Management and Team
Dr Niall Armes, Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Niall Armes is a founder of TwistDx and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining TwistDx Limited on a full-time basis, Dr Armes was a Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Fund, now known as the Gurdon Institute, in Cambridge (UK) where he worked with the Institute’s Director Professor Jim C Smith. Prior to that, Dr Armes worked as a Research Fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London.
An expert in molecular biology and protein biochemist, he received his BSc (Hons) in Genetics from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and working in the laboratory of Dr Mike Fried, he received his PhD from the Imperial Cancer Research Institute in London.
His research has involved the analysis of genome structure, including theoretical work on how genome dynamics and life cycle influence evolution rates. Further postdoctoral work involved the application of sophisticated protein purification techniques and mass spectrometry analysis to understanding cell signalling, an area of research with important implications for cancer biology.
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Dr Olaf Piepenburg, Chief Scientific Officer
Olaf Piepenburg is Chief Scientific Officer for TwistDx. He studied Biology and Biochemistry at the Universities of Kiel and Witten-Herdecke (Germany), where he obtained his Diploma in 1996. Subsequently he worked with Prof. Herbert Jaeckle at the Max Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen (Germany) on mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in Drosophila Melanogaster and received his PhD in 2000.
As a postdoctoral researcher at the Wellcome Institute for Cancer Research and Developmental Biology in Cambridge (UK), he worked from 2001 to 2002 with Professor Jim Smith on early embryonic development in Xenopus laevis, until he joined TwistDx Limited in 2002.
Helen Kent, Operations Manager
Helen Kent is Operations Manager. She was a Director for 15 years at Professional Audio Visual, a Cambridge-based audio visual communications company and has over 20 years’ experience in multiple business areas.
Board of Directors
Dr Niall Armes – as above
Dr Derek Stemple, Founder
Derek Stemple is a founder of TwistDx, Board Member and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. Dr Stemple is a Senior Investigator at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, in Hinxton (UK). Previously, he was a Group Leader at the NIMR, London.
Dr Stemple has expertise in developing and using cutting-edge tools in the fields of molecular biology, embryology, optics, and computer science. He was one of the scientific founders of the Oxford-based drug discovery biopharmaceutical company, Summit Plc, formerly VASTox, which currently trades on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Dr Stemple received his BA in Molecular Biology and BSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado, and his PhD in Neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology. As a recipient of the prestigious Helen Hay Whitney Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, Dr Stemple trained with Dr Wolfgang Driever at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Stemple currently serves on the editorial boards of several journals including PLoS Biology, Developmental Biology, Developmental Dynamics and Comparative and Functional Genomics.
Nagesh Mahanthappa PhD, Founder
Nagesh Mahanthappa is a founder and Board Member of TwistDx. He currently holds the position of Vice President of Avila Therapeutics, Inc., an early-stage biotechnology company based in Massachusetts that is focused on the design and development of novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Previously, Dr Mahanthappa was a founding employee and subsequently Vice President of Scientific and Strategic Development at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Serving as a management team member with Alnylam, he initially served as interim head of research during the company’s first year and led business development efforts that resulted in partnerships with Merck, Medtronic, and Novartis. Prior to joining Alnylam, Dr Mahanthappa was Manager of Business Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and held a series of positions with increasing scientific and commercial responsibility at Ontogeny (now Curis). Dr Mahanthappa earned his PhD in neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr Mahanthappa is also an MBA graduate of the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Management at Babson College.
Catherine Balliet Stemple, Director
Catherine Balliet Stemple has served as Director of TwistDx Ltd since its inception. Catherine received a BA in Economics from Chatham College and earned a PhD in Economics from Indiana University, Bloomington. She has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services and IT industries as a consultant and business analyst.
Lewis J Miller, Chairman
Mr Jim Miller currently works as Chief Investment Officer for The Charitable Leadership Foundation (CLF) and oversees CLF’s investments in a variety of early-stage biotechnology companies. Mr Miller was the founder of four subsequently public companies. One company, Sight Resources Corporation, was the first to develop laser vision application for the correction of hyperopia via ablation of the cornea. He received his BA from Middlebury College, J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and an MPA/MPH from Harvard School of Public Health/John F. Kennedy School of Government.