Meet our team

Vince Aoki, PhD

CLIA Lab Director
  • Has family from Japan of Samurai descent!
  • Washington State Public Health Laboratories, VACC laboratories, Lynx Healthcare
  • University of Utah, University of Puget Sound

Madison Baird, PhD

Senior Scientist
  • Sand volleyball and bike camping enthusiast
  • Cajal Therapeutics
  • Washington University, University of Washington

Kurt Becker

Chief Legal Officer
  • Was once an usher at Wrigley Field!
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Jeri Beltman, PhD

Acting Director, Regulatory Affairs
  • Is an avid homebrewer and home wine maker for over 30 years.
  • Clovis Oncology, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Chiron, Roche Diagnostics
  • Stanford University, University of Washington, University of Colorado

Gil Block, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer
  • Lived and completed research at Palmer Station, Antarctica!
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David Burnett

IT Consultant
  • Played drums for the band that opened the movie Duplicity.
  • BITS Consulting

Lizzy Canarie, PhD

Scientist
  • Keeps planted aquariums.
  • Aptevo Therapeutics
  • University of Washington, Arizona State University

Amy Chen

Special Projects Manager
  • Loves detective novels and is an aspiring P.I.
  • Bertis Bioscience, IntuitiveX, Verily
  • University of Washington, University of California-Berkeley

Albert Choi

Senior Manager
  • Is a whisky sommelier and collector!
  • IntuitiveX, Accenture
  • Boston University, Vanderbilt University

Jennifer Cockerill

Associate Scientist
  • Has grapheme-color synesthesia
  • Akkeri Nonclinical Development Partners, Pfizer, Seagen
  • University of Washington

Valerie Daggett, PhD

Chief Executive Officer
  • Was in a Warren Miller ski movie!
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Patrik Edenholm

Chief Operating Officer
  • English was actually his third language, after Swedish and Spanish.
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Calvin Fries

Lab Manager
  • Is an adrenaline seeker - skydiving, bungee jumping, cliff diving!
  • Adaptive Biotechnologies, Genentech
  • Northern Michigan University

Janna Gheneralova

Accounting Manager
  • Likes to garden and is directionally challenged!
  • Theo Chocolate, Acorex Wine Company
  • Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova

Eric Gier

Vice President, Finance
  • Plays Baritone Sax from Straight Ahead Jazz to Ska with some Honk thrown in for good measure.
  • Viome Life Sciences, Sinova Capital, MCC Global, UnCruise Adventures
  • University of Washington, Reed College

Audriana Gonzales

Medical Laboratory Scientist
  • Went to Edinburgh, Scotland to see the Spice Girls concert!
  • University of Washington Medical Center
  • University of Washington, Western Washington University

Andrew Graesser

Medical Laboratory Scientist
  • Is the lead mushroom field guide for PSMS.
  • Hematologics, TwinStrand Biosciences, Universal Cells
  • University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Nancy Hill

Chief Product Officer
  • Is a stealth classical piano player!
Nancy's Bio

Charles Horne

Chief Financial Officer
  • As a 7-year-old, made an appearance on a nationally syndicated afternoon television variety show.
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Tricia Iacovangelo

Diagnostic Program Manager
  • "DIY" junkie and amateur home renovator.
  • Siemens, Reproductive Technologies Inc, Personalis
  • Youngstown State University, Ohio Northern University

Teresa Jones

Senior Associate Scientist
  • Aims to hike every national park.
  • Roswell Biotechnologies, Arzeda
  • University of Virginia, University of North Carolina-Asheville

Larisa Khaydrova-Calloway

Medical Laboratory Scientist
  • I once swam with sharks in Belize-now I just decorate spaces for fun!
  • University of Washington-Harborview Medical Center
  • The University of Tennessee

Kekoa Knief

Office Manager
  • DJ's and runs a record label!
  • Collision Consulting of WA
  • University of Washington

Jeremy Link, PhD

Scientist
  • Is both Airborne and SCUBA certified!
  • Burst Diagnostics, United States Army Reserves
  • Colorado State University, Seattle University

Laura Napier

Director of Quality
  • Experienced an outdoor temperature range of 150F, between 122F and -28F.
  • Detect, Surmodics, PDL BioPharma
  • University of Arizona, Santa Clara University

Jeff Posakony, PhD

VP Translational Development
  • Has skied in every month of the year in Washington.
  • Kineta, National Institutes of Health
  • University of British Columbia, Oregon State University

Sebastien Pradel, PhD

Senior Scientist
  • Enjoys cooking with his family and the great outdoors!
  • GlySens, Leidos, Audentia, OHSU
  • University of California-San Diego, Humboldt State University

Adrianna Shy, PhD

Scientist
  • Wants to skydive on every continent.
  • Brandeis University, Hampton University

Kui Xiao

Associate Scientist
  • Collects and grows rare fruit trees!
  • BMS/Juno Therapeutics, AFASCI Research, Arista
  • University of California-San Diego

Koya Yakabi

Associate Scientist
  • Is a music history aficionado!
  • Stanford University, CA Skin Institute, USDA/ARS
  • University of California-Berkeley, Washington State University

Join our Team.

