About Us
Knome thoroughly characterized both known and novel
variants in these genomes. Their analysis helped clarify which
variants were most important, greatly accelerating our
discovery. Overall, the findings support a new scientific
understanding that common and serious diseases like PD
[Parkinson’s disease] can be due to rare genetic variants.
Dr. Carles Vilariño-Güell
They handle the entire interpretation process, from sequencing
to functional interpretation. We find real value in outsourcing
to a vendor who has the team and tools already in place – and
is ‘battle-hardened’.
I have been extemely impressed with my interactions with
Knome. They are clearly experts in the field, extememly
helpful and provide a software interpretation program
that greatly assists in reviewing exome profiles.
Knome, Inc. is a leading provider of human genome interpretation systems and services. We have helped clients in two dozen countries identify the genetic basis of disease, tumor growth, and drug response. Designed to accelerate and industrialize the process of interpreting whole genomes, exomes, and gene panels, Knome’s big data technologies are helping to smooth the healthcare industry’s transition to molecular-based, precision medicine.
Our Vision
Our Future
Our History
Led by George Church, Knome was founded based on the recognition that the rapidly falling price of whole genome sequencing would create substantial market need for whole genome interpretation technologies and services.
In 2008, Knome interpreted the genome of the third named person to be sequenced—Dan Stoicescu, who followed Craig Venter and James Watson.
In mid 2009, we launched kGAP, our genome interpretation engine, and began interpreting whole genomes for a variety of academic, pharmaceutical, and biotech researchers around the world.
In 2010, we successfully assisted researchers at the University of British Columbia identify the sixth known inherited gene defect causing Parkinson’s disease.
Today, we are known as The Human Genome Interpretation Company, interpreting human genomes for clients in two dozen countries.
Management Team
Wolfgang Daum, President & CEO
Wolfgang is a serial entrepreneur in healthcare (diagnostics, medical devices, and health services). He has been President/CEO of several companies, including Castlewood Surgical (heart bypass surgery), Boston Heart Lab (heart diagnostic / Lipidology), BrainVital (epilepsy), Thermonix (in-stent restenosis), CardioTools (angiography), and Daum (MRI). Wolfgang relocated with a company acquisition from Germany to the US in 2001. He holds a MS in Physics from University of Gӧttingen and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Technical University Hamburg-Harburg. He is a Board member of Castlewood Surgical and Precisis and angel investor with Launchpad Angels in Boston.
Jim D’Augustine, Chief Technology Officer
Jim has over 30 years of experience in planning, creating, and maintaining sophisticated large-scale software information systems. He’s led teams that built Big Data applications in financial services, telecommunications, and most recently in human genome analysis and interpretation, turning huge volumes of data into actionable information. Jim has spoken at numerous conferences about practical approaches to large-scale computing problems and Big Data. He’s applied his experience in a wide variety of industries – including human genome analysis and interpretation, financial services, telecommunications, retail, oil and gas, manufacturing, and consumer products, and government – to develop innovative solutions, grounded in reality, yet still well-positioned for change as new technologies and new possibilities emerge. Jim joined Knome as CTO in 2009.
Michael McManus, SVP of Operations
Dr. McManus has over 25 years of scientific software experience in product management, software development, product marketing, and strategic alliances. Michael received his PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his BS in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before Knome, Dr. McManus was the President & CEO of the Integromics group of companies. Prior to Integromics, he led GenomeQuest’s corporate marketing, strategic alliances, product management, and product development efforts and served as Vice President of Business Development for the BioSciences Group of Fujitsu Computer Systems. He also served as Executive VP and COO of AnVil Informatics, Inc. and Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at CambridgeSoft Corporation. Dr. McManus started his career as a senior scientist with Eastman Kodak. He is the holder of 3 US patents.
Ben Salisbur , SVP of Clinical Products
Dr. Salisbury’s career has been spent in the personalized medicine and genomics industries. Prior to joining Knome, he served in various scientific and management roles at Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Clinical Data, and Transgenomic. His expertise spans several areas of genetic research and its clinical application, including molecular diagnostics, personalized medicine, population and statistical genetics, and software and algorithm development. Dr. Salisbury holds a BA in Biology from Yale University and a PhD in Biology from the University of Michigan.
Josh Forsythe, VP of Sales & Marketing
Josh has over 10 years of experience generating business and managing cross-functional sales, marketing, and product management teams in the genomics health sciences industry. Prior to Knome, he held several executive roles at Golden Helix, Inc. where he helped transform the start-up into one of the most respected bioinformatics companies in the world. To Knome Josh brings leadership in commercial marketing, strategic account management, and sales process engineering as well as a passion for technology adoption and empowerment. He will continue to leverage his expertise at Knome to accelerate the adoption of the knoSYS system, inspiring a new class of translational researchers and clinicians to revolutionize how patients are diagnosed and treated. Josh holds a degree in Business Marketing and Entrepreneurship from Montana State University.
Wendy Grus, Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Grus works with customers to develop custom data analysis plans and leads our in-house Services team to accomplish the goals of these plans. Since joining Knome in 2012, Dr. Grus has played a primary role in the delivery of over 30 whole genome/exome custom interpretation projects. Prior to joining Knome, she was the Genetics and Biomarker Program Manager for the TIMI study group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Grus received her BS degrees in Chemistry and Ecology from the University of Georgia and her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Michigan.
Max Harvey, Director of Client Services
Max joined Knome in 2010 as part of the Software Development and Reference Data Management team. He shortly thereafter became the Manager of Operations where his unique blend of leadership qualities and technical abilities guided Knome to complete over 50 of the industry’s most cutting edge Next-Gen Sequencing & Interpretation projects. Today, Max is the Director of Client Services and will continue to leverage his multifaceted skill set to grow the company. Max holds a BA in Physics and MS in Bioinformatics from Boston University.
Julie Sousa, Director of Quality Assurance
Julie has over 15 years of experience in the areas of quality assurance, software testing, software build and configuration management, and project management in the cheminformatics space. Since joining Knome in 2012, Julie established the software quality assurance group within the organization. Prior to Knome, she worked in various roles in quality assurance, testing, applications development and professional services at CambridgeSoft Corporation (now PerkinElmer). Julie has BS degrees in Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. She also holds an ME in Biomedical Engineering and an MSEM in Engineering Management from Tufts University.
Jessica Vionas, Director of Marketing
Jessica Vionas is the Director of Marketing at Knome. She is passionate about creating marketing initiatives that delight customers, drive company success, and deliver value to the marketplace. With more than 14 years experience in B2B marketing, Jessica has specialized in genomics since 2010. She obtained her degree from Montana State University in Sociology in 2006.
Board
Alejandro Sanchez, Chairman
Alejandro is an adviser with Canepa U.S., where he oversees the Canepa Advanced Healthcare Fund’s strategy and investments of its Advanced Healthcare portfolio. Prior to joining Canepa, he was a partner with Hermes Growth Partners and before that, with McKinsey and Company. In the last two years, Alejandro launched Hermes Growth Partners and its Telecom, Media and Technology Fund. Before he spent his tenure with McKinsey and Company working in the telecom, media and technology sectors in a diverse set of countries including Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, Russia, Poland and the United States. Alejandro serves on the Board of Directors of Virgin Mobile Latin America, Knome and NoShame. He is a Systems Engineer with an MS in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.
Wolfgang Daum, Member of the Board
Wolfgang is a serial entrepreneur in healthcare (diagnostics, medical devices, and health services). He has been President/CEO of several companies, including Castlewood Surgical (heart bypass surgery), Boston Heart Lab (heart diagnostic / Lipidology), BrainVital (epilepsy), Thermonix (in-stent restenosis), CardioTools (angiography), and Daum (MRI). Wolfgang relocated with a company acquisition from Germany to the US in 2001. He holds a MS in Physics from University of Gӧttingen and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Technical University Hamburg-Harburg. He is a Board member of Castlewood Surgical and Precisis and angel investor with Launchpad Angels in Boston.
Jorge Conde, Member of the Board
Jorge Conde is CFO at Syros Pharmaceuticals. He has spent his entire professional career in the biotechnology industry, working in finance, business development, marketing and operations. Mr. Conde is cofounder of Knome and worked in strategic marketing and operations at MedImmune, Inc. He has also worked in business development at Helicos Biosciences Corporation, a DNA sequencing company, and in the life sciences group at Flagship Ventures, a venture capital firm. Previously, Mr. Conde was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley & Co., specializing in the biotechnology and genomics industries. Mr. Conde has been named one of the top 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review and is an Overseer at the Boston Museum of Science. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University.
