With a focus on advancing a unique portfolio of products and services based on its leading capabilities in genetics, deCODE is led by an executive committee comprised of Duke Collier, CEO, and Kári Stefánsson, Executive Chairman and President of Research.

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Earl M. Collier, Jr

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Earl M. "Duke" Collier, Jr was appointed CEO of deCODE in January 2010, and jointly leads the company with Dr. Stefánsson. Before joining deCODE, Mr. Collier was Executive Vice President at Genzyme Corp. He has also served as President of Vitas Healthcare, a partner at the Washington, DC-based law firm of Hogan and Hartson, and as Deputy Administrator of the Health Care Finance Administration (now CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Collier received his BA from Yale University and his JD from the University of Virginia. Mr. Collier was also previously a member of the board of directors of deCODE's former parent company, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pervasis Therapeutics, a private company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Newton Wellesley Hospital.

Kári Stefánsson, MD, Dr Med

Executive Chairman and President of Research

Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. founded deCODE in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was previously a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University and Director of Neuropathology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. Dr. Stefansson is recognized as a leading figure in human genetics. He has shaped deCODE's scientific approach and been actively engaged in leading its gene discovery work, serving as senior author on most of the comany's publications in major scientific journals.

Curriculum Vitae

Jeffrey Gulcher, MD, PhD

Vice President of Product Development

Jeffrey Gulcher, M.D., Ph.D. co-founded deCODE in 1996, and served as vice president of research and developent and as our chief scientific officer. Prior to joining deCODE, Dr. Gulcher was on staff in the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and Harvard University Medical School from June 1993 to October 1998. Dr. Gulcher received his Ph.D. and M.D. from the University of Chicago in 1986 and 1990, respectively, and completed his neurology residency at the Longwood Program of the Neurology Department of the Harvard Medical School in 1996.

 

 

Jakob Sigurðsson

Sr. Vice President of Corporate Development

Jakob Sigurðsson joined deCODE in October 2006 to lead our corporate development effort. Mr. Sigurðsson was formerly CEO and President of Alfesca, a multinational foods group with major operations in Iceland, the UK, France and Spain. Prior to his position at Alfesca Mr. Sigurðsson held senior positions in the United States and Europe for Rohm and Haas Company, a NYSE-listed specialty materials company. Mr. Sigurdsson holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Iceland and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

 

Tucker Kelly

Chief Financial Officer

Tucker Kelly joined deCODE in May 2010 as its Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Tucker was the Senior Vice President of Finance & Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer for Critical Therapeutics, a NASDAQ-listed specialty pharmaceutical company. Before joining Critical Therapeutics in 2007, he was a life sciences investment banker with Canaccord Adams and Robertson Stephens in Boston and London for nearly 10 years as well as a corporate and securities lawyer with Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston. Tucker received his J.D. from the The Law School at the University of Chicago and graduated with a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

 

 

Hákon Guðbjartsson, PhD

Vice President of Informatics

Hakon Gudbjartsson, Ph.D. leads deCODE's informatics operations and product development. Dr. Gudbjartsson joined us to direct our Department of Informatics in 1996. He received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering in 1990 from the University of Iceland and his M.Sc. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 1992. In 1996, he received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and performed post-doctoral research concerning magnetic resonance imaging at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston until joining deCODE.

 

 

Cindy Bayley, Ph.D.

Vice President of Business Strategy

Dr. Bayley is an affiliate of ARCH Venture Partners and joined deCODE in 2010. She has been with ARCH since 1992, where she has been involved with launching and funding a wide range of innovative life-science companies, including deCODE. She is active in shaping the strategy and product portfolios of many of these companies and will put that experience to work with deCODE. Dr. Bayley holds a BS in physics from the University of Rochester, and a PhD in virology and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

 

Richard Leach, PhD

Vice President of Scientific Services

Rick has led our scientific services business since 2005. He began his career at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Cancer Institute in Washington, DC., and was then a senior applications scientist at Affymetrix. He was a founder of Teneo Sciences, an artificial intelligence company, and served as their CSO prior to joining deCODE. Rick holds a PhD in molecular biology from Ohio University. 

Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Ph.D.

Vice President of Research

Unnur received her Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in biology from the University of Iceland, and completed a PhD degree in genetics at the University of British Columbia in 1997. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Experimental Hemato-Oncology and Gene Therapy Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal, and joined deCODE in 2000. Since 2003 she has led deCODE's population genomics work, and has also pursued gene discovery work in various cancers.

 

Hilma Holm, MD

Vice President of Clinical Research

Dr. Holm received her medical degree from the University of Iceland and completed her residency in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in 2005. She spent one year of her fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Emory University Hospital studying the genetics of cardiovascular at deCODE, and joined the company upon her return to Iceland. Dr. Holm's principal research focus is on cardiovascular genetics and arrythmias.

 

C. Augustine Kong, Ph.D.

Vice President of Statistics

C. Augustine Kong, Ph.D., has led deCODE's statistics team since 1996. Prior to joining deCODE, he served on the faculty of the University of Chicago. Dr. Kong received his Ph.D. in statistics from Harvard University in 1986.