Kári Stefánsson, MD, Dr Med
CEO
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.
Vanessa King, PhD
Vice President of Business Development
Vanessa King, Ph.D., joined deCODE in July 2010 as Vice President, Business Development. Vanessa brings extensive experience leading business development in the life sciences, having run those functions at life sciences tools leader PerkinElmer, proteomics start-up BioScale, and the J. Craig Venter Institute. Through her role as Head of Scientific and Strategic Operations at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Vanessa also brings substantial experience in pharma/biotech R&D. Vanessa received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Cambridge, and her A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University.
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.
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.
