Leadership

CEO

Matt Beaudet

Matt Beaudet has over twenty years of dedicated service in the biotech field, marked by significant roles at Molecular Probes, Life Technologies, and as co-founder and CEO of InVivo Biosystems. Now as CEO of Araceli, Matt applies his deep expertise to advance biotechnological research and drug development platforms. His leadership is characterized by a pragmatic approach to innovative solutions and commitment to commercialization that meets real-world needs.

Outside the lab, Matt is a mentor to emerging tech startups, sharing his insights and experiences to nurture new talent in the biotech community. Holding a degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Oregon, he is passionate about leveraging science to improve health outcomes.

Vice President of Sales

Jonathan Day

Jonathan Day, with over 25 years of diverse executive commercial leadership experience in life sciences, previously made significant contributions at Fluidigm Corporation, Agena Bioscience, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, leading regional commercial teams impacting genomics, spatial biology, and clinical genetic testing sectors.

In his most recent role as the US General Manager at Nanolive Inc, he showcased his ability to enhance business operations and penetrate the cell imaging marketplace with AI-driven live-cell imaging solutions for pre-clinical drug discovery research in BioPharma and key academic centers.

Jonathan holds a Biology degree from San Diego State University and resides in Newburyport, MA, with his partner and 2 chocolate labradors.

In his personal time, he enjoys boating trips, tennis, Orange Theory Fitness, and evolving into a dangerous oenophile.

Chief Financial Officer

Shawn MacDonald

Shawn MacDonald brings over 25 years of experience in corporate finance. His background includes experience at companies in the Fortune 100, mid & small-cap companies as well as experience in startup companies. He brings a wealth of knowledge about industry best practices and processes to Araceli Biosciences. Much of his career has been in the semiconductor capital equipment industry in roles as finance director, investor relations and strategic finance. Previously, Mr. MacDonald was Senior Director of Finance at MKS Instruments. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Oregon. Mr. MacDonald is a native Oregonian who can be found spending time with his family and exploring the outdoors.
VP of Marketing

Don Weldon

Don has over 20 years of experience in life science product development and marketing. His multifaceted background spans fields such as genome editing, live cell RNA detection, flow cytometry, and live cell imaging. Don’s focus has always centered around cell analysis and helping pharmaceutical and Biotech groups find insights faster through novel approaches, effectively removing bottlenecks in the discovery process. Beyond his professional endeavors, he cherishes family time with his wife and two daughters, culinary exploration, and leisurely walks with his faithful corgi, Watson.
Vice President of Engineering

Scott Igl

Mr. Igl joined Phoseon in 2007, bringing over 20 years of experience in both established as well as start-up company environments with expertise in mechanical design. Mr. Igl has been awarded 14 patents covering fiber optic communications and high power lasers. Prior to joining Phoseon, Mr. Igl managed a multi-disciplinary, high-power laser diode product development team for nLight Corp. Previously, Mr. Igl worked for 3M Corporation where he managed fiber optic technology projects. Mr. Igl holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.

Sales

Business Development Manager

Kristin Halfpenny, PhD

Manager, Global Field Applications, Service and Support

Amanda Clement, PhD.

Amanda Clement is an experienced research scientist and field applications scientist. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, developing 3D in vitro culture models to study the impact of microtopography on cellular function. She also holds a BS in Engineering from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering where she was part of the inaugural graduating class and learned how to build something new while developing her technical skills. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys running, spending time with family and friends and curling up with a good book and the family rescue cats.
Business Development Manager

Michael Kuhnert

Fascinated by nature since very early days Michael studied Biology and Molecular Genetics with a focus on protein-DNA interactions but realized that his real talent lies in supporting other scientist to increase their success. Being in sales for more than 25 years since then he works with all kinds of researchers and sales teams to enable scientific organizations to focus on what they can do best: interpreting results to advance basic or clinical research and pharmaceutical progress. In his spare time Michael is dedicated to his family and enjoys tennis or golf.
Field Service Engineer

Adam Perry, PhD.

