Who we’re steered by

Ken spent much of his 28-year career at Goldman Sachs in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors; a member of the Global Management Committee and Chairman and CEO of Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, from 2013 to 2019. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Ken was a carrier-based fighter bomber pilot for the U.S. Navy. He is currently a Board member of Wuxi Biologics and CStone Pharmaceuticals and a senior advisor to Wuxi Apptec. Ken is Chairman of HH&L and Cydar Medical. He is also a senior advisor to the early-stage venture capital firm Antler.
Ken has a BA from the University of Colorado and an MBA as a merit fellow from Columbia University Business School.

Throughout his career, Dale has focused on supporting early-stage and VC-backed pioneering tools companies and steering them towards global market success. Before joining Sphere Fluidics, he was Senior VP of Global Sales and Support at Vizgen and in this role established a global commercial infrastructure and rapidly scaled the Company’s operations.

Prior to this, as VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Dropworks Inc. Dale’s contributions were instrumental in developing an integrated Digital Droplet PCR platform, and his strategic leadership culminated in the Company’s acquisition by Bio-Rad for $125 million. He has also held key senior positions leading commercial expansion at NanoString Technologies, Illumina Inc., and Helixs Inc. Dale holds a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Genetics from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. 

Ian’s prior role, as the Managing Director of Candover, where he led investments into companies including Clondalkin, Ontec, Innovia, Dx Group, Ferretti, and Inveresk Research. With the latter, he was involved from its start-up phase through to its eventual Trade Sale for £600 million. Earlier in his career Ian was Head of Structured Finance (UK and Europe) at the Bank of Scotland and held other financial roles at TSB and Arthur Andersen. Ian is a Chartered Accountant and has a B. Com (Hons) in Business Studies and Law from Edinburgh University.

Rob joined Redmile as a partner in 2008. He currently serves on several portfolio company boards. From 2008 to 2015, Rob was the investing partner for medical devices in Redmile’s hedge fund. Previously, he worked as a sell-side equity analyst in medical devices and biotech starting in 1992. He held roles at firms including Hambrecht & Quist (now JPMorgan), Thomas Weisel Partners (now Stifel), and SG Warburg & Co (now UBS). He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and an A.B. from Harvard College.

Michael joined the Board of Sphere Fluidics in October 2021. He currently serves as Vice President at Redmile Group, a healthcare-focused investment firm. Prior to Redmile, Michael spent over ten years in the healthcare services industry as a management consultant and operating roles at a Fortune 500 health system and successful early-stage company. Michael received his MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and his BS in Business Law from the University of Southern California.

Before Panmure, Ed was Investment Director in life sciences venture capital firm, Arix Bioscience. This followed twenty years at various research-led investment firms including AMP Capital, Alliance Bernstein, UBS Asset Management and JP Morgan Investment Management. He covered healthcare, tech and other sectors and also managed equity portfolios, ran a research team and launched a small companies fund.

Ed has an MA in Chemistry and MSc in Management from Oxford University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Jim Ballesty is the General Manager for Enplas Europe Ltd. and a key member of the Global Business Development team. With a career at Enplas spanning over three decades, Jim has held senior leadership roles across Manufacturing Operations, Quality Assurance, Sales, Marketing, and Strategic Innovation.

Drawing on his extensive expertise in high-precision plastic injection moulding, Jim has been instrumental in delivering advanced solutions to the global automotive, life sciences, datacom, telecom, and office automation sectors. His work also extends to driving new market innovations as part of Enplas’ global strategy team.

Alex is a seasoned executive with substantial experience at the intersection of healthcare, life science, and information technology. He currently sits on three boards in addition to Sphere Fluidics: Gencove (Next Generation Sequencing), ChromaCode (molecular diagnostics) and Ryght.ai (Generative AI applied to clinical trials). Previously he sat on the board of PRA Health Sciences, a 20,000 employee NASDAQ-listed Clinical Research Organization (CRO), from 2018 until it was acquired by ICON plc in 2021.  

From 2010 to 2017 Alex was a senior vice president at Illumina, where he founded and led BaseSpace, Illumina’s cloud-based bioinformatics platform, before going on to run global population sequencing healthcare programs. Alex came to Illumina through its acquisition of Helixis, a life science instrument company he co-founded with Nobel laureate David Baltimore. Earlier Alex was the founding CEO of Luxtera, a communications chip company acquired by Cisco Systems.  

Alex began his career in research at Bell Labs and holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia. 

Throughout his career, Dale has focused on supporting early-stage and VC-backed pioneering tools companies and steering them towards global market success. Before joining Sphere Fluidics, he was Senior VP of Global Sales and Support at Vizgen and in this role established a global commercial infrastructure and rapidly scaled the Company’s operations.

Prior to this, as VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Dropworks Inc. Dale’s contributions were instrumental in developing an integrated Digital Droplet PCR platform, and his strategic leadership culminated in the Company’s acquisition by Bio-Rad for $125 million. He has also held key senior positions leading commercial expansion at NanoString Technologies, Illumina Inc., and Helix’s Inc. Dale holds a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Genetics from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. 

