Ashley Van Zeeland

Dr. Ashley Van Zeeland has been driving innovative genomics research and development programs for more than 20 years and is currently Vice President, Strategy & Innovation at Thermo Fisher after holding various executive roles at Illumina spanning R&D, Corporate Development, Business Development, and Commercial.

Prior to joining Illumina, 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 that role, 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 a research assistant at UCLA.

Dr. Van Zeeland has received numerous business and science awards, including the BIOCOM Life Science Catalyst award and San Diego 500 Influential Business Leader awards in 2016, 2017, and 2020, and she serves in advisory and board roles with other companies. She received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles; an MBA from the University of California, San Diego – Rady School of Management, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado.