The Progentec Board of Directors has a wealth of experience in diagnostics, reimbursement, and healthcare business strategies, that will propel the company towards the overall vision of improving patient health outcomes.
Mohan Purushothaman, Ph.D.
Chairman of the Board
CEO
Progentec
More about Mohan Purushothaman
Mohan is an entrepreneur with a strong track record in the life sciences industry spanning both therapeutics and diagnostics
He has several years of experience in the Pharma industry followed by more than a decade of work as a strategic advisor to various pharmaceutical companies world-wide. After spending 5 years at Roche where he spearheaded formulation of life-cycle pricing strategies for a large number of their products, he built a successful practice at Net Margins which eventually was acquired by Alliance Life Sciences. At Alliance, he was the Global Practice Lead for Pricing and Market Access until 2014. In these challenging assignments, he guided the development of strategies for a number of products across multiple therapeutic areas and markets.
He has been an active entrepreneur and responsible for giving shape to multiple business concepts at the core of new business ventures over the last decade. He designed and developed an Enterprise Price Optimization Software that has now become the leading product used by a large number of major pharma companies. As a co-founder and President of Progentec Diagnostics, he is actively involved in exploring and commercializing new technologies in the diagnostic and therapeutic areas.
He holds a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University with a focus on Pharmaceutical Pricing. Prior to that, he was a Research Fellow at Harvard University.
Hakan Sakul, Ph.D.
President
Precision Dx Strategies Inc.
More about Dr. Sakul
Hakan Sakul is a senior pharmaceutical executive and thought leader with demonstrated achievements in precision medicine. After a stint in biotech, he moved to Pfizer as the head of Clinical PGx and had a 24-year career in leadership positions at Pfizer. He established Pfizer’s Diagnostics group in 2007 and under his leadership through 2023, over 30 drug/diagnostics combination approvals we achieved in global markets for seven oncology drugs. He represented Pfizer as a Scientific Co-Director of BloodPAC (2016-2023), a non-profit offshoot of the Cancer Moonshot, launched to accelerate the development, validation and clinical use of liquid biopsy assays. He is a former member of the Board of The Personalized Medicine Coalition, served as a Scientific Advisor to Luminex Corp, and currently is a Board member of Progentec Diagnostics (US), as well as BASH Biotech (Türkiye), a small molecule therapeutics company. Hakan is an appointed Council Member of California Governor Newsom’s Precision Medicine Advisory Council (CIAPM). He is currently the owner of Precision Dx Strategies Inc, a consulting/advising firm to biotech, diagnostics and pharma companies.
Hakan received his BS and MSc degrees from Ankara University in Türkiye, PhD in Quantitative Genetics from the University of Minnesota as a Rotary Foundation Scholar and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of California-Davis. A seasoned people manager, he is passionate about medical technologies to advance Precision Medicine for the improvement of individualized healthcare. He is an avid cyclist and a soccer enthusiast.
Bob Saunders
General Partner
OCA Ventures
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Bob Saunders is a General Partner of OCA Ventures and chairs its healthcare investing activity. He represents OCA on the boards of mPulse, ReGroup Therapy and HealthiPass. He is also a Co-Founder and Chairman of XLerateHealth, a healthcare accelerator in Louisville, KY.<br><br>Prior to OCA, Bob was a Senior Managing Director and General Partner at Chrysalis Ventures (Louisville) from 1997 to 2009 and served as a Senior Advisor to Chrysalis from 2009-2010. He was also co-founder of Saunders Murdock and Associates, a life science “super-angel” investor, and a Senior Managing Director at Providian Capital Management from 1993-1997. He began his career in business strategy consulting and worked with both The Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co.
Over the last 30 years, he has invested in several dozen startup companies and has mentored 100+ startups.
Bob received a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and an M.A. from Harvard University. Bob is both a Fulbright Scholar and a Marshall Scholar.
Mike Rohleder
Portfolio Manager
Plains Ventures
More about Mike Rohleder
Mike Rohleder is the Portfolio Manager at Plains Ventures, bringing more than three decades of leadership experience across the energy and technology sectors. He currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Thunderbird Resources Equity, Inc., a role he has held since founding the company in 2014. Prior to Thunderbird, Mike was President and Director of GMX Resources, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based exploration and production company.
Earlier in his career, Mike held executive roles in the global semiconductor industry, including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at ON Semiconductor, a multibillion-dollar manufacturer. He also served as CEO of VEBA Electronics North America from 1991 to 1999, where he led the company’s expansion from five locations and $18 million in revenue to over 70 offices across North and South America, generating more than $2.5 billion in annual sales.
Mike holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has executed over $2.5 billion in capital markets transactions, including IPOs, acquisitions, equity financings, high-yield debt offerings, and corporate restructurings.
Mary Jo Williamson
Chief Administrative Officer, Mayo Collaborative Services
More about Mary Jo Williamson
Mary Jo Williamson is chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic’s diagnostic business lines, which include Mayo Clinic Laboratories and Mayo Clinic’s Cardiac Monitoring. Mayo Clinic Laboratories is the global leader in turning test results into clinical answers by providing advanced testing and pathology services for healthcare organizations in partnership with Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.
Ms. Williamson has served as chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, responsible for Mayo Clinic in Rochester clinical activities. In addition, she also has served as chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic Health System, a network of 16 community hospitals and 53 multispecialty clinics across 44 communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Ms. Williamson previously was chair of Practice Administration at Mayo Clinic and director of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a collaboration to share Mayo’s clinical knowledge and expertise with select healthcare organizations around the globe. During her over 30-year career with Mayo Clinic, Ms. Williamson has held various leadership roles across the Midwest, as well as at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Mayo Clinic in Florida. She helped develop the Ask Mayo Clinic nurse triage service and was vice chair for Contracting and Payer Relations and Mayo Clinic Health System.
Ms. Williamson also has been a member of the Mayo Clinic Management Team, Mayo Clinic Clinical Practice Committee, Midwest Executive Operations Team, Mayo Clinic Administrative Team, the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors, and the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees. Prior to Mayo Clinic, she worked in the Strategic Services Division of Anderson Consulting and as director of Budgeting for Rose Medical Center in Denver.
Ms. Williamson holds a Bachelor of Science in finance and accounting from Arizona State University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. In addition to her Mayo Clinic responsibilities, she serves on the boards of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, American Medical Group Association, IKS Health, and Resoundant Inc.