Linda Avey (née Bahnson[not verified in body]) is an American biologist and entrepreneur. She is known for co-founding 23andMe, a consumer genetic data company.[1][2]
In March 2006 Avey, Anne Wojcicki, and Paul Cusenza founded 23andMe,[8][9][10] "one of the first, and only,[clarification needed] companies to offer genetic profiles directly to consumers, rather than through doctors or researchers".[11] Avey left the company in 2009.[12] Cusenza had left the company in 2007.[citation needed]
In 2009, Avey launched the Brainstorm Research Foundation, to "creat[e] an outsourced potential to do research" with "initial focus is on Alzheimer's disease" to "creat[e] novel cohorts and collec[t]... phenotypic information".[13] In 2011, Avey co-founded We are Curious, Inc. with Heather Anne Halpert and Mitsu Hadeishi, a company focused on online aggregation of data from sensors, wearables, trackers, apps, social media, biometrics, and other personal data.[14][better source needed] In 2018, Avey and Aneil Mallavarapu began collaboration with Naryana Health to focus on collecting and analyzing genetic information from populations often economically excluded, via their further start-up, Precisely, Inc.[15][16][17]
Avey is an advisor to Verily Life Sciences and is on the Board of Fellows at Stanford Medical School.[17] In November of 2023, Avey joined the Board of Directors of the Human Immunome Project (HIP).[18]
^ abcdeAvey, Linda & BigThink.com Staff (February 5, 2024). "Co-Founder, 23andMe". BigThink.com. Retrieved February 5, 2024. Linda Avey has over 20 years of sales and business development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in San Francisco, Boston, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Prior to starting 23andMe, she developed translational research collaborations with academic and pharmaceutical partners for Affymetrix and Perlegen Sciences. Linda also spent time at Spotfire helping scientists understand the power of data visualization and at Applied Biosystems during the early days of the human genome project. The advent of high density genome-wide scanning technologies brought huge potential for significant discoveries. However, the lack of sufficient funding to enable adequate studies prompted Linda to think of a new research model. These ideas led to the formation of 23andMe. Her primary interest is the acceleration of personalized medicine, using genetic profiles to target the right drug to the right person at the correct dose. Linda graduated from Augustana College with a B.A. in biology.[third-party source needed]
^Augie.edu Staff (2010). "Viking Days: 2010 Alumni Achievement Award Winners Recognized"(PDF). Augie.com. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 25, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2024. For an Augie.edu page linking to the award page, and listing other alumni award recipients, see Augie.edu Staff (2021). "Past Alumni Award Recipients". Augie.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2024. Note, at this second citation, the subject's middle name is given as Bahnson.
