Management Team
Jim Chinitz, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Chinitz co-founded Population Diagnostics in 2006 and has over 20 years experience globally introducing new and leading edge technology to the research, pharmaceutical and diagnostic communities. He has held various positions on pioneering commercial teams within the life science industry leaders Hoffmann-La Roche, Applied Biosystems (acquired by Invitrogen), Affymetrix, Third Wave Technologies (acquired by Hologic) and Enzo Life Sciences, including director and executive management level positions. He has broad-based expertise in sales, marketing, and business development and was intimately involved with the pioneering product launches of DNA sequencing, PCR, gene expression and genotyping technologies that were integral tools adopted for the Human Genome Project and today are the mainstream tools and methods used for human disease research. His role in the worldwide market adoption of microarrays has inspired Mr. Chinitz’s vision for the acceleration of genetic discoveries and their clinical translation into simple predictive tests used by physicians to deliver personalized medicine to their patients. Mr. Chinitz’s BS degree is in Biochemical Pharmacology from SUNY Buffalo’s School of Pharmacy, he attended business school through the UC Berkeley extension and he currently serves on the board of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center.
Eli Hatchwell, MD PhD, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Hatchwell co-founded Population Diagnostics in 2006 and has been engaged in genetic research for over 16 years including as an investigator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and in his current academic appointment as an Associate Professor and Director of the Genomics Core Facility at Stony Brook University, SUNY. Dr. Hatchwell’s clinical and technical expertise in investigating human genetic disorders led him to recognize early on that human genetic diversity was grossly underestimated, there was a critical need to comprehensively understand the vast spectrum of normal genetic variation in the population and that rare variants are largely responsible for causing common disease – the underlying principles of the genetic biomarker discovery technology of Population Diagnostics. His current academic research focus is to uncover the spectrum of genetic variation in disease, including the identification of causative genes in autism and congenital heart disease. He is recognized as a key collaborator in the development of one of the first genome-wide BAC-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) microarray platforms and remains at the forefront of cytogenetic and genome analysis through early adoption of leading edge technologies. Dr. Hatchwell collaborates with human genetics researchers worldwide, is a coauthor on numerous peer-reviewed articles, encompassing both clinical genetics and genome technologies, and is senior editor of a book series aimed at educating medical specialists on genetic principles and practices. He is also a certified Medical Geneticist (UK) with many years of experience in clinical practice. Dr. Hatchwell was a Wellcome Advanced Clinical Training Fellow and received his Medical degree at the University of Cambridge and his PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Oxford.
Peggy S. Eis, PhD, Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Eis joined Population Diagnostics in 2009 and has over 15 years experience in DNA, RNA, and genomics research, including over 10 years experience in product development, business development, and marketing. She was most recently Senior Director of Genome Variation in Global Marketing at Roche NimbleGen where she oversaw strategic collaborations and early-stage projects enabling market expansion of DNA copy number variant (CNV) detection products. Prior to that she was head of the comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) microarray business at NimbleGen Systems (acquired by Roche in 2007) where she led the development and commercialization of the highest resolution microarray platform for cytogenetic and genome research studies. Her industry experience also includes six years at Third Wave Technologies (acquired by Hologic in 2008) where she created the fluorescence detection chemistry used in both research and FDA-approved Invader assays, developed and commercialized the Invader assay for quantitative gene expression analysis, and spearheaded scientific collaborations with academic and pharmaceutical researchers (including alternative splicing and microRNA studies). In addition to her scientific expertise in genome variation and gene expression analysis, Dr. Eis is expert in initiating and directing strategic alliances and collaborations that enable commercialization of technology and applications into new or expanding markets. Dr. Eis completed an NCI-funded postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute and received her PhD in Biochemistry with Professor Lakowicz at the University of Maryland where her thesis work focused on fluorescence-based structural analysis of biomolecules.
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