Ashley Van Zeeland, PhD. MBA

Vice President, Head of Illumina Open Innovation

Dr. Van Zeeland has been leading innovative genomics research and development programs for more than 15 years and is currently Vice President and Head of Illumina Open Innovation after holding various executive roles within Product Development at Illumina. Previously she was co-founder and CEO of Cypher Genomics, a cloud-based genome interpretation company, which sold to Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) in 2015. At HLI Dr. Van Zeeland served as Chief Technology Officer, directing the software and bioinformatics development for a large-scale genomics platform, and enabling health intelligence and related products. Prior to founding Cypher Genomics, she served as Director, Strategic Partnerships at the Scripps Translational Science Institute where she focused on novel public-private partnerships to accelerate translational research. Before transitioning to her role as Director, Strategic Partnerships she was a research fellow in bioinformatics and statistical genetics at the Scripps Translational Science Institute and led groundbreaking work in neuroimaging genetics of autism, neurodevelopmental disorders and other rare genetic pediatric diseases while at UCLA. Dr. Van Zeeland has been the recipient of numerous business and science awards including the BIOCOM Life Science Catalyst award, the UCSD 40 under 40 and Emerging Leader Alumni Awards, and San Diego 500 Influential Business Leader award. She holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles and MBA from the University of California, San Diego.