About Us

ThinkGenetic is digitally revolutionizing undiagnosed patient identification with the goal of shortening the diagnostic journey for those with an underlying genetic condition. Co-founded by a patient advocate and genetic counselor, we know firsthand that people can wait a long time to receive a genetic diagnosis and believe that we all have the power within ourselves to shorten this diagnostic odyssey. Combining this knowledge with technical expertise, ThinkGenetic helps individuals harness this power by offering trustworthy information to guide them to the help they need, faster. In addition to providing free curated content and educational resources, ThinkGenetic is also harnessing the power of electronic health data and validated proprietary algorithms with products like FindEHR™ and FindSM™ to precisely identify at-risk patients and provide resources to support critical healthcare decisions. Undiagnosed individuals, patients, and families are our focus and this sets us apart.

In addition to crafting and implementing our innovative genetics solutions, ThinkGenetic, Inc. also funds a small number of grant projects that align with ThinkGenetic's mission. All grant recipients are non-profits in the United States with no more than 10% of grant funds to be used for indirect costs. Interested applicants should email advocacy@thinkgenetic.com for additional information.

Meet the Team

ThinkGenetic has assembled the dream team to execute our mission of diagnosing patients faster. Joining together successful entrepreneurs, IT tech gurus, genetic counselors, physicians, digital health and bioinformatics experts, clinical pharmacists, industry insiders, patient advocates, students, and digital marketing experts. We invite you to learn more about this impressive team dedicated to the genetic disease community.

Leadership Team

Dave Jacob
Chief Executive Officer

Dave comes from successful careers in internet technology (IT) and business. As regional vice president of sales at Electronic Data Systems (EDS), he helped grow the company from $100M to $2.5B before it was acquired by General Motors (GM). He went on to found two successful startups, where he still serves in a leadership capacity. As a rare genetic disease patient, Dave founded ThinkGenetic to provide patients and healthcare providers access to the best materials related to rare genetic diseases and disorders. As a founder and the CEO of ThinkGenetic, Dave brings his business acumen to the table, along with his personal experiences as a patient and father living with a rare genetic disease.

Len Barker, MBA
President

Len is a seasoned internet entrepreneur with experience successfully running internet technology (IT) and digital marketing firms. During that time, he founded successful startups, including ThinkGenetic, which continue to grow and evolve. He served in the U.S. Navy and has worked in a wide-range of engineering and technology fields, including nuclear, aerospace, and IT. Len started out as an engineer before moving into management roles in Business Intelligence and Plant Management. As a founder and President Len has worked closely on the development of the data systems and underlying technologies that make our products function.

Dawn Jacob Laney, MS, CGC, CCRC
Chief Genetics Officer

Dawn is a leader in the fields of genetics and education as well as a certified genetic counselor with over 20 years of experience. In 2016, she was formally recognized as a leader in the field of rare genetic diseases by the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Dawn's academic roles include Assistant Professor of Human Genetics, Director of the Genetic Clinical Trials Center, and Program Leader of the Lysosomal Storage Disease Center (LSDC) Program at Emory University School of Medicine. As a founder and Chief Genetic Officer of ThinkGenetic, Dawn is instrumental in designing and developing the rich, informative content that ThinkGenetic uses as our knowledge base.

Francis "FX" Campion, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Campion is an Internal Medicine Physician with 20+ years experience in clinical informatics for health systems, biomedical research and analytics companies including IBM, Ayasdi and Quintiles. As the Chief Medical Officer, FX is utilizing his background in digital health to guide ThinkGenetic's development of services for frontline clinicians and for clinical research.

Cian Robinson, MS, EdD-ABD
Chief Revenue Officer

With 25+ years of experience in management, strategy, investment, innovation, and leadership within large, complex corporations and small, entrepreneurial companies, Cian Robinson is a decades-long entrepreneur in the healthcare, information technology, and management consulting fields. He has been recognized for his entrepreneurial and community work with many awards and has held important positions focused on innovation at several healthcare systems and venture capital firms. As the Chief Revenue Officer, Cian is responsible for collaborating with potential ThinkGenetic clients to uncover potential opportunities for growth and partnership. Focusing on biotechnology, pharmaceutical, investment, and healthcare systems, Cian is an expert at building and nurturing teams, partnerships, and coalitions.

Ruth O'Keefe
Vice President, Marketing and Advocacy

Ruth brings 15+ years of communication experience to lead the ThinkGenetic marketing efforts. She has worked as a social media and marketing professional within a digital marketing agency and internally at a premier IBM IT company. Using her formal background in Public Relations, Advertising, and Video Production as a strong base, she has gained expertise in critical aspects of communication, marketing, digital media, and creative design. As the Vice President of Marketing, Ruth anticipates and manages ThinkGenetic's marketing needs in a dynamic environment. She maintains strong engagement with patients, clients, and healthcare providers to further the ThinkGenetic mission. In addition, Ruth leads the Advocacy team in its efforts to amplify the voice of Alliance members and the patients and caregivers they serve.

Team Members

Corey Fournier
Senior Data Engineer

Corey has over 16 years of software development and architectural experience in the health IT field. At ThinkGenetic, he provides the data architecture, design and development leadership required to turn genetic counselor knowledge into the intelligence needed to score patient health records for genetic condition risk level. He is also the lead developer for the FindEHR product at ThinkGenetic.

Elena Bozhilova, MS, CS
Full Stack Java Developer

Elena is a software engineer with more than 20 years of experience in all stages of software development. She is fluent in several programming languages. As the lead developer for the FindSM product at ThinkGenetic, Elena designs, develops and implements applications and solutions using a range of technologies.

Jessica Dronen, MS, LCGC
Genetic Diseases Research and Information Specialist

As a certified genetic counselor Jessica has worked with both pediatric and adult patients in a variety of areas. Currently, Jessica works with the ThinkGenetic development staff and external genetic counselors to create the algorithms necessary to find patients at risk for genetic diseases. She is also a part of the advocacy and education team providing resources and guidance to the ThinkGenetic community and its Advocacy Alliance members.

Jennifer Dykeman
Genetic Counseling Student and Focus Project Intern

Jennifer has a BS in Biobehavioral Health and a minor in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and is currently in the process of earning her Master of Medical Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling at Emory University. She previously worked for 2 years as a Genetic Counseling Assistant in Maternal Fetal Medicine and Research at Geisinger. Jennifer joins the advocacy team at ThinkGenetic.

Board of Directors

Ted Pasquarello
Board Director

Ted is the Founder and Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Chiswick Trading, Inc., and a former Advisor to Guaranty First Bank. He is the Managing Member of Paris Trust LLC and currently serves on the Boards of UV Tech Systems, and Peddock Capital Advisors (a private wealth management firm). Also, Ted is a Governing Trustee at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, as well as a member of their Science Committee.

Greg Grabowski, MD
Board Director

Dr. Grabowski is a leading authority in genetic diseases and metabolic disorders. He was the Director of the Division of Human Genetics (DHG) at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Research Foundation (CCHRFas well as Professor in the Departments of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, and Pediatrics, at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine from 1992-2014. After over twenty years at CCHRF, Dr. Grabowski joined Synageva BioPharma as Chief Scientific Officer to continue the pursuit of therapies for rare, devastating, inherited diseases. From 2015-2019, he held the same position at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. Currently, he is Professor Emeritus in the above Departments, and is an independent Consultant to and/or member of Scientific Advisory Boards of several rare disease biotech companies and Foundations, including the Silverstein Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Gary Butter
Board Director

Gary is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy where he was a classmate of ThinkGenetic co-founder Len Barker. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Gary entered the Navy nuclear power program where he served on a fast attack submarine. He remained in the Navy reserves after his five years of active duty and retired from the reserves as a Navy Captain after 24 years of service. After his active duty time Gary attended law school at NYU and then worked for the law firms Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond and, after a subsequent merger, Baker Botts LLP in Manhattan as a patent attorney for more than 20 years before joining Google as a patent attorney in 2012. Gary was also an Adjunct Professor of Law for over 20 years teaching various patent-related courses at Brooklyn Law School.

Carol Ogg, BS Pharm
Board Advisor

Carol Ogg is a clinical pharmacist and a rare disease visionary and pharmaceutical business insider. Carol's 25+ years of pharmaceutical business acumen and education have provided invaluable insights and made a significant contribution to working with industry partners. Carol is the author of a series of educational books for the industry professional and is passionate about making learning fun.

Michael J. Gambello, MD, PhD, FACMG
Board Advisor

Dr. Gambello is the Section Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics and Vice Chair in the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University. He coordinates the wide spectrum of genetic services at Emory and Children's Health of Atlanta. The Division provides timely and state of the art genetic care and has recently been named a NORD Rare Disease Center of Excellence. His clinical responsibilities include the diagnosis and care for children and adults with birth defects, lysosomal storage diseases and inborn errors of metabolism. Dr. Gambello received his BA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MD, Ph.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

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