MEET OUR TEAM
STEPH VENN-WATSON
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ERIC VENN-WATSON
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NICHOLAS SCHORK
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KIM KAMDAR
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scientific & clinical advisors
EDWARD DENNIS, Phd
global leader in fatty acids
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Ronald Krauss, MD
global leader in DIETARY SATURATED FATS
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SERAPHINA TEAM BIOS
Stephanie: Co-Founder & CEO
Stephanie Venn-Watson, DVM, MPH is a serial entrepreneur of for-profit and not-for-profit companies, veterinary epidemiologist and public health scientist with over 40 patents and 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Stephanie previously served as an epidemiologist tracking diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. She is an Albert Schweitzer Fellow for Life and recipient of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Innovations in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and the Federal Laboratory Consortium's Regional Outstanding Technology Development.
Stephanie's innovations to support public and animal health have been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, CBS, BBC, National Geographic, Biocom’s Annual Dinner (2014), J&J Innovations: Powerful Ideas Series, San Diego Venture Group's Hot Topic Series and Cool Companies, L,A, BioMed Innovation Showcase, and San Diego's Innovation Showcase. Stephanie received her B.S. in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego, D.V.M. from Tufts University, M.P.H. from Emory University, and was a National Research Council Associate with the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center.
Stephanie's innovations to support public and animal health have been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, CBS, BBC, National Geographic, Biocom’s Annual Dinner (2014), J&J Innovations: Powerful Ideas Series, San Diego Venture Group's Hot Topic Series and Cool Companies, L,A, BioMed Innovation Showcase, and San Diego's Innovation Showcase. Stephanie received her B.S. in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego, D.V.M. from Tufts University, M.P.H. from Emory University, and was a National Research Council Associate with the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center.
Eric: Co-Founder & COO
Eric Venn-Watson, MD, MBA is a physician, US Navy veteran and serial entrepreneur with experience starting new companies, raising capital, leading teams, and growing companies with medical technologies. Prior to Epitracker, Eric founded a healthcare analytics company and a medical device company, was CMO of a pharmaceutical startup, SVP of a digital health company and worked as a business consultant. Eric is also a US Navy Veteran, having served 21 years as a military physician, with multiple leadership roles, as well as combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He serves in advisory roles for multiple startup companies, is a regular lecturer at the Rady School of Management, and supports entrepreneurship programs for military veterans in San Diego.
Eric was awarded the 'Best Entrepreneur' in the Start up Company Category at the 2017 Veteran and Military Conference and Awards. Eric attended the military medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, received his general surgery and orthopedic surgery training at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, and completed his MBA at the UCSD, Rady School of Management.
Eric was awarded the 'Best Entrepreneur' in the Start up Company Category at the 2017 Veteran and Military Conference and Awards. Eric attended the military medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, received his general surgery and orthopedic surgery training at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, and completed his MBA at the UCSD, Rady School of Management.
Nicholas: Co-Founder & Lead Clinical Scientist
Nicholas J. Schork, PhD, MA is a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Quantitative Medicine and Systems Biology Division at Translational Genomics Institute, an affiliate of The City of Hope. In addition, he is an adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Family and Preventive Medicine in the Division of Biostatistics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Nicholas’s interests and expertise are in quantitative translational biomedical science and integrated approaches to complex biological and medical problems, especially the design and implementation of studies to dissect the determinants of complex traits and diseases. He has published over 500 scientific articles and book chapters on the analysis of complex, multifactorial traits and diseases, including clinical trials methodology. A member of several scientific journal editorial boards, Nicholas is a frequent participant in U.S. National Institutes of Health-related steering committees and review boards, has mentored over 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has founded or served on the advisory boards of ten companies. In addition, he is currently director of the quantitative components of a number of national research consortia, including the NIA-sponsored Longevity Consortium. Nicholas earned a B.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in Statistics, and Ph.D. in Epidemiology, all from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
From 2007-2013, Nicholas was a Professor in Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute, Director of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the Scripps Translational Science Institute, and Director of Research at Scripps Genomic Medicine, a division of Scripps Health. From 2001-2007, Nicholas was a Professor of Biostatistics and Psychiatry, and Co-Director of the Center for Human Genetics and Genomics at UCSD. From 1994-2000, he was an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard University.
