Genetic data driving therapeutic insights

Anne is CEO and Co-Founder of 23andMe. Since co-founding 23andMe in 2006, Anne has pioneered the direct-to-consumer DNA testing space and the large-scale application of human genetic data to therapeutic development. As CEO, she has led the development of the only personal genetic test with FDA authorization to deliver health information directly to consumers, and the development of therapeutic programs and capabilities to address serious unmet medical needs.

Prior to founding 23andMe, Anne spent a decade on Wall Street investing in healthcare before pivoting to building a business that helps people prevent illness rather than profit from it. She received a B.S. in Biology from Yale University.

Jennifer is the Head of Therapeutics Development at 23andMe. She oversees the transition of potential therapeutics from 23andMe's research laboratories into clinical development studies, and leads a group that includes preclinical and clinical development and drug manufacturing.

Jennifer has thirty years of drug development experience spanning academia, government, large pharma and small biotech. She has been the Chief Medical Officer at Loxo Oncology and has led early- and late-stage clinical development at Genentech/Roche that led to multiple drug approvals worldwide. She has degrees from Caltech, Georgetown, and Duke and has held academic positions at the National Cancer Institute and the National Naval Medical Center, where she was an attending physician for breast cancer patients. She has co-authored papers appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Cancer Discovery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Nature Reviews Cancer.

Adam joined 23andMe in 2015 and is the Vice President of Human Genetics. Adam is responsible for computational approaches to target discovery via statistical genetics and machine learning approaches.

Prior to joining 23andMe, Adam pursued an academic career at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with a focus on large-scale genomic analyses and statistical algorithm development. He received a MSci in Physics from the University of Bristol (UK), and a DPhil in Statistical and Population Genetics from the University of Oxford.

Reza Afkhami joined 23andMe as Chief Corporate Development Officer in May 2023 to oversee the company’s corporate development efforts across its therapeutics, research services and consumer groups. Afkhami is responsible for spearheading and driving a wide range of industry collaborations.

Before joining 23andMe, Afkhami was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Global Blood Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative therapies for the treatment of sickle cell disease. He led business development, licensing, and strategy for the company. He also played a key role in Pfizer’s acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics in late 2022.

Afkhami brings over 20 years of corporate strategy and business development experience across the therapeutics industry. Prior to Global Blood Therapeutics, Afkhami served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Surrozen, a biotechnology company focused on developing tissue-specific antibodies to create therapies for a range of diseases. He has held numerous positions, overseeing global commercial strategy and planning, leading teams handling business development and market intelligence, and having managed and supported partnerships to help to grow a company from early-stage drug discovery to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company.

Afkhami holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from Georgetown University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of California, Berkeley.