Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Carl Wittwer, Chair
Carl Wittwer, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor emeritus of Pathology at the University of Utah. With over 200 articles and 50 US patents in molecular diagnostics, he developed rapid-cycle PCR in the early 1990s, real-time PCR with SYBR Green® dye, and the capillary LightCycler® system in 1995, high-resolution melting in 2004, and extreme PCR in 2014. As co-founder and CSO of Idaho Technology/BioFire since 1990, he served as board chairman of BioFire during its acquisition by bioMérieux in 2014. Since 2002, he has been an Associate Editor of Clinical Chemistry, received the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology in 2003, the Distinguished Innovation and Impact Award from the University of Utah in 2011, and the Utah Genius Award in 2015. He remains committed to making molecular diagnostics faster, cheaper, and better.
Dr. Karen C. Carroll
Karen C. Carroll, M.D. a Professor of Pathology, Director of the Division of Medical Microbiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, received training in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and medical microbiology. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the College of American Pathologists. Research interests include the development and assessment of novel diagnostics, particularly in the areas of healthcare-associated infections, such as Clostridioides difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and for the detection of bacteremia and sepsis. Dr. Carroll was the recipient of the 2011 ASM BD Award for excellence in research in Clinical Microbiology and the 2015 Infectious Diseases Society of America Kass Award and named Lecturer.
Participation by Karen C. Carroll (Consultant) as an advisor to Co-Dx does not constitute or imply endorsement of Co-Dx by Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Noriko Kusukawa
Noriko Kusukawa, Ph.D. is a 35-year veteran of biotech and healthcare industries. She has worked in the United States and Japan directing strategic investments in new technology. Most recently, she served as vice president for ARUP Laboratories (University of Utah) and as adjunct associate professor of pathology. Her colleagues called her “a trailblazer of scientific business solutions” as she introduced new clinical tests to market, established free online CME programs for pathology, built public mutation databases for genetic diseases, lobbied to expand the state newborn screening program, and forged strategic partnerships with companies. Before that, Dr. Kusukawa consulted for BioFire and managed their intellectual property and chemistry discovery programs. She was also the technical director at FMC Corporation overseeing R&D and quality departments. Dr. Kusukawa received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Kyoto University, is an inventor of eight patents, and is the author of 21 articles and 11 book chapters in laboratory medicine.
Dr. Brent Satterfield
Brent C. Satterfield, Ph.D. is a global-health visionary and the founder and lead inventor of Co-Dx. His mathematical approach to DNA binding generated the Tentacle Probes with 10,000 times improvement in concentration-independent specificity, the Rapid Probes with a 200 times faster rate of binding, and the Co-Primers™ with a 2.5 million times reduction in primer-dimer formation. In 2020, he was invited to present to a congressional panel on COVID. He was a founding member and lead inventor in Arcxis Biotechnologies, Cooperative Diagnostics, Invoy Technologies, and DNA Logix. He received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Arizona State University in a record 2.5 years while on a fellowship from the Department of Homeland Security.
Dr. Anne Wyllie
Anne Wyllie, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist and Principal Investigator of SalivaDirect at Yale University. Having worked with saliva as a clinical specimen for bacterial detection for almost 10 years, Wyllie is an expert in the laboratory methods required for working with saliva and skillfully applied these early in the pandemic for sensitive SARS-CoV-2 detection. Since, Wyllie has become well-recognized for pushing forward on the use of saliva as a superior sample for creating high-quality, low-cost SARS-CoV-2 testing. Her innovation throughout the pandemic and her commitment to open science has led to the development of freely available PCR protocols, enabling laboratories across the US to rapidly implement accessible COVID-19 testing programs. Wyllie’s SalivaDirect Initiative at the Yale School of Public Health remains devoted to providing public health guidance, advancing saliva diagnostics, and enabling the safe re-opening of communities worldwide.
