Haystack Oncology

Who we are

The Founders

Powered by pioneers in liquid biopsy

Haystack Oncology is based on over 20 years of liquid biopsy technology and clinical development led by the scientists specialized in cancer genomics who first envisioned non-invasive cancer screening, MRD detection, and advanced disease therapy monitoring. Their discoveries have positively affected millions of lives, and companies that employ their technology have generated billions of dollars in enterprise value.

Scientific Founders

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Kenneth Kinzler, Ph.D.

Director, Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins University Professor of Oncology
Dr. Kinzler received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicince and is now the co-director of the Ludwig Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center... Learn more
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Nick Papadopoulos, Ph.D.

Professor of Oncology
Dr. Papadopoulos is a professor of oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses in translating the genetic information derived from cancer... Learn more

Leadership

Dan Edelstein Chief Executive Officer
Dan Edelstein is President and Chief Executive Officer at Haystack Oncology. Dan has over 15 years for liquid biopsy clinical development and commercialization experience. He was previously part of the team at Johns Hopkins that pioneered the use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to detect and track the progression of cancer...
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Mitchell Chan Chief Financial Officer (acting)
Mitchell Chan currently serves as an Operating Partner at Catalio Capital Management, LP. and is the acting Chief Financial Officer at Haystack Oncology. Prior to joining Catalio, Mitch was the Chief Financial Officer at Viela Bio (NASDAQ: VIE), where he successfully raised over $750 million, including an initial public offering in 2019, and in 2021, a merger transaction...
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Jared Snider, Ph.D. Director of Marketing
Jared comes to Haystack with the scientific background from a decade of cancer research combined with life science marketing expertise from over a decade in large biotech and small diagnostic startup marketing roles. Jared also co-founded Samba Scientific, a life science marketing agency serving genomic and...
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Frank Holtrup, Ph.D. Chief Technology Officer
Frank brings an extensive background in cancer functional genomics and diagnostic assay development to the team of Haystack Oncology, including more than a decade of experience in the liquid biopsy field. Prior to joining Haystack, Frank served in various operations and R&D leadership roles at Inostics and as Chief Scientific Officer...
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Hillary Sloane, Ph.D. Associate Director, Medical Affairs
Hillary is the Associate Director of Medical Affairs at Haystack Oncology, where she provides key clinical strategy support and primary oversight of the clinical development program. She engages closely with the medical community to establish and execute clinical development initiatives that specifically address current and...
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Robert Querfurth, Ph.D. Director of Technology Development
Robert brings an extensive background in molecular genetics and regulated assay development to the team of Haystack Oncology, including more than a decade of experience in the liquid biopsy field. Prior to joining Haystack, Robert served in various technical operations and R&D leadership roles at (Sysmex)-Inostics...
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Matt Ryder Head of Clinical Diagnostic Development
Matt heads up diagnostic development at Haystack and has over a decade of experience in clinical genomics, including purpose-designed liquid biopsy testing, hereditary risk determination, and development and approval of novel companion diagnostics. At Haystack, he bridges our Research & Development Center...
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Hannah Quinn Director of Laboratory Operations
Hannah Quinn serves as Director of Laboratory Operations at Haystack Oncology. Prior to joining Haystack, Hannah worked at Sysmex-Inostics where she was responsible for clinical laboratory operations, assay implementation, and study management. Before this, Hannah worked for a clinical sequencing laboratory at Johns Hopkins...
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Daniel Mehnert Director of Bioinformatics
Daniel Mehnert leads the bioinformatics department at Haystack Oncology, bringing an extensive background in cancer-related bioinformatics and long-running experience with NGS data analyis in the field of liquid biopies to the team of Haystack Oncology. Prior to joining Haystack, Daniel helped establish several liquid biopsy NGS products by leading the bioinformatics efforts...
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Clinical Scientific Advisors

Haystack Oncology’s clinical advisory board brings a diversity of thought leadership among oncology experts, and is foundational to our mission of providing better MRD testing for better patient outcomes.

Chetan Bettegowda, MD, Ph.D​.

Jennison-Novak Families Endowed Professor | Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology | Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery | Director, Rheza Khatib Brain Tumor Center | Director, Physician Scientist Training Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Medical Director, Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics Director, Meningioma and Metastatic Brain Tumor Centers | Co-Director, Trigeminal Neuralgia Center

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Al Benson​, MD

Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, Northwestern University | Executive committee member, NCCN Board of Directors | Member, NCCN Foundation Board of Directors | Deputy Chair for Policy and Implementation, ECOG-ACRIN Research Group | Chair, NCCN Hepatobiliary Guidelines Panel | Chair, NCCN Colon, Rectal and Anal Guidelines Panel | Member, NCCN Pancreatic Cancer and Neuroendocrine Panels

Northwestern University​

Nilofer Saba Azad​, MD

Professor of Oncology | Co-Director, Developmental Therapeutics Program/Phase I Program | Co-Leader, Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics | Member, NCCN Guidelines Panel, Colon Cancer

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Nishant Agrawal​, MD

Professor of Surgery​ | Chief of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery | Co-Director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology

University of Chicago​

Afsaneh Barzi​, MD, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research​ | Vice President, Quality and Value

City of Hope​/AcessHope

Peter Gibbs​, MD

Professor of Medicine​

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Jeanne Tie​, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine​

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Patrick Boland​, MD

Assistant Professor, Medical Oncology​

Rutgers Cancer Institute​

Josh Cohen, MD, Ph.D

Technology Innovation

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Our Investors

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