Adam has a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois where he built laser spectrometers to perform precision high-resolution spectroscopy on plasmas. Prior to joining Araceli his interest in lasers and all things optics took him into the world of selling and servicing femtosecond fiber lasers. Since then he has been working in the life sciences field; where he first gained experience in servicing microscopes used to make optically-based mass measurements of single protein molecules. Nowadays with Araceli he enjoys broadening his knowledge of high-throughput optical microscopy while also learning about the fascinating field of high content analysis.
Business Development Manager

Matthew McBrian, PhD.

Field Application Scientist and Service Engineer

Martin Theiss, PhD.

Martin earned his PhD in neuroscience from Heidelberg University focusing on imaging 2D and 3D neuronal cell cultures. After his PostDoc time he continued to apply his microscopy and experiment design expertise in the imaging and analysis capital equipment industry. Now, with 7 years of industry experience he supports customers across EMEAI and the in-house team at Araceli Bioscience as Field Application Scientist/Engineer. In his spare time he applies his scientific knowledge and Judo / HEMA molded determination to renovating an old house on a trajectory for zero emissions to make it a better place for his twin boys.
Business Development Manager

Jason Brenner

Marketing and Product Realization

Product Manager

Nasiema Wingate-Pearse

With over a decade of seasoned expertise in the field of Life Sciences, Nasiema brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Her career showcases a diverse background, spanning the entire product development life cycle. Nasiema's proficiency ranges from designing robust clinical trials to spearheading innovative product development, and she has played a pivotal role in advancing the fields of drug development, diagnostics, and drug discovery. Outside of her professional pursuits, Nasiema is an avid enthusiast of running, hiking and dragon boating.
Senior Product Manager

Dan James

With over 20 years’ experience in software product management and product marketing, Dan has worked with talented product teams to bring a range of emerging technologies to market. From developing and launching digital cameras during his time at Polaroid, to licensing video codecs and imaging and media streaming SDKs at Intel, his career fascination has been on imaging applications and technologies.

In his Product Management role at Digimarc, he led their development teams as they delivered products that realized the promise of digital watermarks, launching mobile scanning apps and SDKs, SaaS apps and APIs, and plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

When he’s not at work, you can find Dan cooking dinners for his family and friends, picking his guitar or hiking the trails of the Pacific Northwest.

Marketing Communications Specialist

Cristina Ortiz Mateos

With a passion for scientific research and communication, Cristina is enthusiastic about shaping messages that resonate with everyday scientists. With a proven record of driving campaigns to raise awareness of the urgently needed solutions in drug discovery, she loves bringing concepts from the benchtop to the corporate lobby. She has a BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and is pursuing an MSc in Business and Management. When she is not in the office, you can find her running, on the beach, or visiting new coffee shops.
Senior Graphic Designer

Jasmine Silver

Punctuated by a ceaseless curiosity for how things work, Jasmine Silver fits in wholeheartedly as the Senior Graphic Designer at Araceli Biosciences. With over 10 years of experience translating complex, technical products into clear, visual communication, Jasmine brings brands to life in the real world. Jasmine's breadth of skills include a specialty for taking projects full circle: from napkin sketch to finished piece, plus all the details in-between.

Scientific Applications

Assay Development Leader

Lydia Hernandez, PhD

Application Scientist

Matt Boisvert, PhD

As an Application Scientist, Matt leverages extensive microscopy experience, ranging from quantifying gene expression on hundreds of slides to live imaging brain activity in an awake mouse, to bring Endeavor to life with imaging, analysis, and new assays. With a PhD in neuroscience from UC San Diego and postdoctoral training at Oregon Health and Science University, he helped elucidate how a particular cell type in the brain changes with age and modeled the effects of a family of immune proteins in aging glial cells. When not analyzing and acquiring data, Matt can be found outdoors, running across ridgeways and snowfields, floating through canyons and estuaries, or maybe just relaxing in a hammock with a good book.
Theresa Thompson PhD. Application Scientist Araceli
Applications Scientist/Engineer

Theresa Thompson, PhD

Theresa holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California focused on site-specific recombination. Her postdoc at Children’s Hosp in LA focused on oncogenes. She has since worked both as a consultant and in industry. Theresa has over thirty patents from her work in nucleotide design, drug development and delivery, spectral analysis, UV decontamination, and imaging. She is currently an Applications Scientist at Araceli biosciences. In her copious spare time Theresa gardens, writes, and practices Nijuitsu.