Richard has held numerous senior positions responsible for product and technology development. At Alere Inc., he led major cross-company R&D programs including the Alere i platform, the world’s first CLIA-waived point-of-care molecular infectious disease diagnostic device. Richard founded Cambridge Consultants’ Bioinnovation group, providing biotechnical consultancy services, and recently was VP of Technology at DNA Electronics developing sequence-based diagnostics. Richard has MA and MEng degrees from King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Graeme has held various senior commercial positions, including Global Sales Leader at Revvity, where he successfully developed and implemented international sales strategies. He holds a PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Edinburgh and a BSc in Molecular Genetics in Biotechnology from the University of Sussex. Graeme’s expertise in cultivating strong customer relationships, alongside his extensive knowledge in the life science industry, is instrumental in driving our international sales and marketing initiatives.

Jay has led Marketing and Product Management for several innovative companies. Before joining Sphere Fluidics, Jay was VP of Marketing for Purigen Biosystems, where he helped the company grow its install base and build market presence, ultimately leading to its acquisition by Bionano for $64 million.

Prior to that, Jay was Head of Product Management and Business Unit Leader for NanoString’s nCounter Platform, providing leadership as the company scaled from an install base of less than 10 to nearly 1,000. Jay also held positions at PATH, Seattle Biomed, and Ambit Biosciences. He holds a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology and an MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Denise has diverse industrial experience from SMEs (Juddmonte Farms Ltd) and several Blue-Chip Firms, including Sainsbury’s, Mundipharma International, and Abcam, which ensures that she adopts a balanced, pragmatic, and considered approach. She has demonstrable success in translating business strategies into people plans with the ability to implement them at scale with pace. Denise loves developing high-performing teams, Organizational Development, and Employee Engagement. She has a postgraduate qualification in HR Management from Anglia Ruskin University.

Andy trained with KPMG in audit and advisory services before moving to industry to work in various sectors including financial services, media, and life sciences. He has held senior management posts including Head of Finance for Capital Credit Union, Financial Controller for Cambrex, and Phoremost. Andy is passionate about adding value in alignment with wider strategic business goals. He has managed significant continuous improvement projects such as system implementation and adoption of IFRSs. Andy has an MA in Economics from the University of Aberdeen.

Rob has experience running large Logistics and Supply Chain teams during periods of rapid growth for both Abcam and Axol Bioscience. He has designed and implemented inventory strategies, developed novel distribution processes, and opened new company sites e.g. in the US, China & Australia.
Rob has a range of international experience in supply chain and procurement management. Rob is Lean Six Sigma qualified and passionate about quality, efficiency, and continuous improvement. He is a former British Army Captain and has a BA in Business from DeMontfort University.

Erroll Rueckert is a dynamic sales management executive with over a decade of commercial experience in the life sciences industry. With deep expertise in genomics, single-cell and spatial biology technologies, biologics discovery, and cell line development, Erroll brings a nuanced understanding of both historical advancements and emerging trends in these fields.

As a passionate people leader, Erroll excels in coaching teams to engage with diverse stakeholders across the research and biologics development ecosystem, including academic medical centres, biopharma, and CROs. He has successfully driven business growth by restructuring and expanding matrixed teams, streamlining sales funnel management, and negotiating large capital equipment deals ranging from $100K to $1M.

Erroll’s technical expertise, combined with his strong customer relationships and competitive market insights, enables him to deliver tailored commercial strategies and build partnerships that advance innovation in the life sciences.

Caroline Falzone is the Director of Global Sales Operations & Consumables at Sphere Fluidics, bringing a wealth of experience in sales leadership and operational excellence within the life sciences and technology sectors. With a career spanning over a decade, Caroline has successfully led global teams, driven commercial strategies, and implemented innovative sales processes that optimize performance and elevate customer experience.

Prior to joining Sphere Fluidics, Caroline held senior roles at Vizgen and CELLINK, where she managed inside sales teams, developed go-to-market strategies, and oversaw consumables sales operations across North America. Her expertise extends to lead qualification, sales funnel management, and nurturing strategic partnerships.

Caroline’s strong background in precision planning and team development, combined with her passion for advancing life sciences, makes her a critical contributor to Sphere Fluidics’ mission of transforming single-cell research.

Jay Manikandan is a seasoned leader in life sciences commercial operations with a proven track record of driving strategic growth and fostering innovation. With a career dedicated to propelling cutting-edge life sciences tool companies towards success in the APAC region, he has played an instrumental role in shaping commercial infrastructure and delivering exceptional customer outcomes.

As a founding APAC team member at Nanostring, 10x Genomics, Bruker Spatial Biology, and Sphere Fluidics, Jay has established himself as an expert in developing markets for advanced spatial, multi-omics, and single-cell technologies. Known for his ability to structure and lead high-performance, cross-functional teams, he consistently exceeds ambitious goals in the dynamic and diverse APAC landscape.

With his strategic vision and deep understanding of the industry, Jay continues to champion innovation and deliver transformative solutions to Sphere Fluidics’ customers across the region.

Wilhelm dedicates his research efforts to understanding complex molecular systems with a view to ultimately construct a living cell. His research uses picodroplets as an experimental platform for studying physical aspects of cellular organization and as a tool for high throughput single cell studies. In 2015 he co-founded Cytofind Diagnostics, a company developing a new route for the detection and isolation of Circulating Tumour Cells. Wilhelm is a Fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Chemistry.