Meet Our Team

Diane Baker is a pioneer and leader in the field of genetic counseling. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence’s Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics– a leader in genetic counselor education –she went on to become a founding member of the genetic counseling program at the University of Michigan, serving as its director and a premier member of its faculty. During this time, she served on the boards of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, the American Board of Medical Genetics, the American Board of Genetic Counseling, and the American Society of Human Genetics, and completed a Congressional Policy Fellowship in the U.S. Senate.  She is co-editor of the first textbook in Genetic Counseling, A Guide to Genetic Counseling. Diane is a volunteer with National Institutes of Health patient charities and cooks for a men’s shelter in Washington, D.C.

President & Co-Founder,  Luna

Dawn Barry is a veteran of the biotech industry and an advocate for girls and women in STEM professions. Her current company, Luna, has received numerous awards from notable institutions including the Word Economic Forum and Fast Company for redesigning the biomedical research model by bridging collectives of people with industry and researchers for dynamic studies and trials. 

Prior to Luna, Barry spent 12 years helping build Illumina, where she ultimately served as the Vice President of Applied Genomics and led pioneering teams in precision medicine, translational genomics, population genomics, and clinical screening, among others. Dawn’s accomplishments include being named PharmaVoice100 Life Science Leaders 2022, San Diego Business Journal’s 2017 Business Woman of the Year, TEDxSanDiego 2016 speaker, and Girl Scouts San Diego Cool Women 2019 recipient.

Originally trained as a communication scholar, Eric Dishman's life mission became healthcare and biotech innovation by career and medical necessity. He has spent 35+ years doing, leading, and teaching health innovation and trying to personalize and precision-ize healthcare for himself as a 23-year cancer patient and for thousands of cancer patients he has advocated for. His first health technology projects and startup attempts were for Paul Allen's think-tank, Interval Research. Much of Eric’s career was at Intel Corporation, where he grew from a researcher studying the needs of frail seniors and patients/families struggling with Alzheimer's, cancer, and chronic disease management to an Intel Fellow and founding Vice President of the Intel Health & Life Sciences Group. He was responsible for global strategy, R&D, and growth in the sector across 50+ countries.

In 2016, the persuasive skills of former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and President Obama took Eric to Bethesda to become the founding director of the All of Us Research Program focused on diversifying research participants and data to inform precision health. Eric recently stepped down from his federal position to return to cancer patient advocacy, writing, backcountry skiing, as well as joining health-focused boards, teaching, and doing occasional consulting projects on precision health and strategic planning.

Eric’s ways of thinking about healthcare are captured well in two of his TED talks: beyond mainframe healthcare from 2009 and healthcare as a team sport from 2013.

Concert Genetics

Applying her background in molecular and clinical genetics, genetic counseling, and behavioral science, Gillian Hooker is committed to overcoming the barriers to effective translation of genome science at the patient, provider, and system levels. As Chief Scientific Officer, she oversees Clinical Content Development and Analytics for Concert. In her previous roles as a researcher in academic and government settings, Gillian has worked with numerous transdisciplinary teams on the front lines of genomics, developing and evaluating methods for delivering genomic information to patients and their providers. Having served as the associate director of a genetic counseling training program, Gillian also brings significant experience in genetics education and outreach.

Gillian completed her doctoral degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University and her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health/National Human Genome Research Institute Genetic Counseling Training Program. She has been actively involved in the National Society of Genetic Counselors, serving on multiple committees and and served as its president in 2020.

Pfizer Inc.

During her 35-year career in medicine, Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall has been on the frontlines of health care as a clinician, a researcher, and a leader in the biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industries. The common thread throughout has been her passion to advocate for health equity and improved outcomes for all patients. Before joining Pfizer in 2009, Dr. Lewis-Hall held senior leadership positions with Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacia, and Eli Lilly and Company.

Prior to joining industry, she served as Vice Chairperson and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine and was an advisor to the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Lewis-Hall graduated from Johns Hopkins University and earned her medical doctorate at Howard University College of Medicine. Dr. Lewis-Hall appears regularly on health-related television programs in major global markets, including CBS-syndicated shows such as The Doctors and Dr. Phil. She also shares health and medical information through GetHealthyStayHealthy.com. She currently serves on numerous boards including SpringWorks Therapeutics, Dell Medical School, Harvard Medical School, FasterCures, the Foundation for the NIH, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Scientific Research,  Illumina

Ryan J. Taft, PhD, is Vice President, Scientific Research at Illumina Inc., where he leads a portfolio focused on the deployment of genomic technologies for patients worldwide, especially the use of whole genome sequencing as a platform for genetic testing. At Illumina his activities include oversight of the Illumina Clinical Services Laboratory’s clinical whole genome sequencing test, pediatric and adult clinical trials, bioinformatic innovation, and novel application development. At Illumina Dr. Taft also leads a philanthropic program, iHope, that provides patients across the globe pro bono access to clinical whole genome sequencing. Dr. Taft has helped describe more than a dozen novel genetic disorders, and is credited with being one of the first to use short-read whole genome sequencing of a family to resolve an undiagnosed disease. He holds various other positions including serving as a Genetic Alliance board member and as an advisor to several rare genetic disease focused technology companies and non-profits.

Prior to joining Illumina Dr. Taft was a Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD in Genomics and Computational Biology, which received a Deans’ Commendation for Academic Excellence from the University of Queensland on a US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis on a Regent’s Scholarship. Dr. Taft has received several awards, including a Biocom Life Science Catalyst Award for innovation in the life sciences and the 2021 International Alumnus of the Year award from the University of Queensland.