Amanda B. Elam, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder
Dr. Elam is President/CEO of Galaxy Diagnostics. She co-founded Galaxy Diagnostics in 2009 and continues to lead corporate strategy and business development activities. Dr. Elam is an entrepreneur and scholar with experience in life sciences and information technology markets. In addition to her leadership role at Galaxy Diagnostics, she holds a Diana Research Fellowship at Babson College where she conducts sponsored research studies for the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL). Dr. Elam holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has published extensively on the topic of business start-up and growth in top journals and global research reports. Her doctoral research on entrepreneurship was recognized by the Academy of Management for innovative thought leadership. Galaxy Diagnostics represents Dr. Elam’s first foray into the life sciences industry. As a highly regulated and complex industry, the life sciences provide countless illustrations of the barriers to innovation in healthcare and medicine. The challenges for entrepreneurs and business leaders today include finding better ways to build flexible, efficient organizations and processes to facilitate market innovation.
Nicole Bell
Chief Business Officer
Ms. Bell is an experienced executive in the electronics and diagnostics industries in roles ranging from science and engineering to business development and marketing. She has served as an executive in engineering and new product development for over ten years in young and growth-stage companies, including TransEnterix Surgical where she served as the Vice President of Research and Development, driving the development of the surgical robot from breadboard design to FDA submission in 3 years, propelling the company’s market cap to over $500M. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from MIT in Materials Science and Engineering as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University. Her best-selling and award-winning memoir, What Lurks in the Woods, vividly details her family’s experience with the devasting effects of undiagnosed tickborne infection in the hopes that others will learn from her successes and failures.
Edward Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Chief Scientific Officer and Cofounder
Dr. Breitschwerdt is an internist and professor of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He is a co-director of the Vector Borne Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, which has been testing animals for vector-borne infections since 1984. Importantly, Dr. Breitschwerdt’s research at the NCSU Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory has produced significant research findings concerning the medical importance of Bartonella and other emerging infectious disease pathogens in both animal and human health. With over 300 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Breitschwerdt is an internationally recognized leader in Bartonella research, diagnosis and treatment and has been consulted widely about an array of infectious diseases by many leading companies in the veterinary diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine industries. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to research and teaching, Dr. Breitschwerdt has received numbers awards, including the NCSU Holladay Medal for Excellence (2013), AAVMC Excellence in Research Award (2017), the AKC-CHF Canine Health Excellence Award (2018), the WSAVA Global One Health Award (2018), and the Melanie S. Steele Distinguished Professorship in Medicine (2018).
Ricardo Maggi, PhD
Chief Technical Officer and Cofounder
Dr. Maggi holds a doctorate in molecular biology and is an Associate Professor of Medical Microbiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University, where he directs research at the Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory. Dr. Maggi brings a diverse background in molecular biology and bacterial culture to Galaxy. He played an integral role in the development of our proprietary diagnostic technology, BAPGM, and leads molecular assay development and bacterial culture for the Galaxy R&D team.
B. Robert Mozayeni, MD
Medical Director
Dr Mozayeni is a board-certified internist in private practice in in Bethesda, Maryland where he specializes in the diagnosis and management of chronic inflammatory diseases having rheumatic and neurovascular manifestations. He was trained in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Yale and at NIH. He has had pre- and post-doctoral Fellowships in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, and also at NIH where he was a Howard Hughes Research Scholar at LMB/DCBD/NCI and later, Senior Staff Fellow at LMMB/NHLBI/NIH. He is an expert in Translational Medicine, the science and art of advancing medical science safely and efficiently. He is a Fellow of the non-profit Think Lead Innovate Foundation, a co-founder of the Foundation for the Study of Inflammatory Diseases, Past-President of ILADS. and Founder of Tlab which focuses on the development of imaging techniques for the study of infectious pathology in chronic illness.
Susan Orton, PhD
Laboratory Director
Dr Orton is the Manager of the Bioterrorism & Emerging Pathogen (BITEP) Unit at the NC State Laboratory of Public Health (NCSLPH). She brings over 20 years of high complexity laboratory testing experience, including eleven years of experience as a CLIA-qualified High Complexity Laboratory Director. Dr Orton holds a doctorate in immunology and a laboratory director certification from the American College of Microbiology (ACM) Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology.
Justin Alexander
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Alexander is a financial executive with almost twenty years of experience, including public accounting as an auditor with KPMG followed by 15 years in the private sector focusing on early-stage technology, life science, and service companies gaining valuable experience in the areas of product development, manufacturing, retail, clinical and service operations. He serves as fractional CFO to several small companies in addition to Galaxy Diagnostics. Mr. Alexander holds degrees in Accounting, Finance and East Asian Languages (Japanese) from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.