Epic Sciences Expands Leadership Team to Address Liquid Biopsy Demand

Newly appointed Chief Technology Officer, Vice President/General Manager of Oncology Business Unit, and Vice President of Laboratory Operations hired to further scale growing business

Epic Sciences, Inc., developer of novel diagnostics to personalize and advance the treatment and management of cancer, today announced the appointment of Jason Christiansen as Chief Technology Officer, Mark Aguillard as Vice President/ General Manager of the Oncology Business Unit, and Amara Siva as Vice President of Laboratory Operations. These three new executives bring a combined 60 plus years of experience to the Epic Sciences team.

“The addition of these three industry experts comes at a pivotal time for Epic Sciences as we continue to build upon the success of our technology platform,” says Lloyd Sanders, President and CEO, Epic Sciences, Inc. “With expertise in diagnostics and oncology markets, Jason, Mark, and Amara bring fresh perspectives to enable continued expansion of our research and clinical trials work and to lead entry into clinical markets with new product offerings. Each individual’s extensive background in their field makes them the best-suited additions to expand our capabilities and enable Epic’s Comprehensive Cancer Profiling to impact more patients.”

Christiansen brings 20 years of experience leading the development of new technologies for research, clinical diagnostics, and novel targeted therapy companion diagnostics. Previously, he held executive positions at multiple biotechnology companies, including Boundless Bio, Roche Sequencing Solutions, Ignyta, Genoptix and HistoRx. His work has focused on quantitative immunofluorescence imaging platform, digital pathology solutions, and methods to identify and characterize extrachromosomal DNA and gene fusions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, Davis, and a joint doctoral degree in Biophysics from UC Davis and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

“It is extremely rewarding to implement new, technology-based advancements that can apply to many diseases, says Christiansen. I’m excited to be working with such a strong team as we improve the treatment of cancer for patients globally.” New VP of Lab Operations, Amara Siva agrees. “I am honored to join Epic Sciences’ team,” she says. “We are in an exciting position here at Epic to leverage innovation, and over a decade of data development, to operationalize for mass-scale delivery.” They both add that Epic’s core lab teams will grow significantly in the near future.

With more than 20 years of molecular diagnostic development experience, Siva has brought multiple diagnostic tests from concept through validation, successful clinical trials, commercial launch, and life-cycle delivery. Previously, she served in lab research and operations management roles with Pathnostics, Millennium Health, Genoptix/Novartis, Gen-Probe and Alexion. She received a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego and a doctoral degree in Biological Chemistry from UCLA. She is an ASQ-certified Six Sigma Green Belt, holds a Clinical Genetic Molecular Biologist Scientist license in the State of California, and is certified as a High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director by the American Board of Bioanalysis.

Aguillard joined Epic to drive commercial growth in the Clinical Oncology market, and also brings more than 20 years of revenue-generating experience in genomics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Previously, he led commercialization efforts for Myriad Genetics, Binx Health, OmniSeq, and Eli Lilly & Company, building world class sales and support teams in oncology and women’s health. He launched the first pan-cancer hereditary cancer panel, myRisk™, led the integration of two multi-million-dollar companies, and secured coverage and reimbursement for multiple novel diagnostic products. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance from Texas Tech University. 

“Joining the Epic Sciences’ team to promote commercial growth of cancer testing was an easy decision,” says Aguillard. “We can make a real difference by bringing our expanded capabilities to more physicians and patients with metastatic cancer, who are eager to have better information to help guide treatment decisions. It’s an exciting opportunity and space.”

About Epic Sciences 

Epic Sciences, Inc. is developing novel diagnostics to personalize and advance the treatment and management of cancer. Epic Sciences’ mission is to enable the rapid and non-invasive detection of genetic and molecular changes in cancer throughout a patient’s journey. The company was founded on a powerful platform to identify and characterize rare cells, including circulating tumor cells. Epic Sciences’ No Cell Left Behind® technology helps match patients to therapies and monitor for drug resistance so that the best treatment path can be chosen at every clinical decision point. Epic Sciences has partnered with Genomic Health to commercialize the Oncotype DX™ AR-V7 Nucleus Detect test, which helps with therapeutic decisions between taxane chemotherapy or androgen-directed therapeutics in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. The company has also partnered with leading pharmaceutical companies and major cancer centers around the world. Epic Sciences’ goal is to increase the success rate of cancer drugs in clinical trials and improve patient outcomes by providing physicians real-time information to guide treatment choices. Epic Sciences is headquartered in San Diego.

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