Shawn has over 20 years of experience in genomic applications development and technology optimization, as well as operational management of research, development, and clinical testing programs. Prior to joining Element, Shawn was Chief Scientific Officer at Discovery Life Sciences and a faculty investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. While at HudsonAlpha, Shawn developed a comprehensive genomics facility that has supported more than 5,200 projects from locations around the world. His laboratory raised more than $150M in extramural funding, culminating in the largest financial transaction in HudsonAlpha’s history when the assets of his research group were sold to Discovery Life Sciences. Before HudsonAlpha, Shawn was a faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. He is an author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications with over 45,000 citations.