Founder's Note
Prior to my wife's battle with breast cancer, I had little understanding of the impact that breast cancer has on the patient and their family. Through the years of her treatment, I developed a deep personal sense for the disease, how far medicine had come in cancer care and how far it still had to go. Her death caused me to examine my own life and what I was doing. While I enjoyed semiconductor development, I wanted to do something in cancer care. Fortunately for me my next-door neighbor ran the MIT Center for Cancer (now the Koch Institute) and he invited me to attend some brain storming meetings on new cancer technology. It was at those meetings that I developed my connections with the MIT biotech community and ultimately joined the Koch Institute, where I received support to start development of the in vivo single cell imager concept that became Lumicell.
- W. David Lee
Management
Kevin Hershberger
President & Chief Executive OfficerKevin joined Lumicell as CFO in 2018, became President/CFO in 2019 and CEO in 2020. Prior to Lumicell, Kevin was SFO of ReWalk Robotics where he helped launch a partnership with Harvard’s Wyss institute to develop a Softsuit Exoskeleton. Prior to ReWalk, he held leadership roles with NxStage Medical as VP of Finance, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer. Kevin brings over 25 years of global executive management experience in life sciences products and manufacturing companies.
LinkedInW. David Lee
President & Chief Scientific OfficerDavid was founding CEO of Lumicell and is now President & Chief Scientific Officer. After creating T2 Biosystems, he returned to MIT Koch Institute to develop new technology that would address the breast cancer that was responsible for his wife’s death. Lumicell is the embodiment of that goal. Prior to Lumicell, as an SVP and Managing Director at Arthur D. Little, he directed the technology and product development division and managed over 50 development and commercialization programs.
LinkedInJorge Ferrer, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and StrategyJorge joined Lumicell in 2010 and leads the clinical research and strategy for cancer applications and oversees Lumicell’s academic clinical collaborations. Jorge also manages Lumicell’s regulatory strategy and preparation of communications and reporting to the FDA. As employee #2, he co-developed Lumicell’s cancer detection drug. During his post-doctoral tenure with Dr. Moungi Bawendi at MIT, he developed the Lumicell imaging device prototype and conducted proof-of-concept experiments in mice and clinical trials in dogs.
LinkedInDaniel K. Harris, Ph.D.
Vice President of Drug ManufacturingDan joined Lumicell in 2017 as a Principal Scientist and grew through the ranks to become VP of Pharmaceutical Development and CMC. Prior to joining Lumicell, Dan led the chemistry R&D group at QD Vision and supported the company through its acquisition by Samsung. At Lumicell, Dan is responsible for the development of Lumicell’s imaging drug, leads regulatory strategy and is responsible for preparation of Lumicell’s NDA and other drug related regulatory filings.
LinkedInHoward Hechler
Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business DevelopmentHoward joined Lumicell in August 2020, bringing more than 15 years focused life-sciences experience in M&A, strategy, and operations. Prior to Lumicell, Howard worked at Locust Walk, a boutique life sciences investment bank, where he used his experience to support the growth and extend the firm’s medical technology practice reach. Before Locust Walk, Howard served as Chief Business Officer for PolarityTE, worked in Business Development for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Strategy and Business Development at Medtronic.
LinkedInSean Madden, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of R&D, OncologySean joined Lumicell in 2019 and leads the refinement of Lumicell’s products and regulatory strategy to achieve FDA approval, the development of the next generation of Lumicell products, the management of Medical Affairs for ongoing and upcoming clinical trials, and the strategy, stewardship and growth of Lumicell’s intellectual property portfolio. Prior to Lumicell, Sean was VP of Research and Clinical at Infraredx and has worked in biomedical measurements and medical devices for over 20 years
LinkedInAmee Patel Pant
Vice President of Human ResourcesWith over 15 years of diverse human resources and management experience, Amee came to Lumicell in 2018 and was promoted to VP of Human Resources. Prior to Lumicell, Amee served on the senior management team at New England Office Supply (WB Mason) and founded Boylston Consulting Group. At Lumicell, Amee is responsible for all aspects of human resources initiatives including developing and implementing on-boarding, training, performance management, employee retention, benefits management, and employee relations strategies.
LinkedInBoard of Directors
Andrey Zarur, Ph.D.
Executive Chairman, LumicellCEO GreenLight Biosciences
Andrey co-founded GreenLight Biosciences a decade ago to develop advanced biological solutions to overcome some of the biggest challenges faced by the human race, including sustainable food production, response and preparedness for pandemics, and global access to effective human health. He is a co-founder and was Chairman of the Board of Solid Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLDB), a gene-therapy company targeting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He has been a co-founder and senior executive in more than a dozen companies in the healthcare and clean energy sectors. Prior to starting GreenLight, Andrey was Managing Partner at Kodiak Venture Partners, an early-stage, technology-driven venture fund based in Boston.
Moungi Bawendi, Ph.D.
Bawendi Group Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMoungi Bawendi is the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Moungi’s research ranges from the very fundamental to applications in electro-optics and biology. There is an ongoing synthetic effort underlying all of this to address the challenges of making new compositions and morphologies of nanocrystals and nanocrystal heterostructures, and new ligands so that the nanocrystals can be incorporated into hybrid organic/inorganic devices, or biological systems.
David Furneaux
CEO, BlueIOManaging Partner, Kodiak Venture Partners
Dave is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of BlueIO. During his career as an entrepreneur, investor and fund manager, Dave has been directly involved in the conception, founding, launching and operations of many high growth companies. For over two decades, partnering with amazing entrepreneurs to solve challenging problems and creating solutions that benefit the world have been the initiatives that drive him. Dave holds a B.A. from Colorado College, Phi Beta Kappa.
