Illumina Management Team

Francis deSouza was appointed CEO of Illumina in 2016 and is responsible for directing all aspects of company strategy, planning, and operations. He initially joined the company as President in 2013, and led Illumina’s business units and core functions responsible for envisioning, developing and producing the company’s products.

Previously, deSouza served as President of Products and Services at Symantec Corporation, where he was responsible for driving the vision for the company’s market-leading portfolio and served in a variety of executive roles. He joined Symantec through the acquisition of IMlogic, where he was co-founder and CEO.

Prior to joining IMlogic, deSouza was co-founder and CEO of Flash Communications, a provider of corporate instant messaging that was acquired by Microsoft. Following the acquisition, he joined Microsoft and led the team responsible for the development of the company’s enterprise real-time collaboration offerings. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors for The Walt Disney Company.

Francis deSouza received a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alex Aravanis MD PhD joined Illumina in June 2020. As Chief Technology Officer, he is responsible for leading Illumina’s research and technology development functions and the innovation engine for next-generation sequencing platforms and applications, accelerating technology breakthroughs and translation to the clinic. This includes the Illumina Accelerator, the world’s first business accelerator focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry.

Aravanis is an experienced entrepreneur and was involved in founding several start-ups in the life sciences and health care. Most recently, he co-founded GRAIL Bio where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D. At GRAIL, Aravanis led the research, development, operational, and clinical teams developing its multi-cancer early detection test. This test is based on technology which combines high-intensity sequencing of unprecedented breadth and depth with the techniques of modern data science. Through what is believed to be one of the largest clinical study programs ever pursued in genomic medicine, GRAIL is creating vast data sets to develop evidence supporting its products. It is deploying, at scale, the latest tools of data science, including powerful approaches from machine learning such as neural networks.

Prior to GRAIL, Aravanis served as Senior Director of R&D for Illumina, Inc., where he developed multiple technologies, including clinical assays for the analysis of RNA and DNA from fixed tissues, whole exome analysis, massively parallel single cell transcriptomics, and liquid biopsy using cell-free nucleic acids.

Alex earned BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics Minor from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering, and an MD from Stanford University. He holds more than 30 (pending and issued) patents and numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Charles Dadswell

General Counsel

Charles (Chuck) Dadswell is General Counsel of Illumina, where he has worldwide responsibility for all legal and intellectual property matters and is also Illumina's code of ethics compliance officer.

Before joining Illumina, Dadswell was Vice President, General Counsel for North and Latin America and Corporate Director of Global Intellectual Property at bioMerieux. He was previously General Counsel of BioDelivery Sciences International, a specialty pharmaceutical company, and oversaw US intellectual property in a variety of positions with Glaxo, GlaxoWellcome and GlaxoSmithKline.

Dadswell received an LL.M. in patent law and trade regulation from The George Washington University Law School, a J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a BS in Pharmacy from Ferris State University.

Paula Dowdy

General Manager—Europe, Middle East, & Africa

Paula Dowdy is the General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Since joining Illumina in August 2016, Dowdy has reorganized the business, identified new markets and returned the region to sustainable growth. In addition, Dowdy played a pivotal role as a senior leader with the launch of the NovaSeq.

Previously, Dowdy was Senior Vice President for Cloud, Software, and Managed Services at Cisco where she drove numerous innovative solutions. During her 20-year tenure at Cisco, she held numerous leadership roles, spearheading product, software and service groups for virtually all customer segments. Having spent the majority of her career in Europe, Dowdy currently resides in London.

Dowdy holds a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Aimee Hoyt

Chief People Officer

Aimee Hoyt is Chief People Officer at Illumina, where she is responsible for all aspects of the company’s HR strategies. Hoyt has a successful track record for leading workforce transformation, driving business growth and creating high-impact teams.

Previously, she has held senior positions at some of the world’s best-known technology companies including Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Sun Microsystems. Most recently, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer at Rackspace, a leading managed cloud computing company, in San Antonio, Texas. She led the HR team and was responsible for helping build, align and develop high-performing global teams. During her tenure, Rackspace was recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, Top 30 Best Places in Tech and Great Places to Work for Millennials.

