DNAnexus Expands Leadership to Drive AI Innovation and Biopharma Growth
DNAnexus, Inc., a leader in enterprise solutions for precision health data, has unveiled a series of strategic leadership appointments that underscore its commitment to advancing artificial intelligence (AI), data-driven healthcare, and biopharma collaboration. The company announced the appointment of Pieter De Leenheer, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Todd Oakland, PhD, as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Biopharma Business Dx/Rx. Alongside these new hires, DNAnexus also revealed that George Asimenos, PhD, will transition from his former role as Chief AI Officer to become the company’s Chief Product Officer, where he will steer the product vision and long-term platform development strategy.
Collectively, these leadership changes mark a pivotal moment for DNAnexus as it accelerates its innovation roadmap and strengthens its foothold in the biopharma sector. With over 40 years of combined experience in building scalable technologies, leading enterprise healthcare initiatives, and driving AI-enabled insights, the newly appointed executives bring a wealth of expertise that aligns with DNAnexus’ mission to make precision health data more accessible, actionable, and transformative.
A Strategic Shift in Leadership
For DNAnexus, leadership expansion comes at a critical juncture. The life sciences and healthcare industries are undergoing a paradigm shift fueled by AI, multimodal datasets, and real-world evidence. Biopharma companies, research institutions, and diagnostic developers are increasingly relying on integrated digital platforms that can manage complex, petabyte-scale data while ensuring compliance with stringent regulatory frameworks. DNAnexus’ platform already serves as one of the most trusted infrastructures in this space, supporting more than 60,000 registered users across 48 countries and managing 125 petabytes of multiomic datasets, including genomic, proteomic, clinical, and imaging data.
By strengthening its executive team, DNAnexus is signaling both an operational commitment to scale and a strategic vision to lead the next phase of digital transformation in healthcare. The appointments also reflect the company’s focus on aligning technology innovation with the evolving needs of its biopharma partners—many of whom are investing heavily in AI to accelerate drug discovery, clinical development, and precision diagnostics.
Welcoming Pieter De Leenheer: A Proven Data and AI Innovator
Dr. Pieter De Leenheer brings to DNAnexus a formidable background as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and computer scientist. Over the past two decades, he has consistently worked at the intersection of data, AI, and enterprise-scale technologies. His experience spans from founding and scaling software companies to mentoring startups and advising international organizations on data intelligence strategies.
Most notably, De Leenheer co-founded Collibra, a global leader in data intelligence, where he served as Chief Science Officer. Under his guidance, Collibra scaled to serve more than 500 enterprise customers worldwide and raised more than $600 million in venture funding. His deep expertise in data governance, AI integration, and large-scale enterprise adoption uniquely position him to guide DNAnexus’ technology infrastructure at a time when peta-scale data management is becoming a cornerstone of precision medicine.
Beyond Collibra, De Leenheer has held senior technology leadership roles at 1upHealth, a health data platform company, and ZenOptics, an analytics catalog and governance software provider. His academic credentials further underscore his thought leadership, with teaching and research positions at Harvard Business School, Columbia University, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Additionally, he serves as an advisor to the European Commission, contributing his expertise on global data initiatives.
Reflecting on his new role, De Leenheer expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities ahead:
“This is an exciting time to join DNAnexus as we are at the center of realizing the full potential of peta-scale data management infrastructure that connects researchers with multimodal clinico-genomic data, advanced tools, and AI. I am eager to collaborate with this talented team to scale our platform innovations and enable our growing customer base to better integrate their healthcare data and extract value to fuel precision medicine workflows.”
As CTO, De Leenheer is expected to lead DNAnexus’ technology vision, with an emphasis on expanding the platform’s AI-driven capabilities, optimizing data pipelines for speed and accuracy, and building infrastructure that can seamlessly integrate the rapidly evolving landscape of omics and clinical data.
Introducing Todd Oakland: Bridging Science and Biopharma Strategy
Joining DNAnexus as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Biopharma Business Dx/Rx, Dr. Todd Oakland brings extensive experience in precision oncology, real-world data solutions, and advanced analytics. His career trajectory demonstrates a consistent focus on building solutions that deliver actionable insights to pharmaceutical and diagnostic organizations.
Most recently, Oakland served as Vice President and Product Lead at ConcertAI, where he played a pivotal role in developing and deploying AI-powered software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms for precision oncology. His work at ConcertAI helped biopharma and diagnostic partners unlock the potential of real-world evidence, enabling better decision-making across drug development and commercialization. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Aitia and GNS Healthcare, both of which are recognized for pioneering the use of AI and analytics in life sciences.
Oakland’s academic and research background is equally impressive. He earned a PhD in Virology from the University of Chicago, where his research contributed to understanding viral mechanisms and disease progression. He also holds an MPH in Quantitative Methods from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a BS in Molecular Biology from Purdue University. His early career in academia included research and teaching positions at the University of Chicago and Harvard, where he honed his skills at the intersection of science, data, and public health.
