Our Mission Starts Here
Our culture of innovation, excellence, and leadership starts with our executive team and is embodied by every member of our company.
Meet our Leadership Team
Arul M. Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
Founder
Arul M. Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
Founder
With a focus on improving prostate cancer screening, Arul M. Chinnaiyan founded LynxDx. Dr. Chinnaiyan is a S.P. Hicks Professor of Pathology and Urology at Michigan Medicine and serves as the inaugural Director at the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology. Most recently, he was awarded the 2022 Sjöberg Prize for his discovery of TMPRSS2:ERG, the fusion gene responsible for more than half of all prostate cancer cases, and has received numerous other awards for his research.
Steve Riggs, MBA
President
Steve Riggs, MBA
President
Steve Riggs is the President of LynxDx. Mr. Riggs is a highly accomplished, results-oriented executive leader with decades of experience directing financial and administrative operations. He has a proven track record of consistently identifying complex business issues and implementing successful solutions to improve patient outcomes and experience.
Spencer Heaton, MD, MBA
Chief Medical and Commercial Officer
Spencer Heaton, MD, MBA
Chief Medical and Commercial Officer
Spencer Heaton is the Chief Medical and Commercial Officer of LynxDx. Dr. Heaton is a physician executive with decades of experience in healthcare delivery, healthcare technology services, and medical research. Dr. Heaton has an established reputation for using new technologies to create outcome improvements in medical device surveillance and pharmacovigilance.
Matt Martin, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Matt Martin, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Matt Martin serves as both the Chief Financial Officer of LynxDx and the Founder and President of CFO Group. He’s assisted organizations with all aspects of finance, operating and accounting issues, providing or supplementing expertise or assisting during peak periods. He has taken over operational focus for clients, and has experience implementing and operating various systems. Matt has deep experience in strategy, M&A, investor relations, and capital management.
Jeff Crays, MS
Chief Technology Officer
Jeff Crays, MS
Chief Technology Officer
Jeff Crays is the Chief Technology Officer of LynxDx. In this role, Mr. Crays leads technology strategies, leveraging twenty years of experience with emerging technology and business strategy. His focus has been on improving the quality of the organization’s processes, products, services, and software. Mr. Crays is an exceptional leader with an established reputation for transforming organizations into customer-facing partners and raising collaboration and trust levels while executing the long-term vision of technology investments.
John Kitchen, PhD, HCLD
Medical Director
John Kitchen, PhD, HCLD
Medical Director
Dr. John Kitchen is the Medical Director of LynxDx and oversees the overall operation and administration of the laboratory. Dr. Kitchen led the laboratory’s successful application to obtain CLIA and CAP accreditation and is responsible for ensuring that accreditation is maintained. He is instrumental in developing the validation and commercialization of new tests for LynxDx. Dr. Kitchen has a passion for guiding laboratory personnel and ensuring the accuracy of laboratory testing.
Jack Atchason
Vice President, Sales
Jack Atchason
Vice President, Sales
Jack brings over 30 years of successful experience in sales, sales leadership, and commercial operations, with large and small pharma/biotech/molecular diagnostic organizations in the US in urology, oncology, infectious diseases, and antivirals. A proven leader, Jack held diverse commercial roles of increasing responsibility for Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, Cytogen, Idenix, Millennium, and Targanta in the pharma/biotech industry. Most recently, Jack served as the Senior Vice President of Sales at Pacific Edge Diagnostics USA, Ltd. leading to key milestone achievements including commercial sales volumes totaling tens of thousands per annum, Medicare Coverage, and a commercial contract with Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Jack enjoys travel, golf, cars, and working in high performing teams who are making a difference for patients.
Brendan Tarrier
Vice President, Research and Development
Brendan Tarrier
Vice President, Research and Development
Brendan Tarrier is a seasoned life sciences professional with experience in industry, academia, pharma, and clinical diagnostic environments. Mr. Tarrier has extensive knowledge of diagnostic tools, including next-generation sequencing, qPCR, immunoassays, and high-throughput laboratory automation technologies enabling development of high-complexity laboratory tests. He has served in multiple leadership roles leveraging this experience to coordinate and accomplish goals across diverse functional groups.
Rebecca Throop, MBA
Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations
Rebecca Throop, MBA
Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations
Rebecca Throop has over 25 years of marketing strategy experience in the healthcare and wellness industries for organizations from startups and national companies to nonprofits. Over the last 10 years, she’s primarily worked in healthtech early-stage companies, navigating demands of early market entry, strategic planning, and marketing operations required for growth. She is a board member of two nonprofits focused on working with those struggling with the disease of addiction. A TED talk speaker on the topic, she devotes a large amount of personal time assisting in this area.
Shawn Wheeler
Vice President, Market Access
Shawn Wheeler
Vice President, Market Access
Shawn Wheeler joins LynxDx from a decade-long progressive career at Exact Sciences, Inc., most recently as a National Accounts Manager, Commercial Markets. He is a pharmacist by clinical training and brings over 25 years of experience (sales/medical affairs/market access) in the pharmaceutical/molecular diagnostic industry with proven results across disease states. Mr. Wheeler has a true passion to assist LynxDx with improving the care of cancer patients.