Careers at AltPep
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Kurt Becker

Chief Legal Officer

Kurt helped found AltPep Corporation and has been its lead legal officer since 2020.  He draws on his prior 11 years of experience in-house, 7 years running his own IP and technology licensing firm, several years at another startup, and 20 years at a large law firm.   He joined Perkins Coie after law school and rose to partner in the Licensing and Technology Group.  He worked in-house for 7 years in at a patent aggregator.  Kurt handled or supervised legal work for well over 1000 patent acquisition deals, supervised or helped negotiate IV’s asset divestitures and was the lead attorney on close more than $2 billion in outbound licensing transactions,  Kurt completed his undergrad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his JD at the University of Michigan Law School.

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Gil Block, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer

Gil is a seasoned drug development executive with over 35 years of experience focusing on neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. His leadership has contributed to the successful marketing approval of 8 NDAs and WMAs. Gil is a recognized innovator in the development of novel therapeutics, with broad expertise ranging from preclinical and clinical translation, and all phases of clinic development. Prior to AltPep, Gil held previous positions including Vice President and Head of Clinical Neuroscience and Clinical Pharmacology at Cephalon, Executive Director, US Drug Development/Global Medicine & Science, at AstraZeneca and Senior Director and Head of Clinical Neuropharmacology at Merck Research Labs. Gil is also currently an Adjunct Professor, Pharmacology and Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine. Gil holds a BA, MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University and was a neurology resident, chief resident and assistant professor at Cornell University Medical Center. 

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Valerie Daggett, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Valerie, the CEO/Founder of AltPep and an Endowed Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, has been a champion of groundbreaking research for over 30 years. Her inherent curiosity pushes her to uncover new ways of tackling problems in the field of amyloid diseases, where successes are few.  Her tenacity led to a revolutionary discovery of a protein structure that could dramatically change the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and over 50 other amyloid diseases. At AltPep, Valerie leads a team of innovators who are developing this platform to make the early, pre-symptomatic diagnosis and treatment of amyloid diseases a reality. Valerie holds a BA from Reed College, PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. 

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Patrik Edenholm

Chief Operating Officer

Patrik has decades of experience nurturing start-ups from foundation to successful companies including Ansel Communications Inc., a computer networking company that was named the fastest growing private company in Washington for two consecutive years in ‘95-’97.  As a founder and executive of these start-ups, Patrik has developed broad management skills including expertise in finance, recruiting, legal and strategic planning.  Patrik also has deep experience in negotiating and closing intellectual property transactions, having been involved in over 200 patent acquisition/licensing deals.  Patrik’s academic background covers law and economics including a JD from Berkeley, and master’s degrees in public Policy and Economics from Princeton and Berkeley respectively.  Earlier, Patrik earned his BA from Reed College.

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Nancy Hill

Chief Product Officer

Nancy has a track record of building and growing innovation-driven life science companies.  With extensive experience in biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies and strengths in product development, commercialization and operations, she has built global businesses leading to multiple successful exits. Prior to AltPep, Nancy was Executive Vice President of Operations and Program Management at Adaptive Biotechnologies and a member of the core executive team that grew the company from early start-up through IPO to a multi-billion dollar peak market cap. Nancy is currently a mentor for University of Washington’s Creative Destruction Lab focused on helping launch companies that aim to revolutionize healthcare outcomes.  She was also President of the Seattle Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

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Charles Horne

Chief Financial Officer

Chuck has an expansive financial career that spans over four decades. His senior leadership experience in primarily technology-driven fields ranges from a $6 billion NYSE-listed company to smaller, growing companies. Chuck has held executive and managerial roles at Uwajimaya, Dell Computer, Silicon Graphics and was part of the executive team that turned around Safeco Corporation. Prior to AltPep, Chuck invested, advised, and served as CFO in multiple startup companies. His broad-based experience includes finance, accounting, auditing, procurement, human resources, and systems. Chuck holds a BA from University of California-Davis and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

The Risk of AIRA

Amyloid plaque are targeted and mobilized by anti-amyloid antibodies (such as lecanamab and donanamab). The antibody-bound plaque clear through the brain’s immune cells, called microglia, by binding Fc-gamma Receptors (FCgRs). (Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2023) This binding alters the microglia resulting in inflammation and cytokine storm and thereby creating a high risk of ARIA (https://ajronline.org/doi/epdf/10.2214/AJR.22.28461).