Luna DNA Expands Leadership and Advisory Board, Adding New Pedigree From Illumina

SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 9:30 a.m. PT ? Luna DNA, the first community owned genomic and medical research database, today announced the addition of three new members to its leadership team. The key hires in the VP of marketing and VP of business strategy and operation roles were filled by Aaron Mendes and Debora Thompson, respectively. The newest advisory board member is Sharon Terry, who will join Luna's team of industry leaders and research experts in the field of genomics.

"As individual interest in personal DNA exploration continues to grow, our team is busy building the community-owned platform to aggregate and organize this vital testing data for the purpose of medical research and discovery," said Dawn Barry, president and co-founder, Luna DNA. "We expanded our team of veteran leaders to support this growth and commitment to discovery through trust-based engagement of individuals."

Mendes has a diverse background in building massive scale consumer communities, digital media, online marketing, big data, and marketing analytics. He has been part of many consumer and enterprise start ups including 1010data, which was acquired for $500 million by Advance Newhouse in 2015. As founder of Quantio (acquired by 1010data), Aaron created the first database to anonymously measure what people buy online from tens of millions of consumers. Prior to Quantio, Aaron was chief product officer of sterkly, a diversified consumer app company with over 1 billion global installs.

Thompson, former director of market strategy and innovation for clinical genomics at Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN, $37 billion market cap), will spearhead the strategic planning and execution of the Luna Community infrastructure development and head-up future partnerships. Thompson spent over 10 years at Illumina while leading projects and teams to accelerate genotyping and next-generation sequencing into applied and clinical markets. She served as chief of staff to both the new and emerging markets and applied genomics business units.

Terry will join Luna DNA's existing advisory board that already includes distinguished leaders from Illumina, Stanford University, Kavli HUMAN Project, New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress, Human Longevity, and PwC Strategy&Healthcare. Terry also serves as the president and CEO of Genetic Alliance, engaging individuals, families and communities to take charge of their health and to further biomedical research. She lead the advocacy efforts for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) and was instrumental in its passage, working directly with U.S. policy-makers.

In conjunction with the team's expansion, Luna DNA has relocated to new headquarters located in Solana Beach, Calif. in the historic Cedros Avenue district.

About Luna DNA
Luna DNA is the first genomic and medical research database owned by its community. A Public Benefit Corporation, Luna DNA enables people to own and share their genomic information for the greater good of the community and medical research. The company is headquartered in Solana Beach, Calif. and was founded in 2017. Luna DNA encompasses a robust executive leadership team and advisory board, including several Illumina veterans, industry academics, and financial executives. For more information visit www.lunadna.com.

Contact: Saramaya Penacho
BAM Communications
208-610-3375
[email protected]

SOURCE Luna DNA