AI and Data Science

Principal Systems Engineer

Kevin Ferguson

Kevin Ferguson brings decades of experience in innovative high tech development. Much of his career has been in the biotech, professional video and audio, AR/VR/holographic display and telecom industries. Some technical highlights include 44 issued patents with several more pending, designing one of the first commercially available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification devices, a Technical Emmy Award winning video quality assessment device utilizing a human vision perception model with unprecedented accuracy in predicting subjective ratings, and several other industry awards for product innovation. He holds engineering degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology and Oregon Health Science University. He also enjoys foraging wild plants for phytochemistry formulated nutritarian meals and medicine, and creating music: 18 albums for debone.com and live performances including as the music director for Portland Oregon's Playback Theater.
Senior Data Scientist

Timm Derrickson

Timm Derrickson is a data scientist with experience creating models in several fields from CPG replenishment to STR investment. At Araceli, he is focusing on the pragmatic application of neural networks and resource handling to our projects.
Senior Data Scientist

Victor Gehman, PhD.

Victor began his scientific career at the intersection of nuclear, particle, and astrophysics. He specialized in the search for rare events, such as forbidden nuclear decays, dark matter interactions, or neutrinos in novel radiation detectors deployed deep underground. This provided him with a broad foundation in hardware development, simulation, signal processing, optics, and statistics. He has since parlayed this experience into a research and development portfolio in the biotech industry. His work at Araceli is focused on efficiently extracting the maximum amount of information from microscopy data.

Engineering

Principal Design Engineer

Mike Bitsch

Software Engineer

Jackie Fabbi, PhD.

Senior Software Engineer

Gery Gross, PhD.

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Ron Peters

Ron's engineering background spans over 30 years of new product development in precision electro-mechanical and opto-mechanical design. He brings his semiconductor equipment and consumer electronics background into the world of biological imaging. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Software Engineering Manager

Sam Gerendasy

Software Development Engineer in Test

Ashika Rajagopal

Manufacturing Engineer

Matt Addington

Principal Product Designer

Joey Chakraborty

Joey Chakraborty is a product designer with over a decade of experience leading the design of elegant and meaningful solutions for complex and ambiguous problems. She is passionate about crafting user experiences for scientists and researchers that allow them to accelerate their discoveries. Joey holds a Master of Applied Science degree in Human Factors Engineering from the University of Toronto and Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. In her spare time, Joey enjoys making art, snowboarding, playing video games, and solving escape rooms.
Senior Optical and Research Engineer

Puck Ja, PhD

After finishing his post-doc work in digital signal processing, numerical EM field modeling for wave propagation phenomena, Dr. Ja has been working on optical sensing based on imaging and non-imaging technology, and develop sensing algorithm and machine vision technology to enhance sensing performance from the visible to long-wave infrared wavelengths over two decades via funding from NSF, NIST, and US military. Since joining Phoseon Life Science in 2017, he has been working on LED and laser-based illumination optics from deep-UV to visible wavelengths for the microscopy applications. In addition to the optics design, Dr. Ja is also interested in computational photography for innovated imaging technologies, imaging processing algorithm for enhanced performance, and computer vision programming to facilitate the automation of imaging applications.
Software Engineer

Swathi Shanbhag

Administration

Accounting and Human Resources Specialist

Tori Brown

Tori has over 3 years of experience working in human resources & accounting, specifically within the biotech industry. She has a passion for supporting company growth while being submersed in a scientific culture. From supporting staff members & finding creative solutions to assisting in financial processes, Tori is a great resource within Araceli. She has an AS in Psychology from Central Oregon Community College & Oregon State University. When she is away from the office, she is spending time with her family & dog or traveling.

Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Bill Cortelyou

With over two decades of experience in executive leadership, Mr. Cortelyou brings a wealth of knowledge to the board. His recent tenure as President and CEO of Phoseon Technology, a leading provider of UV LED curing solutions, underscores his expertise in technology-driven industries. Prior to Phoseon, he held significant roles including Senior Vice President of Operations at Integrated Device Technology, where he played a pivotal role in optimizing operational efficiency. Currently serving as a Board Member at CrayoNano, Inc., a private LED technology company, Mr. Cortelyou's strategic insights and operational acumen are invaluable assets to the board. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from San Francisco State University and an Associate of Arts degree in Physics from Foothill Community College.
Independent Board Member

Kirk Malloy, PhD.