Hoyt earned a master’s in human resource development from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Li Qing

General Manager—Greater China

Li Qing is the General Manager for Greater China at Illumina. In his role, Qing is responsible for leading and developing the commercial organization within China, which is a priority growth region for Illumina. Qing oversees all aspects of Illumina’s growth strategy including manufacturing, market development and access, medical and regulatory affairs, regional marketing, competitive positioning, and product launches among others. Qing brings more than 25 years of unparalleled experience in leadership, business management and developing organizations’ capabilities to strengthen market opportunities within the pharmaceutical and life science industries. He has held numerous senior level positions for a number of global companies including GE Healthcare, Baxter,Novartis, and Solvay.

Most recently Qing was General Manager for Life Sciences at GE Healthcare China. He led more than five business units, covering four customer segments across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Qing received an Executive MBA from the China Europe International Business School.

Bob Ragusa

Chief Operations Officer

Bob Ragusa is Chief Operations Officer for Illumina where he is responsible for the company’s operations serving clinical and research customers. His organization includes the global Manufacturing, Clinical Lab Services, Supply Chain, Quality, Life Cycle Management, Information Technology, and Global Facilities and Real Estate teams who are committed to ensure high product quality and customer satisfaction.

Prior to joining Illumina, Ragusa was Executive Vice President of Engineering and Global Operations at Accuray, a radiation oncology company, where he and his team were responsible for the development, manufacturing and distribution of innovative precision treatment solutions. Ragusa served as Senior Vice President of Global Operations for Applied Biosystems from 1997 until 2005.

Ragusa currently serves on the Board of Directors for Twist Biosciences. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut as well as a Master of Science in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sam Samad

Chief Financial Officer

Sam Samad joined Illumina in 2017 and holds the role of Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for the company’s finance, accounting, investor relations, internal audit, treasury, and global information systems functions.

Before joining Illumina, Samad held several senior leadership positions at Cardinal Health including Senior Vice President and Corporate Treasurer, leading all tax and treasury functions. During his tenure as Treasurer, Samad also had operational and financial responsibility for Cardinal Health’s China business. Prior to that, Samad served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Cardinal Health’s $85B pharmaceutical segment, among other leadership roles. Prior to Cardinal Health, Samad spent thirteen years at Eli Lilly and Company, in a variety of sales and finance roles, both domestically and internationally, including his role as Chief Financial Officer of the Canada affiliate prior to leaving Eli Lilly. Samad started his career at Pepsico Inc.

Samad has served as Director on the Board for IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX) since July 2019 and on the Board of Visitors at the Owen Graduate School of Management since 2016.

Samad holds a BBA degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and an MBA from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.

Susan Tousi

Chief Product Officer

Susan Tousi is Chief Product Officer at Illumina, where she is responsible for global engineering, consumables, sequencing applications, software and informatics development efforts, ensuring Illumina’s scientists and engineers continue the culture of innovation and product excellence that has been a hallmark of Illumina.

Tousi has more than 25 years of R&D and business leadership at Fortune 100 technology companies and within the life sciences industry. Formerly, Tousi was as a Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Eastman Kodak’s Consumer Inkjet Systems organization. Prior to joining Kodak, Tousi was an R&D program manager for Phogenix Imaging LLC, a joint venture start-up of Hewlett-Packard and Kodak. She previously spent 10 years with Hewlett-Packard in technical and management roles. Tousi played a significant role in the 2017 launch of the NovaSeq Series at Illumina and in 2018 was elected to the National Academy of Engineers for this effort to make genomics accessible and increasing throughput and enabling the path to the $100 human genome.

Tousi holds an MBA degree from UCLA and a BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Pennsylvania State University.

Tousi serves as a trustee at the world renowned La Jolla Playhouse.

Gretchen Weightman

General Manager—Asia Pacific & Japan

Gretchen Weightman is the General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan at Illumina. In her role, Weightman is responsible for leading and developing the commercial organization within the region that includes Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and India.

Weightman has held several leadership positions within Illumina prior to her current role. She was the Director of Sales for Asia Pacific, where she was responsible for sales of the Asia Pacific region, overseeing five geographical districts for orders, shipments and revenue. Prior to this, Weightman was the Senior Marketing Manager for South Asia Pacific, responsible for the overall marketing strategy and implementation in South East Asia, India, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

Prior to joining Illumina, Weightman worked at Applied Biosystems in a variety of commercial positions including Sales, Marketing, and Product Management. Her professional career started at Genesis Research & Development where she set up the high-throughput sequencing facility.