Kian Esteghamat, Member of the Board
Kian is the chief executive officer of Canepa U.S., an investment advisory firm. He was formerly an executive director of J.P. Morgan and, prior to that, he was a member of the faculty of Princeton University and a member of its Bendheim Center for Finance where he conducted research, advised students, and taught courses on financial investment and risk management. He has advised foundations on financial and mathematical research projects and has presented and organized numerous industry and academic conferences. Earlier in his career, he led a team of scientists, engineers, manufacturing, and marketing professionals in the development of optical and biomedical scientific instrumentation. He holds an MS degree from the University of California and a PhD from Stanford University.
Paul Enever, Member of the Board
Paul is an adviser with Canepa US, where he oversees the Canepa Advanced Healthcare Fund’s strategy and investments of its Advanced Healthcare portfolio. Before joining Canepa, he was a partner with McKinsey and Company. In his 12 years at McKinsey, Paul advised leading organizations across the bio-pharma, med-tech, hospital, and healthcare services industries primarily in the U.S. and Europe as well as private equity firms specializing in healthcare. Paul’s work focused on growth strategy, sales and marketing, and licensing and acquisition. Previously, Paul worked within the R&D organization at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and MIT’s Biotechnology Process Engineering Center. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota where he studied wound healing and tissue engineering. For his work, Paul was the recipient of both a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and the Whitaker Foundation Graduate Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering.
Clinical & Scientific Advisory Board
George Church, Chief Scientific Advisor & Co-Founder
George Church, PhD is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Computational Genetics. He completed his PhD at Harvard in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with Walter Gilbert, developing the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984. In that year he helped initiate the Human Genome Project while a research scientist at newly-formed Biogen Inc. Dr. Church later helped to found the Stanford, MIT, and Waltham Genome Centers. He invented the broadly applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers. His many innovations in genomics, computational biology, genetics and systems biology have been the basis for a number of companies. Dr. Church’s research focuses on integrating biosystems modeling with high-throughput data for haplotypes, RNA arrays, proteomics, and metabolites.
Heidi Rehm, Advisor
Dr. Heidi Rehm is a board-certified clinical geneticist who is currently Chief Laboratory Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine at Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine as well as Assistant Professor of Pathology and Director of the Clinical Molecular Genetics Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on the rapid translation of new genetic discoveries into clinical tests and on bringing novel technologies and software systems into molecular diagnostics to support the integration of genetics into clinical use. She received a PhD in Genetics from Harvard University and conducted postdoctoral work in Neurobiology, followed by a fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Clinical Molecular Genetics.
Michael S. Sherman, Advisor
Dr. Michael Sherman is the chief medical officer and senior vice president of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. In this role, he is responsible for Harvard Pilgrim’s clinical departments, provider engagement strategy, medical informatics, health promotion initiatives, and outreach and disease management services. Dr. Sherman also serves as chair of the Board of Managers of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, which encompasses the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and, in 2013, was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Massachusetts Statewide Quality Advisory Committee. Prior to joining Harvard Pilgrim, Dr. Sherman held several leadership positions with Humana, UnitedHealth Group, and Thomson Medstat (now Thomson Reuters). He holds a BA in Anthropology and Natural Sciences and an MS in Biomedical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and received his MD from Yale and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Anthony J. Sinskey, Advisor
Dr. Anthony Sinskey, ScD is professor of Microbiology and Health Sciences and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor Sinskey has participated in the founding and development of over 15 biotechnology companies over the course of two decades, including Metabolix and Genzyme, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, and Tepha, a medical device company. One of his current areas of research focuses on understand how technological innovations in basic sciences and systems biology can facilitate pharmaceutical drug development in personalized medicine.
We are actively recruiting individuals that are at the top of their game
and are looking to be a part of a team
where excellence is recognized and rewarded.
Careers
Located in Waltham, MA, Knome is a challenging, fast-paced place to work. We offer a competitive compensation and equity participation–and an opportunity to push the technology envelope in ways that will benefit future generations. Please catch up on our business by reviewing our website. If we seem like we’re doing the kind of work that would excite you, let us know.
Resumes will be kept on file for one year. We are an equal opportunity employer.
We need
Vice President of Research Services
Knome’s Research Services team supports researchers engaged in large case-control and family-based genome studies of complex or Mendelian diseases, traits, and pharmacogenomics. Located in Waltham, MA, we are seeking an accomplished, talented Vice President of Research Services with a track record of success leading a bioinformatics/genetics analysis services team in a commercial setting to join our Team.
