David D. Halbert

Chairman and CEO

David D. Halbert is the founder and Chairman of Caris, Ltd., a privately-held investment partnership with over $350 million of assets under management. Caris is focused on making long-term, strategic investments in a variety of industries, including health care, energy and financial services. Caris is based in Irving, Texas.

Prior to Caris, Mr. Halbert was chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of AdvancePCS, the nation's leading independent health improvement company. Mr. Halbert founded AdvancePCS in 1987 and successfully guided the firm from a small, privately owned company into a Fortune 500 corporation that became the largest provider of pharmacy benefit management services in the nation. AdvancePCS grew into a leadership position in the industry with its health improvement offerings, which helped AdvancePCS clients and their members improve quality of care while lowering health care costs. AdvancePCS served more than 75 million people - one in every four Americans - and managed 600 million prescription transactions annually, representing approximately $28 billion in drug expenditures.

Under Mr. Halbert's direction, AdvancePCS recorded 38 consecutive quarters of record earnings with a compound annual earnings growth rate of 84% for the five years prior to the merger. While the company continually innovated to meet emerging client needs, Halbert supplemented its internal development with eleven strategic acquisitions. In March 2004, AdvancePCS consummated its $7.4 billion merger with CaremarkRx, generating a 36% premium to AdvancePCS shareholders.

Mr. Halbert brings to his current position more than 25 years of management experience in the energy, financial and health care industries. Before AdvancePCS, he founded Halbert & Associates Inc., an investment company that both formed and financed a number of projects and companies in the banking, real estate, energy and health care fields.

George Poste, D.V.M., Ph.D, D.Sc., F.R.S.

Vice Chairman

Dr. Poste is Director of The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. This is a major new initiative combining research groups in biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials science, advanced computing and neuromorphic engineering. In addition to his academic post he serves as Chairman of Orchid Cellmark, the leading company in DNA forensic analysis, and serves on the Board of Directors of Caris Diagnostics, Monsanto, Exelixis and the Molecular Profiling Institute. From 1992 to 1999 he was Chief Science and Technology Officer and President, R&D of SmithKline Beecham (SB). During his tenure at SB he was associated with the successful registration of 31 drug, vaccine and diagnostic products. He has published over 350 scientific papers and co-edited 14 books on cancer, drug delivery and health policy. He has received honorary degrees in Science and Law for his research contributions and was awarded the rank of Commander of the British Empire by HM Queen Elizabeth II for his services to international health. In 2004 he was named as ‘R&D Scientist of the Year’ by R&D Magazine.

He is a Board Certified Pathologist, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the UK Academy of Medicine, a Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Defense Science Board of the US Department of Defense and has served a number of National Academy panels related to national security. He also serves as a member of the Forum on Microbial Threats of the Institute of Medicine Board on Global Health.

Laurie Johansen

Vice Chairman

Laurie Johansen is a Managing Director of Caris, Ltd., a privately-held investment partnership with over $350 million of assets under management. Caris is focused on making long-term, strategic investments in a variety of industries, including health care, energy and financial services. Caris is based in Irving, Texas.

Prior to Caris, Ms. Johansen served for nine years as a member of the executive management team of AdvancePCS, the nation's leading independent health improvement company. From 2001 through 2004, she was the senior vice president, corporate secretary of AdvancePCS where she worked with David Halbert, chairman of the board, on matters relating to the Board of Directors of AdvancePCS. In addition, she was responsible for securities regulatory compliance, including Sarbanes-Oxley initiatives, and the legal aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Prior to becoming corporate secretary, Ms. Johansen served as senior vice president, office of the CEO, as well as general counsel at AdvancePCS.

Before joining AdvancePCS, Ms. Johansen worked in the corporate and securities group of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld for five years. She focused on mergers and acquisitions, public equity and debt financing, and general corporate legal and compliance services.

Ms. Johansen earned her business administration degree as well as her law degree from The University of Texas.

