Michael Rice, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Mike Rice became president and chief executive officer and a member of our Board of Directors in August 2006, and Chairman in August 2007. He has more than 20 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the medical and high tech industries. He was most recently the senior business development manager for medical and wireless products at AMI Semiconductor (NASDAQ:AMIS). Mr. Rice also served as the director of marketing and business development at Cardiac Science, Inc., a manufacturer of automated external defibrillators. Prior to that, he was the Vice President, Sales and Marketing for TEGRIS Corporation, a privately held network services provider. Mr. Rice also spent 12 years at Physio Control Corporation in several sales and marketing management roles prior to its acquisition by Medtronic Inc.
Aby J. Mathew, Ph.D.
Sr. Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Mathew was part of the founding team of BioLife Solutions, and is a co-developer of BioLife’s biopreservation media solutions. He is a co-inventor on multiple issued and pending patents related to methods, devices, and formulations for the preservation of cells, tissues, and organs. He holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences within the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology Program from Binghamton University and a B.S. in Microbiology from Cornell University. Dr. Mathew has been researching low temperature biopreservation since 1994, and his studies contributed to the development of BioLife’s current commercial HypoThermosol and CryoStor product platforms and intellectual property foundation. Dr. Mathew was part of the scientific team that linked cell death via apoptosis (programmed cell death) to exposure to hypothermic and/or freezing temperatures. These discoveries were integral to the development of BioLife’s improved intracellular-like biopreservation solutions, and also contributed to improvements in cryosurgical ablation of cancer. Dr. Mathew is currently active in, or previously a member of, the International Society for Cell Therapy (ISCT), AABB (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks), BEST (the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion collaborative), Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), Society for Cryobiology , International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), American Society for Cell Biology, and the Society for In Vitro Biology.
Mark Sandifer
Vice President of Quality
Mark’s background is in drug development and clinical administration. He has more than ten years of experience in quality assurance. His keen interest in how the quality aspects of our products support cell therapies comes from his work with Georgetown University Medical Center’s bone marrow transplant program in association with the National Marrow Donor Program. He directed BioLife’s effort in achieving ISO 13485:2003 certification and led the team effort in ISO 14644 qualification of BioLife’s GMP production facility. Mark holds an M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University.
Daphne Taylor
Vice President, Finance & Administration, Chief Financial Officer
Daphne Taylor has served as Vice President, Finance & Administration, and Chief Financial Officer since August 2011. She has 20 years experience as a finance professional. Prior to joining BioLife, Ms. Taylor served as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Cardiac Science Corporation from November 2005 through January 2009. From April 2002 through November 2005, she held various positions, including Vice President and Corporate Controller for LookSmart, a publicly held Internet technology company. In 2001, Ms. Taylor was Controller at SpeedTrak Communications and prior to that she was Controller for ViroLogic, a publicly held biotechnology company. Ms. Taylor held various finance positions at Core-Mark International, a distribution company, from 1996 to 2000. From 1991 to 1994, she was in public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand and is a licensed CPA. Ms. Taylor holds a B.A. in Management/Accounting from Sonoma State University, California.
Joe Annicchiarico, Director of Manufacturing
Joe joined BioLife Solutions in December 2011 after serving for six years at MediQuest Therapeutics, Inc. in Bothell, Washington, where he was an integral part of the company’s first NDA filing. He spearheaded process scale-up and validation efforts, patent protection, and clinical trial supply chain management. His tenure at MediQuest included time as a Scientist, Formulation Manager, and most recently, as Director of Manufacturing and Clinical Supplies. Prior to his tenure at MediQuest, he worked in speciality chemical sales at Drummond American and spent four years as a formulation development Chemist at a pair of personal care products companies in New Jersey. Joe earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1997.