Kevin Hershberger
President & Chief Executive OfficerKevin joined Lumicell as CFO in 2018, became President/CFO in 2019 and CEO in 2020. Prior to Lumicell, Kevin was SFO of ReWalk Robotics where he helped launch a partnership with Harvard’s Wyss institute to develop a Softsuit Exoskeleton. Prior to ReWalk, he held leadership roles with NxStage Medical as VP of Finance, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer. Kevin brings over 25 years of global executive management experience in life sciences products and manufacturing companies.
Kevin Krenitsky, MD
Strategic AdvisorDr. Krenitsky is a recognized authority in global diagnostic and biotechnology operations with more than 20 years of senior leadership experience. He was Chief Operating Officer, and later Chief Commercial Officer of Foundation Medicine, a molecular information company dedicated to transforming cancer treatment through enhanced understanding of genomic changes that contribute to a patient’s unique cancer. He helped build the company to a successful IPO, followed by a $1.2B investment by Roche, leading to a full acquisition. Previously, he served as President of Enzo Clinical Labs and instituted a strategic plan to launch numerous FDA-approved esoteric tests. He served as CEO at both BioServe Biotechnologies, a global biotechnology company, and Parkway Clinical Laboratories, a clinical diagnostic lab. He also has held senior-level positions with Genomics Collaborative, Inc., a clinical and genomics research company.
W. David Lee
President & Chief Scientific OfficerDavid was founding CEO of Lumicell and is now President & Chief Scientific Officer. After creating T2 Biosystems, he returned to MIT Koch Institute to develop new technology that would address the breast cancer that was responsible for his wife’s death. Lumicell is the embodiment of that goal. Prior to Lumicell, as an SVP and Managing Director at Arthur D. Little, he directed the technology and product development division and managed over 50 development and commercialization programs.
Mike Reuttgers
Retired Chairman, Lahey ClinicFormer CEO, EMC Corporation
Mike Ruettgers is an experienced operations manager and board member of technology-oriented companies. His active management career concluded as Chief Executive Officer of EMC Corporation where he grew revenue from $125 million annually to over $9 billion annually in fifteen years. Later, he was lead independent director of Raytheon Company. He chaired the Quality of Care Committee at Lahey Clinic for more than ten years and then became Chairman. He currently serves on the boards of directors of several start-up companies. Mike has a BBA for Idaho State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts General HospitalHarvard Medical School
Dr. Weissleder is the Thrall Professor Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Professor of System Biology and a faculty a member of the Department of Systems Biology at HMS, Director of the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Attending Clinician (Interventional Radiology) at MGH.
Scientific Advisors
Moungi Bawendi, Ph.D.
Bawendi Group Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMoungi Bawendi is the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Moungi’s research ranges from the very fundamental to applications in electro-optics and biology. There is an ongoing synthetic effort underlying all of this to address the challenges of making new compositions and morphologies of nanocrystals and nanocrystal heterostructures, and new ligands so that the nanocrystals can be incorporated into hybrid organic/inorganic devices, or biological systems.
Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D.
NEJM Group Editor, New England Journal of MedicineMedical Society Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Jeffrey Drazen graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1972. After serving his medical residency at Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, he joined its Pulmonary Division and that of the Beth Israel Hospital, serving each as division chair for many years. From 2000-2019, he served as editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. During his tenure, the New England Journal of Medicine published major papers advancing the science of medicine, and now has over two million unique visitors every week and the highest impact factor of any medical journal publishing original research. He now serves as NEJM Group Editor.
Linda Griffith, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyLinda G. Griffith is Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering and MacVicar Fellow at MIT, where she directs the Center for Gynepathology Research. She has pioneered approaches in tissue engineering and organs-on-chips and now integrates these platform technologies with systems biology to humanize drug development. She has chaired numerous scientific meetings, including the Keystone Tissue Organoids Conference (2020), the Signal Transduction by Engineering Extracellular Matrix Gordon Research Conference (2016), and has co-chaired the Open Endoscopy Forum at MIT annually since 2015. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and several awards from professional societies. Dr. Griffith currently serves on the advisory board of the Society for Women’s Health Research and has served on the advisory committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health. She received her BS from Georgia Tech and PhD from UC Berkeley, both in chemical engineering.
David Kirsch, M.D., Ph.D.
Duke University Medical CenterDavid is the Barbara Levine University Professor at Duke in the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology. Dr. Kirsch is the leader of the Radiation Oncology & Imaging Program in the Duke Cancer Institute and serves as Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Kirsch’s laboratory utilizes sophisticated genetically engineered mouse models to study mechanisms of tumor response to radiation and immunotherapy. He has received a number of awards including the 2010 Michael Fry Award and the 2017 J.W. Osborne Award from the Radiation Research Society. Dr. Kirsch currently serves as the President of the Radiation Research Society. Dr. Kirsch has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2013), the Association of American Physicians (2016), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2017). He received an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute (2016-2022).
Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts General HospitalHarvard Medical School
Dr. Weissleder is the Thrall Professor Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Professor of System Biology and a faculty a member of the Department of Systems Biology at HMS, Director of the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Attending Clinician (Interventional Radiology) at MGH.
Working at Lumicell
We are committed to the patients we serve, and we are equally committed to supporting the health and happiness of our employees and their families. When our employees are healthy, happy, and financially secure, everyone benefits. We believe that a rewarding work environment enables you to make a positive impact on the communities we serve. Helping you find the right work-life balance benefits your family. Your individual experience has great potential to affect many other lives.
Join Our Team