Russell O. Farr

Senior Vice President, General Counsel

Mr. Farr joined Caris Diagnostics in June of 2006. He is responsible for overseeing and managing all of the company's legal and compliance concerns. Prior to joining our team, Mr. Farr was Vice President Legal Services and Managing Counsel for CareMark in Scottsdale, AZ. He was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for AdvancePCS from 1999-2004. Early in his career, Mr. Farr held various Associate positions, with experience in real estate, corporate, financial, and bankruptcy law. Mr. Farr earned his BS (Accounting) and JD from Brigham Young University. While working towards his JD, Russell was also the Lead Articles Editor for the BYU Law Review.

Michael J. Guidotti

Senior Vice President, Group Head, Caris Dx Oncology

Mr. Guidotti is responsible for providing executive leadership for the Caris Dx Oncology Franchise, as Senior Vice President, Group Head, Caris Dx Oncology. His responsibility spans the Target molecular profiling franchise as well as the Hematopathology business segments. Mr. Guidotti previously served Caris Diagnostics in several capacities since joining the organization in 2005 as Senior Vice President, Strategic Development and subsequently acquired responsibility for leading the Caris Diagnostics Marketing, Product Development and Corporate Alliances teams. Mr. Guidotti assumed responsibility for the Caris MPI Pharmaceutical Services division in the spring of 2008. Charged with leveraging the organization’s translational medicine expertise to drive custom biomarker discovery and assay development, in partnership with industry, to facilitate companion diagnostic development and commercialization. Mr. Guidotti brings 28 years of healthcare industry experience to Caris Diagnostics. Previously he served as Senior Vice President, Manufacturer Contracting, Client Support and Strategic Alliances at Caremark Rx, Inc. and Advance PCS. Mr. Guidotti began his career with Bristol-Myers Squibb enjoying 19 years of progressive advancement through senior positions in Field Sales Management, National Accounts Management, Marketing Operations and Managed Care.

Christine D. Kuslich, Ph.D

Senior Vice President, Group Head, Research & Molecular Diagnostics

Dr. Kuslich joined the Caris Dx scientific team in May of 2006 (formerly MPI), where she currently leads the Research and Development division of Caris Dx as well as oversees the Molecular Diagnostic laboratory.  Her division is focused on the development of noninvasive biomarker capture technologies to identify and predict diseases, like cancer, earlier in development.  In addition, she and her team develop new molecular assays for Caris Dx and our pharmaceutical partners. Prior to her position at Caris Dx, Dr. Kuslich led efforts to develop prognostic bioinformatic algorithms to predict deleterious de novo mutations as well as directing a development team focused on a therapeutic breast cancer vaccine at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.  Dr. Kuslich served in leadership roles in clinical molecular diagnostic laboratories in Washington and Hawaii where she was responsible for developing and overseeing numerous proprietary clinical assays. Over the years her research has focused on a diverse array of disease-related issues including: epigenetic modification, imprinting, and the development of novel fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques in Hawaii.  At the University of Washington her research concentrated on complex mRNA splicing mechanics including describing the process of ordered intron removal and its influence on disease severity.

Richard H. Lash, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer and Group Head, Medical Practice

Dr. Lash joined Caris Diagnostics in August of 2006, and has over 25 years of experience in GI and surgical pathology. Prior to joining Caris Diagnostics, Dr. Lash served as Co-Director of the AmeriPath Institute of Gastrointestinal Pathology and Digestive Disease, as well as Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He is currently Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center. He earned his BS degree, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, at the University of Michigan, where he received his M.D. degree and membership in Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society in his third year. He was a resident and clinical associate at the Cleveland Clinic, where he received subspecialty training in GI pathology.  Dr. Lash continues to pursue academic interests, including publishing research and book chapters and training of residents and fellows. Dr. Lash is board-certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and is a member of American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), Roger C. Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society (USCAP), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Stephen J. McMindes

