Michael L. Metzker, Ph.D. – Founder, President, and CEO
Dr. Metzker has 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, as well as with leading academic institutions. He is currently an Associate Professor of Molecular & Human Genetics at the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Chemistry at Rice University.
Dr. Metzker has served as an expert witness for several criminal cases involving HIV-transmission, presenting a breakthrough method of phylogenetic analysis of HIV-1 DNA sequences, which resulted in multiple convictions. He has also served as an expert witness for several law suits related to infringement and interference in the NGS field. During his career, he has held senior-level research positions with Merck Research Laboratories and Applied Biosystems (now Life Technologies). He received his Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, has published over 40 research papers in leading scientific journals, authored numerous book chapters, and obtained multiple patents.
Dr. Metzker’s combination of strong academic and industrial experience provides LaserGen with proven scientific skills and a credible connection to the target customer base.
David Hertzog, Ph.D. – Vice President, Business Development
Dr. Hertzog joined LaserGen in 2008. From 2006-2008, David was a senior associate at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, leading projects and managing client teams for several Fortune 500 companies in technology program planning, growth strategy, and product portfolio assessments. From 2001-2006, Dr. Hertzog developed microfluidic technologies for bioassay applications in the Biosecurity and Nanosciences Lab at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY (1999) and his M.S. (2001) and Ph.D. (2006) from Stanford University in Stanford, CA.