Our Team
We are experts in molecular biology, synthetic biology, genomics, DNA/RNA sequencing and analysis, genome assembly, pharmacogenomics, physics, computer science and more.
A team of people with diverse backgrounds brought together by a shared goal: to work as an interdisciplinary team to bridge the gap between what’s possible in theory and what’s used in practice to save patients’ lives.
Solomon Endlich, PhD
Cofounder and CEO
Solomon Endlich is a co-founder and the CEO of Base5 Genomics, which spun out of his post-doctoral work on genome sequencing in the Morrison lab at Stanford University. He has over 10 years of research experience in theoretical physics and molecular biology. He earned a PhD in theoretical physics from Columbia University and held post-doctoral positions at the EPFL in Lausanne and at Stanford University.
Solomon Adams, PharmD, PhD
Lead Computational Biologist
Solomon (Sully) Adams has over 10 years of experience in clinical/translational research in precision medicine, bioinformatics, and computational genomics. He started his career as a pharmacist. After earning a PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, Sully applied his knowledge of genomics and precision medicine to positions in academia and industry.
Diana Chen, JD
General Counsel
Diana has nearly 20 years of experience as a business and legal advisor with significant start-up, biotechnology, and software experience. Her specialties include intellectual property, technology and commercial transactions, compliance, employment, and risk management. She has a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and a B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry from UC San Diego.
Russell Julian, PhD
Research Scientist
Russell has over 9 years of research experience in molecular biology and genomics. He earned his Ph.D. degree in interdisciplinary life science from Purdue University, where he studied the modulating role of repressive epigenetic marks in gene activation. He held teaching and consulting positions in the Philippines prior to his move to the US.
Bersabeh Tafesse
Research Assistant
Bersabeh recently graduated from Minnesota State University obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology with an emphasis on microbiology. She is passionate about developing technologies that can be used for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
Liza Huijse, PhD
Cofounder and Head of Data Analytics
Liza Huijse is a co-founder of Base5 Genomics and leads the data and computational biology efforts. She has over 10 years of experience analyzing and modeling data within theoretical physics, genomics, and infectious disease diagnostics. She obtained a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam and held post-doctoral positions at Harvard University and Stanford University.
Josh Burton, PhD
Lead Computational Biologist
Josh Burton has over 15 years of experience as a computational biologist and software engineer, tackling cutting-edge challenges in subfields ranging from de novo assembly and metagenomics to immune and cancer genomics. He holds a PhD in Genome Sciences from the University of Washington, where he helped spin out a start-up, Phase Genomics, Inc.
Julianne David, PhD
Computational Biologist
Julianne earned her B.A. and M.S. in chemistry from Northwestern University and her Ph.D in computational biology from OHSU, where she used large datasets to study cancer-specific RNA splicing. She has over 6 years of previous computational research experience in molecular dynamics and quantum hydrodynamics. She is working in computational clinical applications development at Base5 Genomics.
Galit Meshulam-Simon, PhD
Head of Biology and Process Development
Galit brings deep experience in the biotech startup space with a particular focus on synthetic biology (enzyme engineering), automation, product development, project management and client engagement. She earned her PhD in Biotechnology from Technion Israel Institute of Technology and held a post doctoral position at Stanford University.
Ashby Morrison, PhD
Cofounder and Associate Professor of Biology
Ashby Morrison is an associate professor of Biology at Stanford University and a co-founder of Base5 Genomics. She is a member of the Stanford University Cancer Center and the Bio-X program. She has over 20 years of molecular biology research experience with a focus on cancer biology, DNA damage and repair, and genome organization and gene regulation. She has a PhD in biomedical sciences from Baylor College of Medicine.
Natasha Castelli
Head of Finance and Operations
Natasha brings a combination of experience with small businesses and large corporations. She started her career at KPMG, where she earned a CPA. After a stint working as a Revenue Manager for a public company, she started her consulting practice where she worked extensively with high growth technology companies.
Antonia Göke, MD PhD
Head of Product Management
Antonia Göke has over 3 years of research experience in oncology. She acquired her PhD with distinction in pathology, where she worked on gene amplification in metastasized colorectal cancer and its potential as a treatment target. She has held residency appointments in gastroenterology in Germany and anesthesiology in Switzerland.
Avery Mickalide, PhD
Computational Biologist
Avery has 8 years of research experience in biophysics and earned a PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At Base5 Genomics he combines his domain expertise with his analytical and computational skills to perform bioinformatic analyses.