Weightman graduated from Auckland University with a BSc in Molecular Genetics and a Diploma of Commerce.

Joydeep Goswami, PhD

Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning

Joydeep Goswami is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning where he responsible for driving planning, strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Most recently, he served as the President of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Oncology business unit, where he oversaw efforts that drove the adoption of NGS in clinical oncology, research and reproductive health. Goswami has held senior leadership roles across the pharma/biotech, diagnostics and research tool continuum, previously serving at companies such as Life Technologies and Invitrogen, in addition to Thermo Fisher Scientific. He has led teams across various functions, including sales, marketing, R&D and other support functions. Mr. Goswami served as President, Asia Pacific and Japan while at Thermo Fisher Scientific and created the Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Business Unit at Invitrogen. Additionally, he spent five years at McKinsey, where he specialized in strategy for pharmaceutical, medical technology and technology companies.

Mr. Goswami holds his MS, PhD in Chemical Engineering, an MBA from MIT and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Phil Febbo, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Phil Febbo, MD was appointed as Chief Medical Officer in March 2018. In this role, he is responsible for developing and executing the Company’s medical strategy to drive genomic testing into healthcare practice. Dr. Febbo has a successful track record of translational research, clinical excellence, and for embedding molecular insights into clinical care.

Immediately before joining Illumina, Dr. Febbo served as CMO of Genomic Health. Prior to his five years at Genomic Health, Dr. Febbo was a Professor of Medicine and Urology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where his laboratory focused on using genomics to understand the biology and clinical behavior of prostate cancer, and his clinical practice focused on genitourinary oncology.

Before joining the faculty of UCSF as an associate professor in 2010, Dr. Febbo worked at Duke University Medical Center’s Institute of Genome Sciences and Policy. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his fellowship in oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. After which he was an Attending Physician in the Genitourinary Oncology Center at Dana-Farber, Instructor at Harvard Medical School, and a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Todd Golub's laboratory at Dana-Farber, as well as the Whitehead Institute Center for Genomic Research of MIT (now the Broad Institute). Throughout his career, Dr. Febbo has served as a primary investigator for the Translational Research Program of The Alliance, an NCI-supported cooperative group, where his work focused on incorporating biomarkers into large clinical trials.

Dr. Febbo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Dartmouth College and an M.D. from UCSF.

Nicole Berry

General Manager—Americas

Nicole Berry is the General Manager for the Americas Region, inclusive of the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. In this role, she is responsible for leading the customer facing functions including Direct and Channel Partner Sales, Service and Support, and Regional Commercial Operations teams in the Americas region.

Berry has been with Illumina since 2009 and has held several commercial leadership positions within the company. During the three years prior to her current role, she served as the Vice President of Sales for the Americas. Prior to this, Berry served in a number of sales management roles covering the U.S. and Canada.

Prior to joining Illumina, Berry worked at Applied Biosystems on the U.S. sales management team. Other highlights of her professional career include 15 years at Eastman Kodak Company, where she held a variety of global marketing and business management roles. Her professional career started at the Sloan Kettering Institute in the Tumor Immunogenetics laboratory of Dr. Lloyd Old.

Berry graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.S. in Biology, with a concentration in Neuroscience.

Kathryne Reeves

Chief Marketing Officer

Kathryne Reeves is Chief Marketing Officer at Illumina, where she is responsible for the development and implementation of a global marketing strategy that strives to expand patient and physician awareness of the benefits of genomic testing, amplify the voice of our customers, and accelerate clinical adoption of genomics.

Reeves brings more than 25 years of cross-industry marketing and corporate strategy experience to Illumina. Most recently, she was Senior Vice President of Enterprise Marketing and General Manager of the Medical Services Global Business Unit at Cardinal Health, where she led a rapidly growing portfolio of business with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion USD. Prior to Cardinal Health, Reeves held positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, AOL/Time Warner, Nationwide Insurance, and Scotts Miracle-Gro, among others.

Reeves is a member of the International Women’s Forum where she was a Leadership Fellow in 2017, and was named one of the Top Influential Women in Corporate America by the Savoy Network in 2016. She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.