Management Team
Lorraine Meisner, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Lorraine Meisner is Emerita Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) in both the Population Health Sciences and Pathology Departments at the Medical School. She served as director of the Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory at UW-Madison and the State of Wisconsin Lab of Hygiene for more than 30 years, and has been a faculty member at UW-Madison since 1968.
Dr. Meisner directed the chromosomal studies of the first embryonic stem cell lines, famously derived by Dr. James Thomson in 1998, and has characterized more than 6,000 stem cell samples. In addition to teaching and serving as the Director of the Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory, Dr. Meisner has extensively researched genetic and cell damage, focusing on the development of various forms of cancer. Dr. Meisner has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications in genetics, cancer and skin disease. Dr. Meisner is board-certified in cytogenetics and a founding member of The American College of Medical Genetics. Dr. Meisner holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Chicago.
Roberto “Rob” Herrera. M.Sc.
President/Chief Business Officer
Mr. Roberto Herrera has over 20 years of corporate and start-up experience, excelling in the early-stage development of information technology and biotechnology ventures. After starting his career with Bell Laboratories’ Technology Transfer Division, Mr. Herrera held technology management positions at Salomon/Smith Barney and Montgomery Securities, leading to his appointment as Senior Vice President of Bank of America's Global Fixed Income Technology and Operations group. Mr. Herrera later served as consultant for Catapulse, Inc1. and VP of Operations for Capstan Systems, Inc2.
Mr. Herrera is currently a director of Bioderm, Inc., moderator of the popular Linked-In Stem Cell Research Group and an active member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s Standards and Technology Committee. Rob holds a M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Julie Johnson, M.Sc.
Director – Laboratory Operations
Ms. Julie Johnson has over 25 years of experience as a cytogenetic technologist and laboratory supervisor in both academic and commercial settings. Her expertise lies in human and non-human cytogenetics, FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) technology, DNA fingerprinting, and method development.
Julie has been a contributing author on numerous peer reviewed journal articles on the topic of embryonic stem cells and is a regular speaker and instructor at the hES training workshops and symposiums at the WiCell Research Institute, Madison, Wis., and the University of Georgia, in Athens, Ga. A certified clinical specialist in cytogenetics, Ms. Johnson holds a Master's degree in Cytogenetics from The George Washington University.
Jason Walling, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist - Research and Development
Dr. Jason Walling has over 15 years of experience in Molecular Biology, Genomics and Cytogenetics. Dr. Walling has contributed to over 20 peer-reviewed articles, several of which were published in the journals BMC Genomics, Genome Research, Genetics, and Chromosome Research. Dr. Walling has also authored several book chapters on the subject of molecular cytogenetics.
Robert Margolin, M.B.S, M.B.A.
Director, Marketing
Mr. Robert Margolin is a seasoned marketing professional, well known within the stem cell and regenerative medicine field. Prior to joining Cell Line Genetics, Robert served as Associate Director of the Genetics Policy Institute, the stem cell market’s leading advocacy organization. He organized the World Stem Cell Summit, the flagship international event of the stem cell community, from 2008 to 2010, published three corresponding World Stem Cell Reports and managed GPI’s strategic initiatives. Prior to that Mr. Margolin performed stem cell and personalized medicine market research and business development efforts for Burrill & Company. Mr. Margolin holds a Masters of Biomedical Science with a concentration in stem cell biology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and an MBA from Rutgers University.
Board of Directors
William “Bill” Checovich, Ph.D
Dr. William Checovich, brings an exceptional level of product development and operational expertise to Cell Line Genetics. Before joining the company as a resident executive, Bill served as Chief Executive Officer for Caden Biosciences, Director of Operations of Drug Discovery Solutions for Invitrogen and Director of Manufacturing / Protein Sciences for Panvera, LLC 3. Dr. Checovich holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He is directors at Neurogenomex and is active in mentoring and community service in Madison.
Neal Sandy, M.B.A.
Mr. Neal Sandy brings extensive program management, marketing, product development, international relations and business development experience to the Cell Line Genetics Board. Mr. Sandy has more than 19 years in global business experience in product development, strategic marketing and operations. He is currently Chief Marketing Officer at GE Healthcare's Life Support Solutions and was previously Chief Operating Officer at Cellectar, Inc. Prior to joining GE in 2003, Mr. Sandy spent six years at Datex-Ohmeda and six at Nicolet Biomedical, with primary responsibilities in global new product development, product management and strategic marketing.
Scientific Advisory Board
Rick Cohen, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Rick Cohen directs the Core Facility at the Rutgers' Stem Cell Research Center where he established a renowned stem cell training program and was instrumental in deriving New Jersey's first human embryonic stem cell lines. He completed his post-doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, while working at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Cohen has been honored with numerous awards for his work and scientific achievements.
"Our lab has relied on Cell Line Genetics for stem cell characterization, authentication and custom services for over 3 years. CLG has consistently provided the level of service, expertise and turnaround our research efforts demand.
Cell Line's characterization and detection of polymorphisms of our non-human primate induced pluripotent stem cell lines (iPSC) was an important part of our research effort.
We value our relationship with CLG and look forward to our continued partnership."
- Fred H. Gage, Ph.D.