Our Dedicated Team

Prior to founding Elephas in 2020, Maneesh was CEO of Farcast Biosciences, a venture-backed cancer diagnostics company focused on improving treatment outcomes for cancer patients. Before joining Farcast, Maneesh served as Chief Operating Officer of Exact Sciences Corporation for ten years where he helped lead the growth of the company from 3 employees to over 3,000 at the end of his tenure there. Exact Sciences’ focus is the early detection and prevention of colon cancer. Exact’s lead product, Cologuard, was developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and is now widely available in the US as a front-line screening method for colorectal cancer, reimbursed by both Medicare and all major insurers. Prior to joining Exact, Maneesh worked for Third Wave Technologies, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, from 2003 until its acquisition by Hologic, Inc. in July 2008. Third Wave Technologies developed an HPV product for cervical cancer screening. During his time at Third Wave, he was responsible for business strategy and commercial operations before being promoted to Chief Financial Officer in January 2006.

Maneesh earned a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jon brings over 20 years of oncology R&D experience. Before launching Elephas, Jon was CSO of Farcast Biosciences. He previously worked as a consultant to early-stage biopharma companies, helping them to develop and implement effective strategies for advancing their drug pipelines. Prior to that, Jon was a member of the Amgen Oncology senior leadership team and both founded and led Amgen’s MDM2 inhibitor and angiopoietin inhibitor programs. These efforts produced Trebananib (formerly AMG 386), an angiopoietin inhibitor evaluated in phase 3 clinical trials, and Navtemadlin (formerly AMG 232), an MDM2 inhibitor currently being tested in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials across multiple tumor types.

Jon earned an MD/PhD from Johns Hopkins and did his graduate work in the lab of Dr. Bert Vogelstein, where he cloned the human MDM2 gene, discovered MDM2 amplification in human tumors, and demonstrated that MDM2 concealed the activation domain of p53. He performed his postdoctoral work with Dr. Robert Tjian at UC Berkeley, where he explored the molecular basis of transcriptional synergy using the SREBP and Sp1 proteins as model activators.

With over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, Terry joined Elephas in 2020. As the Chief Financial Officer, he leads Finance, Legal and Business Analytics. Prior to joining Elephas, Terry was CFO at Farcast Biosciences, a venture-backed cancer diagnostic company. Terry also served as CFO of Freedom Graphic Systems for seven years and was responsible for Accounting, Corporate Development, Estimating, Purchasing, Insurance and Legal. Freedom was the largest privately-owned manufacturer of direct mail in the country. Terry’s experience also includes serving as partner for a leading turnaround and management consulting firm, in addition to success in public accounting at KPMG.

Terry holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame as well as an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Erin Kaminsky currently serves as VP, Chief of Staff, and has held roles of increasing responsibility since the launch of Elephas in 2020. Previously, Erin held the role of Executive Business Partner for Farcast Biosciences, a venture-backed cancer diagnostic company.

Prior to her time with Farcast, Erin spent 8 years with Wolverine Worldwide, a global footwear manufacturer with a portfolio of owned and licensed brands. During her tenure, Erin led the merchandising and operational departments for multiple brands including Chaco, Merrell, and Cat Footwear. She was responsible for the product life cycle from assortment selection through shipment to the customer, managing teams accountable for demand planning, vendor and order management, promotional plans, and sales analysis. Erin was consistently recognized for operational excellence amongst Wolverine’s brands. Erin’s experience also includes multiple corporate retail roles focused on planning and allocation with companies such as Follett Higher Education Group, Hot Topic, and Meijer.

Erin graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business.