Ideal Candidate Profile
You have built a functional services team that meets or exceeds client expectations. You have a strong interest in building a sustainable base of satisfied customers for our NGS analysis Research Services group. You thrive in the high-energy start-up environment where ideas are rapidly translated into practice and flexibility is critical.
Responsibilities
- Build and manage a world-class team of scientists, bioinformaticians, and project coordinators
- Develop financial, resource, and staffing plans for Research Services
- Ensure quality, on-time delivery of service projects that meet or exceed client expectations
- Participate in company strategic planning as a representative of Research Services
- Regularly update management on Research Services milestones
- Actively participate in developing custom analysis project plans
- Work cross-functionally with IT to ensure proper infrastructure for data transfer and proper computing bandwidth/resources for project completion
- Work with marketing, sales, and ops teams to enable commercial success including interfacing with thought leaders, external collaborators/customers, attending conferences, identifying new bioinformatics approaches to include in our services offerings
Required Experience
- PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, genetics, or related degree
- 8+ years industry experience related to genetic/genomic data analysis
- 4+ years experience leading a scientific services team
- Experience in analyzing, interpreting, and integrating large-scale biological datasets, including genetics, genomics, pathway, and molecular data
- Familiar with common commercial and open-source bioinformatics analysis tools
- Experience satisfying external clients’ expectations
Preferred Experience
- Expertise in next generation DNA sequencing data, algorithms, and common platforms
- Strong knowledge of population genetics or statistical genetics
- Knowledge on a wide variety of genetic, genomic, and biological data in the public repositories
- Programming and scripting skills in Python, Perl, R, Java, C++, MySQL
- Hands-on experience with Linux systems and high performance computing environments
- Experience in a start-up environmen
Bioinformaticist
Knome is a cutting-edge life sciences company on the forefront of the genomics revolution. We sequence and interpret human whole genomes for researchers, physicians, and families—pinpointing the genetic variants that govern drug response, characterize cancer, and influence disease risk.
Knome analyzes and interprets human genomes sequences and delivers actionable insights to academic and commercial researchers. Knome has created the knoSYS, which seamlessly integrates our propriety interpretation engine (kGAP) with a high-performance computer. TheknoSYS is designed for whole genome, exome, and targeted NGS data. The knoSYS is an integrated system of third-party proprietary software and public and proprietary data.
Knome is seeking a Bioinformaticist who is customer-focused, goal-oriented, and quality-driven to work in a small, high-energy product development team. The Bioinformaticist is expected to lead the effort in the next generation of Knome’s align-and-call informatics pipeline for its knoSYS appliance.
Responsibilities include:
- Leading the effort to create an informatics pipeline that generates the highest clinical-quality calls possible within reasonable operational time and cost constraints, as well as within reasonable development time and cost constraints.
- Creating proof of concept implementations of different align and call solutions, articulating tradeoffs, and recommending a course of action with supporting rationale.
- Leveraging existing Knome and 3rd-party software in the offered solutions.
- Collaborating with software engineers implementing align-and-call workflows to formulate practical solutions that can be implemented in commercially viable products, and when necessary, implemented incrementally across multiple product releases.
Education and Experience Requirements:
- Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics or Computational Genomics.
- The required skills, knowledge, and abilities are typically acquired through >5 years experience in bioinformatics, including experience in high-throughput sequence data analysis.
- Broad understanding of bioinformatics, but deep, hands-on experience with modern align and call solutions such as BWA, GATK, Novoalign, Isaac, etc.
- Experience with processing output from multiple NGS platforms, especially Illumina HiSeq/MiSeq and Ion Torrent systems
- Experience operating in local, distributed, and cloud environments
- Deep understanding of next generation sequencing as applied to genomes, exomes, and other highly targeted sequences.
- Deep understanding of the factors that contribute to calling errors – from bench, to sequencer, to the aligner and caller.
- Deep understanding of quality measures and the factors that influence them.
- Deep understanding of the challenges of tumor sequencing, alignment, and calling.
- Deep understanding of the factors that drive time and resource utilization during align and call.
- Experience in scripting with Python/Jython is ideal, but not required
This position is a full-time role located in Waltham, MA. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
Apply