Speaking about his new role at DNAnexus, Oakland emphasized the transformative role of next-generation technologies:
“Recent advancements in multiomic, single-cell, and imaging technologies are accelerating the arrival of next-generation precision health data, and DNAnexus is at the forefront of this transformation. We’re developing scalable tools and workflows that span therapeutic areas, empowering our biopharma partners to manage data complexity, uncover critical insights, and drive actionable outcomes.”
Oakland’s appointment underscores DNAnexus’ strategic intent to expand its biopharma business, bridging cutting-edge data technologies with the specific demands of drug developers, diagnostics innovators, and healthcare providers. His focus will likely be on ensuring that DNAnexus’ platform evolves to meet the nuanced requirements of real-world evidence generation, regulatory compliance, and clinical utility.
The New Role of George Asimenos: From AI Leadership to Product Strategy
In addition to these external appointments, DNAnexus announced a key internal transition. Dr. George Asimenos, who previously served as Chief AI Officer, has now stepped into the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO). This move reflects the company’s prioritization of aligning AI innovation with long-term product strategy and market adoption.
Asimenos has been a driving force behind DNAnexus’ AI initiatives, leading efforts to integrate machine learning and advanced analytics into the platform. Under his leadership, DNAnexus recently introduced the GenAI-powered Omics Data Assistant, which is now available in early access. The tool is designed to simplify discovery workflows for non-technical users by providing intuitive, AI-assisted analysis of complex multiomic datasets. By taking on the CPO role, Asimenos will now focus on the broader strategic vision of DNAnexus’ platform, ensuring that innovations like the Omics Data Assistant align with customer needs and long-term industry trends.
CEO Thomas Laur emphasized the importance of these leadership moves:
“I’m thrilled to welcome both Pieter and Todd to the DNAnexus executive team. They bring outstanding leadership experience and a deep understanding of the complex challenges facing our industry. Their expertise will be instrumental to continue to advance our long-term AI and platform innovation strategies as we grow our biopharma business and further precision health for all.”
DNAnexus at the Forefront of Precision Health
Founded with a vision to transform biomedical research and healthcare through data, DNAnexus has become a critical partner for organizations navigating the complexities of precision medicine. Its cloud-based enterprise platform provides a secure, scalable, and compliant environment where researchers and clinicians can analyze, integrate, and interpret vast datasets. By meeting the highest standards of data quality, security, privacy, and regulatory compliance, DNAnexus has established itself as a trusted infrastructure for innovation across the healthcare ecosystem.
The company’s momentum has been fueled by the growing demand for solutions that can handle the explosion of data generated by next-generation sequencing, multiomics, single-cell technologies, and digital health tools. For biopharma companies, managing and extracting insights from such data is no longer optional—it is mission-critical for accelerating drug discovery pipelines, identifying biomarkers, and tailoring therapies to individual patients.
DNAnexus’ continued innovation, such as the GenAI-powered Omics Data Assistant, illustrates its focus on democratizing access to data insights. By lowering the technical barriers for users, the platform enables broader collaboration across interdisciplinary teams, ultimately accelerating the pace of scientific discovery.
A Platform for the Future
The leadership announcements mark the beginning of a new chapter for DNAnexus. With De Leenheer driving technology strategy, Oakland strengthening biopharma engagement, and Asimenos aligning product vision, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the convergence of AI, data integration, and precision health. The next phase of DNAnexus’ growth will likely center on:
- AI-driven insights: Expanding the role of generative AI and machine learning in healthcare research and clinical decision-making.
- Multiomic integration: Building tools that can seamlessly unify genomic, proteomic, imaging, and clinical datasets.
- Biopharma collaboration: Strengthening partnerships with pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies to accelerate the translation of data into therapies.
- Global expansion: Supporting an increasingly international customer base with infrastructure that meets local regulatory and compliance standards.
- User accessibility: Continuing to develop solutions, like the Omics Data Assistant, that make advanced analytics accessible to non-specialists.
As precision medicine evolves from vision to reality, DNAnexus is positioning itself as an indispensable enabler of this transformation. Its platform not only powers research but also supports the operational frameworks needed to bring data-driven therapies to patients worldwide.
DNAnexus’ recent leadership appointments represent more than a reshuffling of titles—they reflect a deliberate and forward-looking strategy to cement the company’s leadership in precision health and biopharma innovation. By bringing together experts in data intelligence, AI, and biopharma solutions, the company is equipping itself to navigate the complexities of an industry where data is the most valuable currency.
With its robust platform, expanding executive team, and unwavering commitment to advancing precision health, DNAnexus is poised to play a central role in shaping the future of AI-powered medicine and biopharma collaboration.
