Advisory Board for MS in Biology

Alix Cruse is Senior Director of Sales at Ultima Genomics, a manufacturer of tools for high-throughput genomics. Alix was a research assistant at the Whitehead Institute before starting their industry career at Helicos BioSciences. They subsequently held positions of increasing seniority in sales at RainDance Technologies and Pacific Biosciences before joining ReadCoor, where they led the launch of the company’s RC2 multiomic spatial profiling instrument prior to the company’s acquisition by 10X Genomics. Before joining Ultima, Alix was Global Director, Strategic Partnerships for the clinical next-gen sequencing division of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Alix studied biology at Loyola Marymount University and received their MS in Biotechnology from Tufts.

Erik Hett is Chief Technology Officer at Sonata Therapeutics, a biotech focused on drugs that re-engineer the cellular microenvironment. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in the lab of Dr. Eric Rubin, studying protein-protein interactions important for regulating cell division in mycobacteria. His postdoctoral research was conducted in the lab of Dr. Deborah Hung at Harvard, Broad Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he conducted phenotypic high-throughput screens and utilized chemoproteomics for target ID. Prior to Sonata, Erik worked at Pfizer and Biogen and served as Head of Experimental and Chemical Biology at Merck at the Merck Exploratory Science Center in Cambridge, MA.

Robert Martone is a Scientific Discipline Director in Neurology within the Biomarker Solution Center at LabCorp. He specializes in neurodegeneration, neuro-oncology, biomarkers and drug discovery. Robert investigated hereditary neuropathies and the molecular biology of the blood-brain barrier at Columbia University, and subsequently managed a portfolio of drug discovery programs at Wyeth Neuroscience targeting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. He was the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Lead for the Covance Biomarker Center of Excellence, and later established a protein biomarker laboratory at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. More recently, he was director of preclinical research at Cognition Therapeutics and later supported late-stage biomarker and diagnostics efforts at Biogen. He has collaborated with and advised government and non-profit organizations in the field including the NINDS, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association and ILSI-HESI. His interests include renaissance Italian literature, and his translations have been published by Italica Press (Renaissance Comic Tales of Love Treachery & Revenge, and Antonio Manetti's The Fat Woodworker.)

Will McLean is the Chief Scientific Officer of Skylark Therapeutics, a biotech developing gene therapies to treat genetic hearing loss. After receiving his undergraduate degree in biology at Tufts University, he obtained a PhD the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. His doctoral research elucidated the distinct progenitor cell types that exist within the inner ear and their capacity to form sensory cells and neural cell types. As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Will investigated the use of small-molecule drugs to manipulate molecular signaling pathways to promote regeneration of inner ear sensory cells. He subsequently co-founded Frequency Therapeutics, where he was VP of biology and regenerative medicine, and later served as SVP of hearing biology and translational research. Will's work has led to 30 patent filings, and he has been recognized as an IDEA2 awardee by Harvard-MIT, a leader in Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy by Sartorius and Science, a 40 Under Forty Business Leader by the Hartford Business Journal, and one of the top 35 Innovators Under 35 by MIT Technology Review.