Douglas Friedman is CEO of BioMADE. In founding BioMADE, Doug seeks to secure the growth of the U.S. industrial biomanufacturing ecosystem and advance the non-health bioeconomy. He also serves as consultant (special government employee) at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy focused on a broad range of policy matters in non-health biotechnology and biomanufacturing as drivers for economic growth and opportunities in national security. His primary scientific and technical interests lie in the fields of synthetic biology, industrial biomanufacturing, and modern biotechnology. Doug's policy interests include development of sustainable biotechnology, safeguarding the bioeconomy, and accelerating technical advancement by building diverse, robust community partnerships. He regularly serves as a subject matter expert on emerging biotechnologies, biotechnology policy, and national security topics at the interface of the biological and chemical sciences, including the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry & Security Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee. Prior to BioMADE, Doug was the founding Executive Director and President of Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). Prior to EBRC, he was a study director and senior program officer with the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine where his focus was at the interface of chemistry and biology with a frequent focus on national security matters. Earlier in his career, Doug performed research in physical organic chemistry and chemical biology in academia and industry. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University and a B.S. in Chemical Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Melanie Tomczak is BioMADE’s Head of Programs and Chief Technology Officer. Her scientific expertise is in co-opting what nature does well through biotechnology, biochemistry, and biosensor development. To her role as CTO, Melanie brings expertise in building diverse technical teams to tackle complicated projects and achieve program goals. Prior to joining BioMADE in 2022, she was Director of Biological and Nanoscale Technologies at UES, Inc. During her tenure at UES, Melanie grew the “bio group” from 5 to 95 employees through winning competitive Air Force Research Laboratory on-site contracts repeatedly as well as being awarded 15+ Small Business Innovation Research grants from agencies including NIH, USDA, EPA, DTRA, DARPA and Army. She was a founding governing council member of the Nano Bio Manufacturing Consortium (NBMC) and served as Co-Chair of the Technical Working Group, and was active with several Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. Dr. Tomczak was a postdoctoral fellow in Biochemistry at Queen’s University, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of California – Davis, where she was an NSF-sponsored Plant Cell Biology Trainee, and a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was both a Hugh Morrison Scholar and a Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholar.

Dr. Genya Dana is BioMADE’s Chief Strategy and Bioeconomic Development Officer. Her expertise centers on working with governments and C-suite leaders to set the strategic direction for new initiatives that drive cutting-edge science and technology into complex systems. Prior to joining BioMADE, she served as Chief Health Strategy Officer at Avellino, a young genomics biotech company in Menlo Park, CA, where she built partnerships that sourced the investment, research assets, and technology partners to enable the company to grow and pivot into new commercial areas. Prior to this C-suite role, she spent five years at the Swiss-based World Economic Forum building multi-stakeholder programs and partnerships to catalyse sustainable and innovative uptake of new technologies, financial models, and treatment options to improve health and well-being globally. She also served as a scientific advisor on emerging technologies to diplomats and foreign policy officials at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, while negotiating agreements on science, technology and innovation in multi-lateral organizations like the United Nations. She has degrees in biology, public policy, and risk assessment, and conducted her PhD research in South Africa.

Dr. Jack Starr is BioMADE’s Chief Manufacturing Officer, where he is driving the development and deployment of a network of between 12 and 15 pilot- to intermediate-scale bioindustrial manufacturing facilities. Jack will oversee site selection, design, construction, and operations for the national network.

Jack joined BioMADE from Cargill, where his professional expertise centered on process development, piloting, and the deployment of advanced solutions for manufacturing. Starr also spent ten years at NatureWorks, a Cargill joint venture that was a pioneer in biomanufacturing with the development of polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic made from renewable resources. This work culminated in building a lactic acid plant that provides the raw materials to NatureWork’s PLA manufacturing facility in Nebraska.

He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.

Thomas Tubon is the Chief Workforce Development Officer for BioMADE. Prior to his appointment with BioMADE, he served as a Professor in the Biotechnology Program at Madison Area Technical College for 13 years. During this time, he led several National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education initiatives to establish and scale an emerging technology program in Stem Cells and Cell Manufacturing and directed a National Coordination Network in Advanced Manufacturing of Cell and Tissue Products. While at Madison College, Dr. Tubon was responsible for the development of bioscience workforce and strategic implementation of programs for local, regional, and national-level adoption and scale-up. In this role, he has facilitated the creation of a broad network of industry, community, and academic stakeholders designed to foster career pathways in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Dr. Tubon also serves as a mentor with the NSF ATE Mentor Connect and Project Vision Programs. 

Dr. Tubon held leadership roles with the NSF ATE InnovATEBIO Center for Biotechnology Education, and the NSF Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) Center with a focus on education, workforce development, and strategic partnerships. Dr. Tubon holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Stony Brook University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a BS in Molecular Biology from San Diego State University.