Synoptic Bio
Synoptic One blood test. Biology, seen whole.
Team & Org Chart ← Data Room
Synoptic Bio, PBC — Seed Round

Leadership & Team

A lean, high-calibre founding team with deep expertise in proteomics, oncology clinical development, regulatory affairs, and biomarker commercialisation — assembled to execute Synoptic's seed-stage programme.

2 Current / ready to start
4 Lead candidates in process
3 Planned post-seed roles
Seed-stage team structure. All VP and director-level positions are designed for seed-stage scope. Titles reflect current function and flexibility: VP Clinical Affairs / Medical Director may evolve to CMO; VP Business Development & Partnerships may evolve to CBO — depending on candidate profile and company maturation.
Organisation
Status
Current / ready to start
Lead candidate · evaluating
Lead candidate · conversation scheduled
Planned · post-seed
CW
Chris Whelan, Ph.D.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Current
Sara Ahadi, Ph.D.
Head of Proteomics
Ready to start
3× Proteomics Data Scientists
Planned · post-seed
Post-seed
Evan Mills
VP Business Development & Partnerships
Evaluating
David Morgenstern, Ph.D.
VP Clinical (Fractional)
Confirmed
Erika Lokander, M.Sc., MBA
Director, Regulatory Affairs (Fractional)
Confirmed
Trish Vosburg, M.Sc.
Sr. Project & Operations Manager
Ready to start
Team Profiles
6 members & near-term hires
Chris Whelan CW
Chris Whelan, Ph.D.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Current

Founded and directed the Pharma Proteomics Project — a 13-company pre-competitive consortium producing one of the world's largest plasma proteomics datasets (3,000 proteins · 54,000 samples), with primary findings published in Nature.

  • Head of Molecular Neuroscience & Data Science, Johnson & Johnson
  • Head of Translational Genetics, Biogen
  • Neuroscience Genetics Lead, Pfizer
  • Founded ENIGMA-Epilepsy imaging consortium
  • Strategic advisor to Eli Lilly, Danaher, and AbbVie on proteomics
  • Ph.D., Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland  ·  Postdoc, USC
Sara Ahadi SA
Sara Ahadi, Ph.D.
Head of Proteomics
Lead candidate · Ready to start

Translational scientist with deep expertise in multi-omics, plasma proteomics, and biomarker discovery — skill set directly matched to Synoptic's platform and programme.

  • Lab Head, Alkahest, Inc. — plasma proteomics & ageing biology
  • Multi-omics integration: proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics
  • Human cohort biomarker discovery in translational disease settings
Reports to Founder & CEO
Evan Mills EM
Evan Mills
VP Business Development & Partnerships
(or Chief Business Officer, depending on candidate profile)
Lead candidate · Evaluating Thermo Fisher Scientific

Commercial and business development leader with 15+ years across protein biomarker discovery tools — bringing established relationships with pharma, diagnostics, and research partners.

  • VP Commercial, Thermo Fisher Scientific (current)
  • 15+ years in protein biomarker tools and commercial strategy
  • Deep network across pharma proteomics, IVD, and research markets
Reports to Founder & CEO
David Morgenstern DM
David Morgenstern, Ph.D.
VP Clinical (Fractional)
Lead candidate · Ready to start Formerly DELFI Diagnostics

Oncology clinical development leader spanning major pharma and the cutting edge of liquid biopsy diagnostics — bringing exactly the clinical trial design and regulatory pathway expertise Synoptic requires.

  • VP Clinical Development, DELFI Diagnostics (recently departed)
  • Global Head of Clinical Development, Roche Oncology & Genetics
  • Deep experience in IVD clinical development and regulatory strategy
Reports to Founder & CEO
Erika Lokander EL
Erika Lokander, M.Sc., MBA
Director, Regulatory Affairs (Fractional)
Lead candidate · Ready to start EL Regulatory

20+ years of hands-on regulatory expertise across IVDs and medical devices. As founder of EL Regulatory, brings independent practice depth across 510(k), De Novo, and global IVD pathways.

  • Founder, EL Regulatory — IVD & medical device regulatory consultancy
  • 20+ years in IVD regulation, 510(k) and De Novo submissions
  • Global IVD regulatory strategy and EU IVDR experience
Reports to VP Clinical Affairs / Medical Director
Trish Vosburg TV
Trish Vosburg, M.Sc.
Senior Project & Operations Manager
Lead candidate · Ready to start Intellia Therapeutics

Seasoned informatics and scientific project/operations manager with a rare combination of bioinformatics credentials and hands-on delivery leadership. Recent experience includes leading informatics projects at Intellia Therapeutics for the Genomic Operations team (2.5 years). Prior to that, three years at the Broad Institute across genomics and informatics project management.

  • Sr. Project Manager – Informatics, Intellia Therapeutics (2.5 yrs) — Genomic Operations team
  • Project Manager – Informatics, Broad Institute — clinical sample intake infrastructure, SmartSheet rollup systems, and CCDG genomics data delivery
  • MS Bioinformatics, Northeastern University (GPA 4.0) · Licensed Scrum Master
Reports to Founder & CEO
Planned Roles — Post-Seed

The following roles are planned for hire following seed funding, as the proteomics discovery programme scales and data generation accelerates under Sara Ahadi's scientific leadership.

Proteomics Data Scientist I
Bioinformatics & Statistical Analysis
Plasma proteomics data QC, statistical modelling, and pipeline support for biomarker discovery workflows.
Post-seed  ·  ×1
Reports to Head of Proteomics
Proteomics Data Scientist II
Multi-Omics Integration & ML
Multi-omics data integration and biomarker signature development; machine learning applied to large-scale proteomics cohorts.
Post-seed  ·  ×1
Reports to Head of Proteomics
Proteomics Data Scientist III
Replication & Platform Validation
Senior contributor to biomarker replication studies and independent cohort validation — bridging discovery with regulatory-grade evidence.
Post-seed  ·  ×1
Reports to Head of Proteomics