MANAGEMENT
KÁRI STEFÁNSSON
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 company’s publications in major scientific journals.
UNNUR ÞORSTEINSDÓTTIR
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 genetics genetic work and is actively involved in wide range of genetic studies involving cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory and neurological diseases and cancers. From 2010 Unnur has been Vice President of Research at deCODE.
ÞÓRUNN RAFNAR
Head of Oncology
Þórunn received her Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in biology from the University of Iceland and completed a Ph.D. degree in molecular biology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990. She subsequently went to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore where she was a postdoctoral fellow 1990-1992, Instructor of Medicine 1992-1994 and Assistant Professor of Medicine 1994-1998. After returning to Iceland, Þórunn was a Visiting Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Iceland until she joined Iceland Genomics Corporation, where she served the role of Chief Operating Officer. In 2006, Þórunn moved to deCODE genetics and became the Head of Division of Oncology. Þórunn´s research interests focus on the link between genetic variation and cancer predisposition, progression and treatment outcomes.
DANIEL GUDBJARTSSON
VP Applied Statistics
Daníel received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in applied mathematics from the University of Iceland, and completed a PhD degree in Statistics at Duke University in 2002. He has focused on statistical methodology developent in addition to working on the genetics of several diseases and traits, such as pigmentation and atrial fibrillation. Daniel joined deCODE in 1998 and currently leads the Statistics group at deCODE.
PATRICK SULEM
Head of Clinical Sequencing
Patrick is a Medical Doctor (MD) specializing in Epidemiology and Public Health and graduated from the University of Toulouse in France in 2002. He also completed a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Paris in 2000. He joined deCODE´s Department of Statistics in 2002 and has contributed to genetic discoveries in various conditions. He is currently leading the Clinical Sequencing effort at deCODE.
HILMA HÓLM
Head of Cardiovascular
Hilma received her medical degree from the University of Iceland in 2000. She completed her internal medicine training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and her clinical cardiology training at Emory University in Atlanta. She then pursued research training in cardiovascular genetics at deCODE in Iceland. Hilma has been on faculty at deCODE since 2008 and currently leads the company´s cardiovascular effort. She is actively involved in a wide range of cardiovascular research, including lipids and atherosclerosis, conduction and arrhythmias, congenital heart disesae and heart failure. Hilma also completed training in clinical echocardiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2014, and is actively involved with patient care at Landspitalinn, the National University Hospital.
GÍSLI MÁSSON
VP Informatics
Gísli received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Mathematics from the University of Iceland in 1986 and completed a PhD degree in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991. During the years 1991 to 2000 he worked at the Mathematics Institute at Stockholm University, first as a post-doctoral fellow (forskarassistent) and later as an assistant professor (lektor).
AGNAR HELGASON
Head of Anthropology
Agnar completed his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Anthropology at the University of Iceland in 1992 and 1995, respectively. He then obtained a second Master’s degree in Biological Anthropology from the University of Cambridge in 1996 and a D.Phil. (PhD) degree in the same subject from the University of Oxford in 2001. Agnar joined deCODE in 2000. His research focusses on understanding how the evolutionary forces of mutation, migration, drift and natural selection have shaped the gene pool of Icelanders and other populations – in the context of the quest for knowledge about the basis and magnitude of phenotypic differences between humans.
HREINN STEFÁNSSON
Head of CNS
Hreinn Stefánsson, PhD, joined deCODE genetics in 1996 and has led the CNS division since 2000. He received his PhD in biochemistry from Lund University, Sweden and a BSc in biology from University of Iceland. Hreinn has published several articles on the genetics of common/complex diseases including Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s. Together with his colleagues and collaborators he has contributed to better understanding of the impact conferred by neuropsychiatric copy number variants (CNVs) on psychiatric disorders and cognition.
INGILEIF JÓNSDÓTTIR
Head of Infectious and Inflammatory diseases
Ingileif received her Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in biology from the University of Iceland in 1975 and completed a PhD degree in immunology at the University of Stockholm in 1991. She joined the department of immunology at Landspitali, the National University Hospital of Iceland in 1984, focusing her research on neonatal immunology and vaccination strategies. Ingileif joined deCODE in 2005 and leads the gene discovery work on asthma and various autoimmune and infectious diseases, including tuberculosis. She is also responsible for the ethics approvals of deCODE’s research projects. Ingileif is professor of immunology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland.
BJARNI V. HALLDÓRSSON
Head of Sequence Analysis
Bjarni received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in mathematics from the University of Iceland in 1996, and completed a PhD in Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization from Carnegie Mellon University 2001. He was a research scientist at Celera Genomics, Rockville MD, from 2001 until he joined deCODE in 2004. He has been an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering at Reykjavík University from 2006. Since 2013 he has been Head of Sequence Analysis at deCODE.
GUÐMUNDUR L. NORÐDAHL
Head of Functional Genomics
Guðmundur received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Iceland in 2006, and completed a PhD degree in stem cell biology at Lund University in 2012. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Terry Fox Laboratory at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver and joined deCODE in 2015. Since 2016, he has been the head of the Functional Genomics with a research focus on the biochemical and cellular effects of sequence variants known to associate with diseases and other traits.
PÁLL MELSTED
Head of RNA seqencing data
Páll received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Mathematics from the University of Iceland in 2003 and completed a PhD degree in Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. He was a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago from 2009 to 2011 and a faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Iceland from 2011. He joined deCODE in 2013 and from 2019 he has lead the effort on analysis of RNA sequencing data. His work is focused on development of efficient algorithms for working with high-throughput sequencing data and analysis of RNA sequencing datasets. Páll is a professor of computer science at the University of Iceland.
MAGNÚS ÖRN ÚLFARSSON
Head of Artificial Intelligence
Magnús received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Master of Science (MSc) degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iceland. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2007. His main research focus is on the development and application of machine learning methods. Magnús joined Decode in 2013. He is a Professor in the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Iceland.
JÓHANN HJARTARSON
General Counsel & Secretary
Jóhann Hjartarson has been the General Counsel of deCODE genetics since 1998. He has also served as Chief Compliance and Data Protection Officer at various times during his tenure at the company. Prior to joining deCODE, Jóhann was a professional chessplayer competing at the highest level and has held the title of International Grandmaster since 1985. He has served on boards of directors of several publicly traded companies in Iceland in recent years. Jóhann holds a law degree (cand. juris) from of the University of Iceland. He is a licensed attorney, member of the Icelandic Bar Association and a European Patent Attorney.
LÁRA INGÓLFSDÓTTIR
CFO
Lára Ingólfsdóttir has been the CFO of deCODE genetics from January 2016. From 2014-2016 Lára was the Director of Corporate Services with the finance group of Alvogen and the CFO of the Icelandic private investment company Íslensk fjárfesting ehf. from 2012-2014. Lára was the controller of deCODE genetics ehf. from 2001-2012. Prior to that she worked in the financial department of an Icelandic car import company for several years.