Dr. Malloy's extensive experience in executive leadership positions within the life sciences industry reflects his deep understanding of market trends and strategic planning. With a career spanning over 25 years, he has held key roles at Illumina, Inc., Biosite Inc., and QIAGEN Inc., where he contributed to the growth and expansion of these leading companies. He was also founder and CEO of Verogen, Inc. which was sold to QIAGEN. Currently serving as the founder and principal at BioAdvisors, LLC, Dr. Malloy provides strategic consulting services to life science, molecular diagnostics, and genomics companies, driving innovation and market differentiation. He has served on several private and public boards including NanoString Technologies, Inc., DermTech, Inc., and Rapid Micro Biosystems, where he chairs the board. Dr. Malloy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Miami, as well as Master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Delaware.
CEO, Board Member

Matt Beaudet

Matt Beaudet has over twenty years of dedicated service in the biotech field, marked by significant roles at Molecular Probes, Life Technologies, and as co-founder and CEO of InVivo Biosystems. Now as CEO of Araceli, Matt applies his deep expertise to advance biotechnological research and drug development platforms. His leadership is characterized by a pragmatic approach to innovative solutions and commitment to commercialization that meets real-world needs.

Outside the lab, Matt is a mentor to emerging tech startups, sharing his insights and experiences to nurture new talent in the biotech community. Holding a degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Oregon, he is passionate about leveraging science to improve health outcomes.

Independent Board Member

J. William Freytag, PhD.

Dr. Freytag's distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry spans leadership roles at prominent companies, including his tenure as Chairman and CEO of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals and President of Myogen, Inc. A seasoned executive with a proven track record of driving business growth and innovation, he played instrumental roles in successful mergers and acquisitions within the pharmaceutical sector. Dr. Freytag's expertise in biochemistry, coupled with his strategic leadership skills, make him a valuable addition to the board. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Independent Board Member

Sam Raha, MBA

Mr. Raha's extensive experience in the life sciences and diagnostics industry spans three decades, marked by significant leadership roles at prominent companies. As the Chief Operating Officer of Myriad Genetics, he is accountable for improving the patient and provider experience and driving profitable growth through product innovations and operational excellence.

Prior to joining Myriad, Mr. Raha served as the president of Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics Group, with overall responsibility for the group’s strategy, business and financial results. His tenure at Illumina as Vice President of Global Marketing further underscores his expertise in developing and commercializing innovative products in the life sciences market. Mr. Raha holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Santa Clara University and an undergraduate degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Independent Board Member

Kevin Gabelein, JD

With over two decades of experience in venture capital and investment management, Mr. Gabelein brings a depth of financial expertise to the board. As a Managing Director at Fluke Venture Partners, he has led numerous successful investments in technology-driven companies, including the Series B investment in Phoseon Technology. Mr. Gabelein's strategic insights and keen understanding of market dynamics contribute to informed decision-making and growth strategies. In addition to his role at Fluke Venture Partners, he serves on the Boards of MSNW Group, LLC, and Thermal Hydra Plastics LLC. Mr. Gabelein earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
Independent Board Member

Sean O'Neill

Mr. O'Neill's entrepreneurial background and extensive experience in technology-driven industries make him a valuable asset to the board. As a private investor, he has demonstrated a keen ability to identify and support innovative ventures, including his involvement in Phoseon Technology, which culminated in a successful exit with its sale to Excelitas Technologies. His leadership experience at the Machine Vision Centre at Trinity College Dublin and subsequent acquisition of MV Technology Ltd. by Agilent Technology Inc. further attest to his strategic vision and business acumen. Mr. O'Neill holds a Master of Engineering degree in electronic systems design and a Bachelor of Science degree in electronic systems design from the University of Limerick.
Independent Board Member

Bruce Rhine, MBA

With a career spanning over two decades in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, Mr. Rhine brings a wealth of expertise in product marketing, business development, and senior management to the board. His leadership roles at ONTO Innovation and Asyst Technologies, coupled with his experience as a founder of semiconductor capital equipment companies, demonstrate his entrepreneurial spirit and strategic vision. Additionally, Mr. Rhine's role as the Board Chair of Columbia Nutritional highlights his commitment to driving growth and innovation across diverse industries. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, where he graduated with honors.