Element Biosciences Inc., developer of the Element AVITI System, a new and disruptive DNA sequencing platform, has appointed Mark Aitkenhead, PhD, as Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, Dr. Aitkenhead will build, guide and manage the customer-facing functions of the company, including sales, marketing, customer support and training. As a member of the executive leadership team, he will also develop and implement strategies for driving adoption of current and future products in the marketplace.
 
“The depth and breadth of Dr. Aitkenhead’s commercial expertise is impressive, and we are excited to have him join our leadership team,” said Molly He, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Element Biosciences. “Throughout his career, he has demonstrated that he can develop and lead high-growth, high-performing commercial teams, and under his leadership, Element will continue to bring transformative solutions to the market that will empower more scientists and accelerate genomic discoveries.”
 
Prior to joining the company, Dr. Aitkenhead worked in a variety of leadership positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific since 2003, including most recently, General Manager for Cellular Analysis Instrumentation and Global Commercial Leader for the Clinical Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Division. In the latter, he was accountable for the sales strategy and execution of the entire Ion Torrent NGS portfolio, a leading provider of clinical NGS instrumentation, assays and consumables in oncology, applied and research labs. During his tenure at Thermo Fisher, Dr. Aitkenhead also worked in technical and application support, field sales and global customer care strategy.
 
“I look forward to working with the team at Element to democratize access to genomics for the research and diagnostic markets with the recent launch of the AVITI™ System, a benchtop sequencer that offers an unrivaled combination of performance, cost and flexibility,” said Dr. Aitkenhead. “I am honored to be a part of a company that is disrupting next generation sequencing so researchers can expand the boundaries of science and have it all.”