Nicholas’s interests and expertise are in quantitative translational biomedical science and integrated approaches to complex biological and medical problems, especially the design and implementation of studies to dissect the determinants of complex traits and diseases. He has published over 500 scientific articles and book chapters on the analysis of complex, multifactorial traits and diseases, including clinical trials methodology. A member of several scientific journal editorial boards, Nicholas is a frequent participant in U.S. National Institutes of Health-related steering committees and review boards, has mentored over 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has founded or served on the advisory boards of ten companies. In addition, he is currently director of the quantitative components of a number of national research consortia, including the NIA-sponsored Longevity Consortium. Nicholas earned a B.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in Statistics, and Ph.D. in Epidemiology, all from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
From 2007-2013, Nicholas was a Professor in Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute, Director of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the Scripps Translational Science Institute, and Director of Research at Scripps Genomic Medicine, a division of Scripps Health. From 2001-2007, Nicholas was a Professor of Biostatistics and Psychiatry, and Co-Director of the Center for Human Genetics and Genomics at UCSD. From 1994-2000, he was an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard University.
Kim: Co-Founder & BoD Chair
Kim Kamdar, PhD, is a Partner at Domain Associates, a leading biotech venture capital group. With a background in small molecule drug discovery, Kim has been involved in cutting-edge therapeutic start-ups and has been a major part of identifying companies with promising molecular and companion diagnostics to support personalized medicine.
Kim is co-founder and Chair of Seraphina Therapeutics and Truvian Sciences. Kim serves on the boards of Epic Sciences, Evofem Biosciences, Obalon Therapeutics, Sera Prognostics and Singular Genomics. She also helped to create and was formerly Chair of the board for Aspen Neuroscience and board member of Adastra Pharmaceuticals and Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Kim was involved with Ariosa Diagnostics until the company was sold to Roche in January 2015, Corthera until the company was sold to Novartis in February 2010 and BiPar Sciences until that company was sold to Sanofi in April 2009.
Prior to Domain, Kim was a Kauffman Fellow and a research director at Novartis, where she built and led a research team that focused on the biology, genetics and genomics of model organisms to uncover small molecules that modulated signaling pathway networks. Kim is the author of ten papers as well as the inventor on seven patents. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics from Emory University.
Kim is co-founder and Chair of Seraphina Therapeutics and Truvian Sciences. Kim serves on the boards of Epic Sciences, Evofem Biosciences, Obalon Therapeutics, Sera Prognostics and Singular Genomics. She also helped to create and was formerly Chair of the board for Aspen Neuroscience and board member of Adastra Pharmaceuticals and Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Kim was involved with Ariosa Diagnostics until the company was sold to Roche in January 2015, Corthera until the company was sold to Novartis in February 2010 and BiPar Sciences until that company was sold to Sanofi in April 2009.
Prior to Domain, Kim was a Kauffman Fellow and a research director at Novartis, where she built and led a research team that focused on the biology, genetics and genomics of model organisms to uncover small molecules that modulated signaling pathway networks. Kim is the author of ten papers as well as the inventor on seven patents. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics from Emory University.
Edward: Scientific Advisor
Edward Dennis, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology specializing in lipid research at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Dennis was a long-time Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Lipid Research and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. Dr. Dennis has 375 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has received many awards, including the Avanti Award for Research in Lipid Biochemistry from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Dennis is a gradate of Yale University (BA) and Harvard University (MA, PhD, Postdoctoral) and has honorary Doctorate degrees from Goethe University of Frankfurt (Germany) and the University of Lyon (France).
RONALD: CLINICAL ADVISOR
Ronald M. Krauss, M.D., is Senior Scientist and Director of Atherosclerosis Research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at UCSF and in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at UC Berkeley, and Guest Senior Scientist in the Department of Genome Sciences of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University with honors and served his internship and residency on the Harvard Medical Service of Boston City Hospital. He then joined the staff of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, first as Clinical Associate and then as Senior Investigator in the Molecular Disease Branch. Dr. Krauss is board-certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a Fellow of the American Society of Nutrition and the American Heart Association (AHA), and a Distinguished Fellow of the International Atherosclerosis Society. Dr. Krauss has also served on both the Committee on Dietary Recommended Intakes for Macronutrients and the Committee on Biomarkers of Chronic Disease of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous awards including the AHA Scientific Councils Distinguished Achievement Award and the Centrum Center For Nutrition Science Award of the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Krauss has published nearly 400 research articles and reviews on genetic, dietary, and drug effects on plasma lipoproteins and coronary artery disease.