Senior Vice President, Group Head, Anatomic Pathology

Steve McMindes leads the Caris Diagnostics Anatomic Pathology Group, focusing the integration of all facets of the organization on what specifically differentiates Caris’ anatomic subspecialties: the commitment to providing the highest quality diagnostic offering in the marketplace.  Mr. McMindes also directs our innovative Client Service and Information Technology platforms, which encompass both proprietary solutions and unique strategic business alliances with industry-leading partners. Steve joined the company in 2005 bringing expertise he gained over 25 years in healthcare-industry leadership roles.  Prior to joining Caris, Mr. McMindes was Vice President of Pharmaceutical Services for Advance PCS and Caremark Rx, where he led the sales team and integration efforts that combined product offerings during a merger of two of the largest PBM's in the United States.  Before Caremark, Mr. McMindes held a variety of executive positions leading teams responsible for executing strategic initiatives in sales, marketing, service, and technology for Premier, Inc., Imagyn Medical Technologies, Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, Scimed Life Systems, and Baxter Healthcare.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and Biology from West Texas State University.  Steve is a Registered Nurse, CNOR, and served as a Captain in the United States Army.

Marilyn Owens, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President of Operations

Dr. Owens is Senior Vice President of Operations, where she is responsible for laboratory development and operations.  Throughout her 30 year career in the lab industry, she has established and managed 13 laboratories over a broad range of scientific specialties and integrated four acquisitions. Dr. Owens has previously served as Senior Vice President of Laboratory and Operations at IMPATH and Vice President of Technology and Development after IMPATH was acquired by Genzyme Genetics.  Dr. Owens also served in various leadership roles at Chiron Vaccines and Therapeutics (Novartis), Cytometry Associates (Esoterix, LabCorp) and Nichols Institute (Quest Diagnostics).  Dr. Owens earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Microbiology from California State University, Long Beach, a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology (with emphasis in tumor immunology) from U.C.L.A., and an M.B.A. in strategy and management from Pepperdine University.

Alan Wright, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Vice President of Strategy

Dr. Wright is the Senior Vice President of Strategy for Caris Diagnostics. Previously, he served as the Vice President for Product Strategy and Business Development for Resolution Health, a privately held analytics and intervention company serving the managed care market place. Until 2005, Dr. Wright has served as chairman and CEO of Star Pharmaceuticals, a generic pharmaceutical company he founded in 2002, serving the needs of the urological community. Previously, Dr. Wright was also Senior Vice President and Chief Science Officer of Caremark and prior to that, Dr. Wright was Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for AdvancePCS.  Following his bachelor of science, magna cum laude graduation at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Wright received his medical doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency in internal medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia.  While at Temple he served as Chief Medical Resident from 1985 to 1986 and then went on to complete his master of public health degree at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Wright serves as the chairman of the URAC clinical guideline committee for PBMs and is a member of several journal editorial boards.  He is a member of the American Medical Association and American College of Physicians. He is also certified as a diplomat to the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Susan Bailey

Vice President of Oncology Product Development and Management

Ms. Bailey joined Caris Diagnostics in March of 2008 as Vice President of Oncology Product Development and Management.  Her background includes over 18 years in marketing of esoteric tests and oncology services, as well as sales and sales management.  In 2003 she was named Vice President of Marketing for Genoptix, Inc, where she served until her arrival at Caris Diagnostics.  Previously, she was Vice President of Marketing for IMPATH, Inc. a national provider of anatomic pathology services.  In addition to positions with Nichols Institute, where she began her career, she has also held roles with successive levels of responsibility with Focus Technologies, Inc. and Specialty Laboratories, Inc.  Ms. Bailey received a B.A. with honors in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State University.

Joe Ellison

Vice President of Human Resources

Mr. Ellison joined Caris Diagnostics in April 2007 to serve as the Vice President of Human Resources. He brings over fifteen years of broad based Human Resources leadership experience to our company from various progressive and industry-leading public companies. In particular, he brings an expertise in talent planning and acquisition, people, culture and organizational development, and employee communications. Joe brings a solid reputation of partnering with leaders and employees to align and execute talent optimization strategies and systems to meet evolving and unique business demands. He has led large, nationwide teams of HR professionals in a variety of business settings, and has done so most recently in health care at Caremark Rx, Inc. In addition to his MBA in Management, Joe is SPHR certified in the field of Human Resource Management and received his undergraduate degree in Business with specialized study in Human Resources from the University of North Texas