Tammy brings more than 20 years of industry experience in operations. She has led teams in manufacturing, quality control, validation and technical transfer, supply chain, distribution, warehouse and logistics, engineering, facilities, metrology, instrument production, technical services, and EHS. Prior to Elephas, Tammy was the VP, Operations at Exact Sciences where she oversaw and supported product lines including Cologuard, Oncotype Dx, Oncoguard Liver, LBGard, and other laboratory developed tests. Prior to her position at Exact Sciences Tammy was Site Leader and Director, Operations at ThermoFisher Scientific, formerly Life Technologies/Invitrogen, where she led the manufacturing of more than 500 life sciences products and established the SelectScreen Screening and Profiling Services. Tammy began her career in the pharmaceutical industry at Schering Plough Research Institute in the High Throughput Screening and Drug Discovery Division.

Tammy received her PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Ann brings more than 25 years of Quality and Regulatory Affairs experience in medical device, biopharmaceutical, and consumer product compliance to Elephas. Prior to joining Elephas in 2020, Ann held positions of increasing responsibility with Mueller Sports Medicine and Thermo Fisher Scientific, and successfully operated an independent consulting business for nearly 10 years. Major accomplishments included establishing a Quality Management System compliant to ISO 13485 and global medical device regulations, remediation and consent decree experience, gap audits, employee training programs, product formulation and supplier quality activities. More recently, Ann led large complex QARA readiness projects in response to changes in the European Union political and regulatory landscape.

Ann earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from Iowa State University, a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree in Quality Management from Upper Iowa University, and completed a professional certificate program in International Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs with Northeastern University. In addition, Ann is recognized by the American Society for Quality as a Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence.

Hinco brings over 25 years of experience in oncology and genomics, across academia and industry to Elephas. He previously was the VP of Product Development at Integra Connect, helping create and advance an enterprise analytical software suite tailored for clinicians and biopharma researchers. Before that, he was the Team Lead for the scientific software of Illumina's Precision Medicine Platform.

Hinco received his PhD in oncology & genomics at the University of Amsterdam and later pursued his postdoctoral research at Stanford University focused on whole genome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. Hinco’s contributions across academia and industry have resulted in over 25 scientific publications, 6,900 citations, and a patent.

Kristen brings more than 25 years of healthcare industry experience.  She has led high performing sales and marketing teams in both biopharmaceuticals and in vitro diagnostics.  Prior to Elephas, Kristen was Vice President, Marketing at Exact Sciences where she oversaw all marketing teams for Cologuard®.  Prior to her position at Exact Sciences Kristen was with Abbott Laboratories/AbbVie for over 20 years in sales and marketing roles across oncology and immunology.  For most of her career at AbbVie, Kristen was a leader on HUMIRA® having successfully launched numerous new indications across specialties including Rheumatology, Dermatology, and Gastroenterology. 

Kristen received her BBA from University of Wisconsin at Whitewater in Production Operations Management and an Executive Education Certificate from Kellogg for the Chief Marketing Officer Program.

Scott brings over 20 years of industry experience in R&D and IVD development. Previously he was the Senior VP of R&D for Exact Sciences, developing the next generation of Cologuard and their liquid biopsy platform. Prior to his position with Exact, he was VP of R&D for Luminex Corporation responsible for bringing multiple IVD platforms and assays to market. Scott also served as VP of Product Development for EraGen Biosciences developing novel molecular technologies and ultimately incorporating them into IVDs, leading to EraGen’s acquisition by Luminex.

Scott received his PhD in Cellular & Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BS in Biotechnology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Scott also has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Steve brings over 20 years of industry experience in information technology management, software development, and systems implementations.  Previously, he was the VP of IT Operations for Exact Sciences, delivering IT systems to support Cologuard, Oncotype DX, defining and executing the enterprise's IT strategy and managing day to day operations.  Prior to his position with Exact Sciences, he was the founder and Managing Director of Sampleminded, a software-as-a-solution provider of laboratory information systems serving the life sciences and clinical trials market.  Prior to Sampleminded, he founded a system integrator firm, called Helio, that specialized in delivering global ERP, supply chain solutions, and customer experience platforms.

Steve received his MBA, specializing in Management of Technology, from the University of Utah.