clemson University with Ralph Dean, followed by postdoctoral work at Yale with Mike Snyder, where he created the first proteome microarray for a eukaryote. This work was eventually licensed by Invitrogen to create their ProtoArray. Heng’s large-scale studies of protein networks using protein arrays have led to many unique technological innovations, including both the high-density Human Proteome Microarray (HuProtTM) and VirDTM array technologies now produced at CDI Labs.
In addition to his studies on the functions of large networks of proteins, Heng has used proteomics to understand how microbes and viruses sustain themselves within human hosts. In the area of human disease biomarker discovery, Heng works closely with international collaborators and has published studies on human autoimmune diseases (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), infectious disease (including SARS, herpes, Zika, and dengue), chronic conditions (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases) and human cancers (including lung, ovarian, stomach and glioma).
Jef Boeke, PhD
Co-Founder; Board Member; SAB Member
Jef is a co-founder of CDI Labs, and the Founding Director of the Institute for Systems Genetics at NYU Langone Medical Center. His foundational work on retrotransposition led to technological innovations in genetics, genomics and synthetic biology, used to study how retrotransposition affects human reproductive cells, non-reproductive cells, and cancer. Jef also leads the Synthetic Yeast Genome Project, an international and collaborative effort aiming to design and build the 16 synthetic chromosomes of the world’s first designer eukaryotic cell.
A graduate of Bowdoin College, Jef received a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University, followed by postdoctoral work at MIT/Whitehead Institute. He was on the faculty of the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1986-2014, where he also founded the High Throughput Biology Center. He is a co-founder of the biotechnology companies Avigen and CDI Labs, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2013.
Daniel Eichinger, PhD
Co-founder, SAB Member
Dan is CDI Labs’ CSO-emeritus and a co-founder. He received his PhD from the NYU School of Medicine, and did post-doctoral research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to joining CDI Labs, he was chair of the Department of Parasitology at NYU Medical School. With almost 30 years of experience at the NYU School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dan’s academic interests spanned molecular biology, genetics, and immunology of bacteria, yeast and medically-relevant parasitic diseases such as malaria, amebiasis and trypanosomiasis.
“Most satisfying to me about CDI Labs is being able to help combine long-established and cutting-edge proteomics technologies to generate protein products of a quality that was not previously possible, and making those products available to the basic and applied research community I was once part of. In a few short years, those products have led to a large, and growing, number of scientific and medical discoveries.”
At CDI Labs, Dan develops microarray and ELISA-based platforms that take advantage of both the highly-specific monoclonal antibodies and a high-content human protein arrays that are manufactured at CDI Labs. An expert in monoclonal antibody development and in recombinant protein development and production, Dan played a critical role in building CDI Labs’ FAST-MabTM platform. His work at CDI has contributed to disease biomarker discoveries in lung cancer, creation of multiplex biomarker panels for distinguishing Dengue and Zika viral infections, as well as creation of the VirDTM array and characterization of monoclonal antibody binding kinetics.
Seth Blackshaw, PhD
Co-Founder; SAB Member
Seth Blackshaw is a professor of neuroscience, neurology and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a member of the Institute for Cell Engineering. A co-founding member of CDI Labs, he collaborated with Professor Heng Zhu to create HuProtTM, the human proteome microarray.
“I helped co-create HuProtTM because I was interested in getting the best quality tools, including monoclonal antibodies, into the hands of the biomedical research community.”
Prof. Blackshaw received degrees in biochemistry from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and performed postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. His research has focused on the regulation of cell fate specification and neuronal regeneration in retina and hypothalamus, hypothalamic regulation of innate behaviors such as sleep and feeding, and the development of new tools for functional proteomics. He also led a collaborative CDI Labs – Johns Hopkins effort under a five-year NIH-funded effort to generate ultraspecific, protein microarray-validated, monoclonal antibodies.
He has received numerous awards, including the Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fellowship in the Neurosciences, and the W. M. Keck Foundation Distinguished Young Scholar in Medical Research Award.
Prashant Desai, PhD
SAB Member
Prashant is an associate professor at the Department of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and is based at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. He studies Herpes Simplex 1 virus (HSV-1), with an eye towards elucidating virus-encoded functions in the infectious pathway that are suitable for anti-viral drug treatment.
In collaboration with CDI Labs and Professor Heng Zhu at Johns Hopkins, Prashant has also developed an innovative, high-content Virion Display (VirDTM) array to display G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) on the lipid envelope of the herpesvirus virion. This diverse group of cell surface receptor proteins act as an inbox for messages in the form of light, energy, peptides, lipids, sugars, and proteins. While they have long been viewed with great interest as potential targets for drug treatment, they have been difficult to study as they require membranes to fold and function properly. The VirD-GPCR array is the first-complete tool for screening small molecule drugs and protein affinity reagents in high-throughput. Prashant hopes this will lead to the discovery of useful new ligands, and eventually therapeutics that can bind to these elusive receptor proteins.
Jeffrey Rossio, PhD
SAB Member
Jeff has extensive experience in biotechnology, immunology, and molecular biology. He held many roles over 20 years at the NIH/National Cancer Institute where he lead core facilities and immune monitoring laboratories related to pivotal AIDS and cancer research. He is an Emeritus Professor at Hood College, Frederick, Maryland.
His industry career led him to Invitrogen Corporation, now Thermo-Fisher Scientific, where Dr. Rossio additionally served in leadership roles including as a Sr. Manager for Research and Development, managing the day-to-day operations of R&D groups, supervising and coordinating software development groups and technical support functions, and advising on immunological aspects of product development.
CDI – Mayagüez
CDI would be nothing without its people. Many biotech companies have operations in Puerto Rico – but we are the first to found one on the island. CEO Ignacio Pino is a native of Mayagüez: the vibrant college town where we base our operations. Over the last decade he’s recruited the best and brightest students from the local UPR-Mayagüez, building a team that has assembled the world’s largest human recombinant protein library and the first catalogue of proteome-validated monoclonal antibodies.
CDI – Baltimore
CDI has deep roots in Baltimore, co-founders Jef Boeke, Heng Zhu, & Seth Blackshaw started the company while they worked as professors at Johns Hopkins University. The company has retained a facility on-campus in the Rangos Life Sciences Building, allowing us close access to our growing Scientific Advisory Board. All HuProt arrays are currently printed by scientists at our Baltimore facility.
