Understanding your mission, creating solutions,
and enabling your vision.
As leaders in a broad range of commercial disciplines, the first priority of the seasoned NuGEN management team is to help you achieve your scientific vision. We strive to understand your mission, define a roadmap for solving your challenges, build enabling solutions, and create an environment for collaboration and partnership.
Elizabeth A. Hutt, M.S.
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Elizabeth Hutt brings years of leadership experience in diversified sales, marketing, business development, technical support, and a strong track record of achieving significant sales and market share growth. Her forward looking vision enables NuGEN to build global market share for our expanding Ovation® System product line, and enhances the Company's commitment to providing world-class customer care. Ms. Hutt joined NuGEN in 2004 as VP of Commercial Operations to establish NuGEN in the marketplace. In 2005, she became CEO. Prior to joining NuGEN, she was VP of Sales and Service, North America and Pacific Rim for Tripos, Inc. She has also held U.S. and European management positions with Affymetrix Inc., and spent nearly a decade in sales, marketing and channel management at Life Technologies, Inc. Prior to the transition to her commercial career, she was a research associate at the University of Michigan. Ms. Hutt received her M.S. in Business Administration from Central Michigan University and a B.A. in Chemistry from Michigan State University.
Dan Benetz
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Benetz oversees all financial aspects of the company, as well as, gives guidance to senior leadership. He brings years of diverse business experience as a senior finance professional in life sciences and other high tech industries. Prior to joining NuGEN, Benetz had finance positions with Affymetrix including, Sr. Director of Business Finance and European Finance director. He has also held various positions with Intel including Software Group controller, Photonics Group controller, Microprocessor Marketing & Business planning and Corporate financial planning and analysis, and with Wells Fargo Bank. Benetz received his BS in Mathematics from University of California, Los Angeles.
Douglas A. Amorese, Ph.D.
Vice President, Research and Development
Overseeing NuGEN research and development activities, Dr. Amorese is an accomplished leader in the development and commercialization of complex systems for nucleic acid analysis. His experience in genomics and microarray technologies has placed him at the forefront of new product development, including array content and design, fabrication and processing, automation, image acquisition, data analysis, and QC. Prior to NuGEN, Amorese led the R&D organization for Agilent’s Genomics business, responsible for strategic planning to define microarray-based product opportunities, setting direction to meet customer needs, and championing Agilent’s probe validation projects. He has also held positions of increasing responsibility with DuPont and Life Technologies. Amorese earned a PhD in biochemistry at Colorado State University, and served post-doctoral fellowships at the Salk Institute and at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Erwin Estigarribia
Vice President, Operations
Mr. Estigarribia is responsible for NuGEN's manufacturing and quality organizations. His experience in manufacturing sciences and product development in cGMP-compliant environments, makes Mr. Estigarribia uniquely qualified to lead NuGEN's regulatory initiatives. Prior to joining NuGEN, Mr. Estigarribia held the position of senior director of manufacturing sciences at the Geron Corporation. Prior to Geron, he was associate director, process development for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics (formerly Chiron), during which he supervised both cGMP- and ISO 13485-compliant manufacturing processes. Mr. Estigarribia also held bioprocess consulting engineering position(s) with PoroCrit and Sims SFE llc, as well as with Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL, Ltd.). Mr. Estigarribia received a Bachelor of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering with Honors from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
Sue D. Pandey, Ph.D., MBA
Vice President, Commercial Operations
Dr. Pandey leads NuGEN’s customer-facing activities, including marketing, sales, support and service. She has led sales and service teams in the Life Sciences for the past 20 years. Most recently, Dr. Pandey was the Global Head of Sales for the CodeLink™ business unit of GE Healthcare where she built and staffed the worldwide sales organization from its inception at Motorola. Prior to CodeLink, Dr. Pandey spent 12 years in field management at Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies in the Chemical Analysis and Life Sciences group. Her first position in sales was at Zymark, following a position with Exploratory Research at Chevron, where she wrote several patents for novel, high-yield reforming catalysts. Dr. Pandey earned her Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from U.C. Irvine, and holds an MBA degree from Pepperdine University.
Yan Zhang, Ph.D.
Vice President, Marketing
Dr. Zhang brings to NuGEN years of commercial experience and a strong technical background in the life science industry. Most recently, she served as Director of Product Marketing at Affymetrix, responsible for product management and marketing activities of gene expression microarrays and reagents. During Dr. Zhang’s tenure at Affymetrix, her in-depth understanding of genomics, dedication to addressing customer needs, and her strong technology background helped her contribute significantly to furthering scientist’s quests to understand complex diseases. Prior to Affymetrix, Dr. Zhang held product management and applications positions at Molecular Devices and as a scientist at Hyseq, Inc. Dr. Zhang received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Beijing University, her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Wisconsin followed by postdoctoral fellowships at UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California.