Scientific Experts

Jonathan Knowles, Ph.D.

Vice Chairman

Jonathan Knowles, PhD, joined the Caris Life Sciences™ (Caris) Board of Directors on September 1, 2009 and accepted the position of vice chairman starting on January 1, 2010. In these capacities, Dr. Knowles provides scientific and strategic guidance, supports the identification and expansion of R&D opportunities, and assists with the development of Caris’ international presence. Dr. Knowles' appointments to these positions continues a distinguished career that has spanned decades in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, including most recently his role as president of group research at Roche, a position he held since 2007, and member of that organization's Corporate Executive Committee since 1998.

Dr. Knowles was a member of the Genentech Board for the last 12 years and a member of the Chugai Board for seven years.

Dr. Knowles was also the chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of Genentech. He was for five years the chairman of the Research Directors' Group of EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations) and was the first chairman of the Board of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a unique public-private partnership between 28 Pharmaceutical companies and the European Commission with a budget of more than 2 Billion Euros over five years. Dr. Knowles focused the company on key disease biology areas of high medical need and in-depth understanding of molecular pathology of disease. Under his leadership, the company developed and implemented a strategy of highly effective therapies based on personalized healthcare and built one of the best pharmaceutical pipelines in the sector.

Dr. Knowles attended Magdalen College School in Oxford and received a first class honours degree in molecular genetics from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. He received his Ph.D. in genetics of mitochondria with Professor G. H. Beale F.R.S. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Jonathan Knowles has been recently appointed a professor of translational medicine at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, has been awarded a distinguished professorship in personalized health care at the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki, and has been appointed as a visiting chair at the University of Oxford. In addition, he is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization and a William Pitt Fellow of Pembroke College Cambridge.

George Poste, D.V.M., Ph.D, D.Sc., F.R.S.

Vice-Chairman

Dr. Poste is the vice-chairman of Caris Life Sciences™  and chief scientific advisor. In addition, he is chief scientist, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative (CASI) at Arizona State University. He assumed this post in February 2009. This program links expertise across the university in research on synthetic biology, ubiquitous sensing and healthcare informatics for personalized medicine.

From 2003 to 2008 he founded the Biodesign Institute at ASU (www.biodesign.asu.edu/). In creating this Institute, Dr. Poste designed and built 400,000 sq. ft. of new facilities, achieved cumulative research funding of $225 million and recruited over 60 faculty, including three members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering.

In addition to his academic post he serves as chief executive of a consulting company, Health Technology Networks, which specializes in the application of genomic technologies and computing in healthcare. He is chairman of Orchid Biosciences, the leading company in DNA forensic analysis, and serves on the board of directors of Monsanto, Exelixis and Caris. From 1992 to 1999 he was chief science and technology officer and president, R&D of SmithKline Beecham (SB). During his tenure at SB he was associated with the successful registration of 31 drug, vaccine and diagnostic products. In 2004 he was named as ‘R&D Scientist of the Year’ by R&D Magazine and in 2006 he received the Einstein award from the Global Business Leadership Council.

He has published over 350 research papers and edited 14 books on pharmaceutical technologies and oncology. He has received honorary degrees in science, law and medicine for his research contributions and was honored in 1999 by HM Queen Elizabeth II as a Commander of the British Empire for his contributions to international security. He is a fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal College of Pathologists and the UK Academy of Medicine, a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Defense Science Board and Health Board of the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the US Institute of Medicine Board on Global Health. He is chair of the DOD Task Force on Bioterrorism and the newly launched DOD Task Force on Synthetic Biology.

Click here to view video clips from Dr. Poste.

Christine D. Kuslich, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Group Head, Research & Molecular Diagnostics

Dr. Kuslich joined the Caris Life Sciences™ scientific team in May of 2006 (formerly MPI), where she currently leads the Research and Development division of Caris as well as oversees the Molecular Diagnostic laboratory. Her division is focused on the development of noninvasive biomarker capture technologies to identify and predict diseases, like cancer, earlier in development. In addition, she and her team develop new molecular assays for Caris and the company's pharmaceutical partners. Prior to her position at Caris, Dr. Kuslich led efforts to develop prognostic bioinformatic algorithms to predict deleterious de novo mutations as well as directing a development team focused on a therapeutic breast cancer vaccine at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.

Dr. Kuslich served in leadership roles in clinical molecular diagnostic laboratories in Washington and Hawaii where she was responsible for developing and overseeing numerous proprietary clinical assays. Over the years her research has focused on a diverse array of disease-related issues including: epigenetic modification, imprinting, and the development of novel fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques in Hawaii. At the University of Washington her research concentrated on complex mRNA splicing mechanics including describing the process of ordered intron removal and its influence on disease severity.