PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 23andMe Research Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization, today announced two new members of its Board of Directors. Brad Margus and Stephen Quake, D.Phil., join the Board to provide strategic guidance focused on ensuring operations have the greatest possible impact for generations to come.
"With the addition of Brad and Stephen, our Board brings rich personal and professional experience in genetics, research, and nonprofit operations,” said Anne Wojcicki, Founder of the 23andMe Research Institute. "This group is uniquely suited to inform how we provide a robust and highly engaging experience for our members to explore their own DNA, and to ensure our dataset has the greatest possible impact on our understanding of human genetics and human health."
Brad Margus is founder and chairman of the A-T Children’s Project, a non-profit that funds research on a rare disease - ataxia telangiectasia or "A-T” - a disease that two of his sons have. A-T causes progressive loss of muscle control, immune deficiency, lung problems and cancer. Margus is also co-founder of Cerevance, a drug discovery company advancing treatments for brain diseases where he was CEO from inception until moving into the Board Chair role in 2022. The company's lead drug, Solengepras, is now in a phase three clinical trial for Parkinson’s Disease. In 2013, Margus started Genome Bridge, a non-profit subsidiary of the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, to build a computational platform for sharing genomic data. From 2009 to 2012, as co-founder and CEO of Envoy Therapeutics, Margus led the discovery of therapeutics for brain diseases and sold the company to Takeda Pharmaceuticals. From 2000 to 2007, Margus was co-founder and CEO of Perlegen Sciences, a leader in analyzing genetic variation. Margus has also served on the boards of several biotechnology companies, non-profit advocacy organizations and on National Institutes of Health advisory councils.
Stephen Quake, D.Phil., is the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University. Quake’s research has explored the nexus of biology, physics, and technology development. Among many other contributions, Quake developed the first single-molecule sequencing technology, which he used to sequence one of the first human genomes. He then began exploring other applications of genomics, which led him to become a pioneer of immune repertoire analysis, diagnostics, and the development of non-invasive tests for fetal aneuploidy, infectious disease and organ transplant rejection. Quake’s contributions to the development of new biotechnology at the interface between physics and biology have been widely recognized. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the Royal Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Physical Society.
Margus and Quake join 23andMe Research Institute founder, Anne Wojcicki; Professor in Residence of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, and endowed chair in Pediatric Research at UCSF, Dr. Janet Wojcicki, PhD, MPH; and CEO of Redwood Pacific Management, Stephen Magowan, J.D. on the Board of 23andMe Research Institute.
About 23andMe Research Institute
23andMe Research Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization that enables people everywhere to access their genetic information, learn about themselves and participate in the world's largest crowdsourced research initiative. The Institute aims to be the world's most significant contributor to scientific advancement, uniting people with the common goal of improving health and deepening our understanding of DNA — the code of life.
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