Oliver J. Ratcliffe, Ph.D., M.B.A. - CEO

Oliver co-founded genXtraits with Dr. Hellens and Dr. Libby, and currently serves as the firm's CEO. He is an executive leader with more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector. He also serves on the Boards of Clue Genetics Inc. and Bene Seeds, Inc. Oliver has a deep network of professional contacts, including amongst the investment community, and a proven track record in attracting financing, building innovation teams, and executing transactions. From 2014-2019, Oliver was Vice President of Business Development at Koch Biological Solutions, a business unit within Koch Industries focused on biologically based agricultural inputs. Before Koch, Oliver was on the executive team of Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President of R&D for more than a decade and then President, immediately prior to the sale of Mendel's R&D operations in 2014. Whilst at Mendel, Oliver led a research team of more than 70 scientists and was responsible for large funded collaborations with both Monsanto and Bayer Crop Science. Oliver has both a technology background as well as a formal business training. He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics from the John Innes Centre at the University of East Anglia in the UK and an executive MBA from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University. Oliver is a dual UK-US citizen who is primarily based in California.

Roger Hellens, Ph.D. - Chief Technology Officer

Roger is a co-founder of genXtraits and the inventor of novel genome mining algorithms which form the core of the company’s technology platform. A well-recognized specialist in the field of post-transcriptional gene regulation, he has 30 years of experience of leading applied research in the life sciences sector, spanning the areas of molecular biology, bioinformatics, genetics, cell biology and crop breeding.

Roger currently holds the position of Chief Technology Officer at the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre (KBC) in New Zealand, where he is spearheading the adoption of modern genomics tools to accelerate the discovery of new kiwifruit varieties. Before joining the KBC, Roger was the General Manager – Forest to Timber Products at Scion, the New Zealand institute for forestry, where he helped to set up the New Zealand Timber Design Centre. Prior to Scion, Roger was Professor of Agricultural Biotechnology and the Deputy Executive Director of the Institute for Future Environments (IFE) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where he helped establish Australia’s National tree genomics program.

Roger received doctoral and postdoctoral training at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, where he developed the first genetic maps of peas (including his PhD on the molecular basis of Mendel’s white flower phenotype). He also established the pGreen plant transformation vector and studied gene silencing (RNAi) in petunia. Roger received a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of East Anglia in 1995 and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Liverpool in 1989.

Christian Ibarra, Ph.D. - Director, Product Development

Christian is a plant molecular biologist and trait development specialist with over 20 years of experience in molecular biology, assay development, greenhouse trials, and plant biotechnology. He is also the General Manager of our sister seed company, Bene Seeds Inc., where he oversees daily operations and leads the company’s breeding strategy, focusing on developing high-value tomatoes with exceptional flavor and shelf life.

With a strong background in building and scaling startup companies, Christian has played a key role in the growth of several biotechnology ventures in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Pivot Bio, he designed and implemented plant physiology experiments to assess product efficacy in the company’s pipeline and managed high-value projects with industry partners. At Sound Agriculture, he helped grow the company from a small four-person operation into a thriving organization. As the leader of the chemistry screening platform, he discovered and launched Source™, a product now on the market.

Christian earned his Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied the epigenetic regulation of seed development. He then completed his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Davis, translating Arabidopsis research into barley and wheat.

Omer Ayfer - Head of Information Technology

Omer currently runs a consulting business that offers fractional CIO services for startup companies, with a focus on information security and cloud based infrastructure. He has spent the last decade in “head of IT” roles at several biotechnology organizations ranging from molecular diagnostics to agriculture. Previously he was a programmer working on improving the interface between scientists and compute resources. In addition, Omer is a frequent speaker at executive education programs offered by the Haas School of Business in Berkeley, and is an Adjunct Professor at Merritt College where he teaches a variety of courses in the premier cybersecurity program at the community college level. He holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Purdue University. When not in front of a computer, he can be found cooking elaborate meals with his two sons and wife in Oakland, California.

Jeff Libby, Ph.D. - Head of Intellectual Property

Jeff brings many years of patent management to our unique IP estate. He is a patent professional adept in bringing together science and strategy to develop a robust intellectual property portfolio. In his prior role at Mendel Biotechnology, Jeff fostered a broad range of US and international patents for gene trait technology in crops. Jeff has a background in biochemistry and microbial genetics and holds a PhD in the field of microbiology from Cornell University. Following his graduate studies, he was a member of the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at Miami University. His research interests concerned the study of virulence factors and the detection and analysis of pathogens using silicon-based biosensors. After switching gears to the corporate world, he has spent several decades in early-stage life sciences companies. After roles in R&D leadership, Jeff entered the field of patent law and was appointed to the position of Director of the Patent Group at Mendel Biotechnology in Hayward, California. Jeff also brings some eclectic mycological experience to the company, as he regularly consults for a group making Rhone-style wines.

Andrew MacBride - Head of Computational Biology and Genomics

Andrew brings extensive experience in the areas of computational biology, genomics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, and has led the development of computational platforms for genomic analysis at Station X (later acquired by Roche), Veracyte, and Convergent Genomics. He is a two-time startup founder, with 30 years of previous experience at Sun Microsystems, Apple, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and Workday. Andrew holds a BA in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, graduate certificates in both Bioinformatics and Nanoscale Materials Science from Stanford University, and will complete his MSc in Nanomedicine from the University of Oxford in 2024.