Leadership
Emily Hickey
Emily Hickey, DVM, PhD

General Manager

We are devoted to creating relationships with our clients through our valued employees. It is personal to us.

April Hall
April Hall, MS, MBA

Chief Business Officer

Great business partnerships create successful results. Every client, regardless of size, is more than a “study” or another piece of business won. Meeting our clients’ needs is truly personal.

George P. Kustigian Jr
George P. Kustigian Jr, BSBA, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Assuring we are financially responsible supports competitive pricing. Our clients depend on our expertise as well as our ability to support their budget requirements to expedite their research journeys. Our consistent use of policy, procedure, and process help ensure such.

Daniel Gao
Daniel Gao

CEO of Joinn Lab, Member of Executive Steering Committee of Biomere

AllanGuo
Allan Guo

Strategy Executive, Member of Executive Steering Committee

Jin Cao
Jin Cao, BSc, MS

Interim General Manager
Richmond, CA

We are committed to providing excellence to our clients. High-quality data is our best deliverable. Excellent data fuels new cures and therapies. We aspire to be a valuable partner to those who champion new cures and therapies supporting a better tomorrow for us all.

Extended Team
Stephen Blash
Stephen Blash

Senior Director of Operations

Natalie Brun
Natalie Brun

Scientist I

Sue Champagne
Sue Champagne

Scientist II, SA

Amanda Clark
Amanda Clark

Senior Program Director, In Vitro

Deborah Curry

Senior Director, Marketing

Steve Deitz
Steve Deitz

Scientist I

Amy Descarreaux
Amy Descarreaux

Associate Director, Client Services

Brendan Fish
Brendan Fish

Scientist II, SA

Gavin Gagnon
Gavin Gagnon

Manager of Sales
and Business Development

Kristina Guberski
Kristina Guberski

Senior Director of
Quality and Compliance

Kari Harbert
Kari Harbert

Senior Scientist

Jacob Hilditch
Jacob Hilditch

Scientist I

Leslie Jost
Leslie Jost

Senior Scientist

Alan LaRochelle
Alan LaRochelle

Senior Program Director,
Large Animal

Rosalia Matteo
Maritza Matteo

Operations Manager

Rosalia Matteo
Rosalia Matteo

Director Laboratory Sciences

Ken Mullinix
Ken Mullinix

U.S. Head of Surgical Services

Amir Rafie
Amir Rafie

Associate Director of Business Development

Kristin Sapp
Kristin Sapp

Senior Program Director, GMAP

Diana Strano
Diana Strano

US Director of Human Resources

Sarah Webb
Sarah Webb

Scientist I

Leadership Bios

Emily Hickey, DVM, PhD

GENERAL MANAGER

Emily is a drug-discovery executive with 24 years of experience driving programs from target discovery through clinical development and registration for human and animal health.

She has a Ph.D. in veterinary Medicine from Ohio State University, a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. As part of the Biomere team, Emily supports our evolution in becoming a leading provider of drug discovery services.

April Hall, MS, MBA

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER

April Hall is a veteran of the CRO industry and bioengineer by training. April has over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device research. Her experience ranges from primary design and development of orthopaedic devices and bioadhesives to international sales and marketing of testing capabilities and services.

For the past 25 years, April focused on the sales and marketing aspect for preclinical contract research testing. She has led business development efforts at a number of leading contract labs including Charles River Laboratories, Transgenomics and Sinclair Research Center. She serves on the SAB for the Pediatric Medical Device Institute.

April received her B.S. and M.S. from Clemson University and MBA from Northcentral.

George P. Kustigian Jr, BSBA, CPA

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

George Kustigian is a seasoned financial executive with broad-based business experience. His experience as an audit manager with KPMG has led to financial roles in the manufacturing, construction, non-profit, and biotechnology sectors. Those roles have included Controller, Director, Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. His experience brings a multi-faceted perspective to finance, administration, and planning. In addition, George held positions on the Boards of higher education institutions, trade groups and social service organizations.

George received his B.S.B.A. in both Accounting and Finance from Nichols College. He also earned the designation of Certified Public Accountant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Daniel Gao

CEO of Joinn Lab, Member of Executive Steering Committee of Biomere

Daniel joined Joinn Laboratories as CFO and Secretory of the Board in 2013. He played a key role to successfully launch Joinn Laboratories at Shanghai stock exchange in 2017. Since 2019, Daniel has been serving as the CEO for Joinn, responsible for company’s operation and management.

Daniel obtained his degree from Central University of Finance and Economic.

Allan Guo

Strategy Executive, Member of Executive Steering Committee

Allan was a former executive director of China Institute at the University of Massachusetts and Senior Advisor to the President of UMass for International Affairs. He is also a distinguished international strategy consultant, advising higher education, business and government organizations in the US and China that are interested in establishing programs, partnerships or business concerns together. He has been instrumental in developing the China initiatives at University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Massachusetts International strategy. Prior joining the University of Massachusetts, Allan was the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Agiletron Consulting Group (ACG), an international strategy and government relationships consulting firm. He also served for five years as Chief Operating Officer of RCL Computer Ltd., a network and integration company providing technology service in Boston, Vancouver Canada.

Mr. Guo has a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Biology Chemistry from Zhongshan University of China and the University of Toronto. He is a frequent speaker on Chinese culture and history, as well as economic, education and business development in China.

Jin Cao, BSc, MS

Interim General Manager
Richmond, CA

Jin joined Joinn Laboratories in 2009 after graduating from Yangzhou University in China with a Veterinary bachelor’s and master’s degree. During her 13 years of service at JOINN, she exceeded in many rolls including study director, project manager, and department director. Her current responsibility is GLP management in general toxicology, inhalation toxicology and safety pharmacology animal studies. Jin joined the Richmond, California team in January 2023 and is committed to oversight of preclinical discovery programs in following strict GLP standards.