Bioinformatics Team: Dr. Yalei Wu, PhD
Yalei Wu is a scientist with a diverse background with 10+ years of industrial experience. With training from basic to translational research, his research is published in scientific journals such as Nature Biomedical Engineering, Science, and PNAS. He holds numerous granted/pending patents in algorithm and NGS methods. His interest is to apply bioinformatics to improve assay design and information extraction and better human health.
The Bioinformatics team applies cutting-edge understanding of oligo hybridization to design novel high multiplexing assays to detect mutations quantitatively with sensitivity down to 0.1% VAF.
Research interests of the Bioinformatics team include:
- Algorithm development
- NGS data processing
- Data mining
- Machine learning
R&D Team: Dr. Christina Hao, PhD
Christina Hao is a capable scientist who specializes in genomics, assay development and bioinformatics. Her work applying next generation sequencing (NGS) to understanding cellular mechanisms has been featured in publications such as Endocrinology, Epigenetics and MCB. She currently leads the development of the VarMap™ NGS product line at NuProbe.
The R&D Team creates highly multiplexed NGS assays targeting numerous oncology applications.
Research interests of the R&D team include:
- Thermodynamics in multiplex PCR systems
- Novel methods for rare allele enrichment
- Bioinformatics algorithms for improving accuracy and sensitivity of mutation detection
Service Team: Dr. Alessandro Pinto, PhD
Dr. Pinto is an experienced scientist with expertise in diagnostic biotechnology and nucleic acid engineering. Over the last +15 years, Alessandro has contributed to DNA nanotechnology, in vitro evolution processes, and NGS and qPCR technologies. His work led to more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications, several patents, and two book chapters.
The Service Team is responsible for R&D services and collaborative projects for pharma, peer diagnostic companies, and academia. R&D activities include the development of ultrasensitive custom NGS panels, qPCR multiplex assays, and leverage NuProbe’s proprietary technologies, algorithms for design and analysis, and know-how.
Research areas in the Service team include:
- Molecular diagnostics
- Multiplex PCR panel design and development
- NGS technologies implementation
- NGS and qPCR data processing
Engineering Team: Dr. Jim Loudin, PhD
Jim Loudin is a diversely capable scientist with a proven record of innovation in the biomedical engineering space. He holds numerous patents and awards and has had his research featured in publications ranging from Nature Photonics to mainstream media outlets such as Popular Science and BBC News. He has worked on dozens of medical devices and one pharmaceutical, with four inventions directly resulting in novel commercialized products.
The Engineering Team creates laboratory instruments to decrease cost and continuously improve the quality of NuProbe’s proprietary analysis methods. These instruments are benchtop and cartridge-based.
Research areas in the Engineering team include:
- Mechatronics techniques
- Material science for DNA handling and corresponding manufacturing techniques
- Microfluidic control systems
- Temperature control systems for PCR
