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Cofactor Genomics is so much more than a resource for sequencing. We provide real solutions that generate results to make a real difference in your research.
About Cofactor
What makes Cofactor tick is the people behind the service. We offer the perfect solution for your sequencing needs so you get the most out of your experiments.
Team Profiles
Cofactor Genomics offers the absolute best value in genomic sequencing today. That's because of our unique ability to deliver more than just sequencing.
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At Cofactor, we make it as easy as possible to submit your samples. It is our goal to streamline your experiment in the most efficient manner possible.
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About Cofactor
About Us
Cofactor Genomics is not just a resource for sequencing.
We offer bookends that make the sequencing data really matter. That's our D&A™ Design & Analysis solution.
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Who is Cofactor?
Cofactor Genomics is a Contract Research Organization (CRO) that was formed in 2008 with a vision to fill a gap of beginning-to-end solutions in an industry full of ill fitted, piecemeal solutions.
Our team of experts boasts decades of collective experience working in the Technology Development Group at the Genome Center at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. We currently work with some of the largest life-science, pharmaceutical, agriculture, and biofuels companies in the world.
Cofactor is not a sequencing company. Cofactor is a client focused CRO that uses its multiple sequencing platforms and in-house bioinformaticians to execute experimental design. Our clients are professionals that demand results as opposed to requiring data. Cofactor has completed more than 3,000 projects to date and has provided unparalleled products, services, and solutions. All of our clients' projects benefit from the constant feedback process of “build, measure, learn” that is ingrained at Cofactor in our beginning-to-end service. This feedback optimization process has created our service and products, and is simply not possible in non-CRO firms that are exposed to only a small aspect of the entire process (just sample prep, just sequencing, just analysis... or even design without industry experience).
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Cofactor D&A™ is your Design & Analysis research department. The best possible result with the best possible people. There is nothing more important than designing an experiment properly, and being able to analyze the data in a useful manner. That's what Cofactor provides. A customized design and analysis approach that produces meaningful results for your research. Our years of expertise in Next-Gen sequencing combined with our bioinformatics and analysis skills give you the best possible results, no matter sample type, size, or timeframe.
Our Business
Cofactor's Business Model is unique and simple in that it is aligned with the client's specific goal of discovery from the very beginning.
Cofactor's product solutions maximize discovery, which is very different from companies that maximize data output, analysis complexity, or throughout. These goals, while important, are meaningless to Cofactor's target clients without the end goal of discovery keeping the project in focus.
Cofactor delivers on this promise by taking ownership and responsibility of all aspects of the project. The design, molecular manipulations, library work, sequencing, analysis, and identification of candidates. The key to success is the QC that happens after each step. The QC requirements evaluate complexity, quality, consistency, and other quantitative aspects that our ongoing validation studies have shown are critical to a successful discovery project. When these QC measures are not carried out or are not designed with the project goals in mind, the result is often lack of candidates. Or even worse, false positive/negative candidates. This is a unique model in our industry (type A), as most options fall into either a type B company or a type C company (ie. a sequencing only or analysis only company).
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Cofactor's R&DCofactor's business model has setup a scenario where we control, assess, and change all of the variables... a perfect platform for testing and optimizing conditions to ensure discovery. Every year Cofactor spends a minimum of 20% of its scientist's time and more than a million dollars in expenses related to testing and optimizing our discovery solutions to identify the most robust solutions to move from raw DNA/RNA to candidates. Our service solutions are the result of this testing and optimization. We spend these years and millions of dollars assessing technologies and developing the best solutions, so your team does not have to. |
Team Profiles
Key to Cofactor's success has been building the most talented and specialized team. Cofactor's Founders, Directors, and Managers all have equity in the company. When you work with us on a project, every member of the team treats your project and represent our team like it is their company... because it is.
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Dr. Jarret Glasscock Dr. Glasscock has spent the last 15 years bridging Molecular Genetics, Computer Science, and Sequencing technologies to provide insight to molecular systems.
More than a decade was spent at Washington University's Genome Sequencing Center. As lead of the Computational Biology Group at the Genome Center, Dr. Glasscock led a team of scientists to characterize and publish key NIH funded sequencing projects. In 2008 Dr. Glasscock left his faculty position in the department of genetics and part of the Genome Center's Technology Development Group to found Cofactor Genomics. He has led the company to unprecedented growth and has been a key contributor to the design and analysis of more than 800 sequencing projects Cofactor Genomics has undertaken over the last four years. |
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Jon Armstrong Jon Armstrong was a staff scientist from 2000-2009 in the Technology Development Lab at The Genome Institute at Washington University. Mr. Armstrong was instrumental in the design of molecular tools (ex. multi-locus sequence typing), for the characterization of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in organisms such as S. aureus, uropathogenic E. coli and diseases like acute myeloid leukemia. As a staff scientist he helped develop and alpha-test next-generation sequencing applications and hardware from Illumina (Solexa), Applied Biosystems, and Roche 454.
During the four years prior to joining Cofactor Genomics, Mr. Armstrong worked almost exclusively in the area of reduced representation sequencing including high-throughput PCR development and targeted sequence capture. Mr. Armstrong is recognized as an expert in the field of targeted sequence capture and most recently helped develop a technique to enrich for viral sequences from a complex sequence pool.
Mr. Armstrong joined Cofactor Genomics in 2009 as Chief Operating Officer is responsible for using Cofactor's rich resources to guide experimental design for the firm's most challenging scientific applications. |
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Dr. Sara Ahmed Dr. Ahmed joined Cofactor Genomics in April of 2011 after completing her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Northwestern University.
Dr. Ahmed's PhD work focused on gaining a better understanding of the role of DNA sequence in the three dimensional organization of genes within the nucleus. She has received training on the Illumina, Solid, 454 and Ion Torrent platforms and has expertise in library construction and sequencing across the wide spectrum of sequencing applications offered at Cofactor. In addition, Dr. Ahmed constantly strives to improve our existing product offerings while devising new library techniques to push current technologies beyond the limits specified by the most instrument providers. |
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Dr. David Messina Dr. David Messina has spent the last 16 years working in computational biology and genetics. He started his training in molecular biology and human genetics at the University of Chicago Research Cardiology unit. From there he joined the Washington University Department of Genetics and contributed to the Human Genome Project while earning a Masters degree in genetics.
During this time, David and Cofactor CEO Jarret Glasscock published a paper together defining the transcription factor genes in the human genome [7]. Subsequently, David worked for three years at the Washington University Genome Institute as a computational biologist, developing software used for annotation, assembly assessment, and comparative sequence analysis. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Erik Sonnhammer's lab in Stockholm, Sweden at the newly founded Science for Life Laboratory.
Upon completing his doctoral research in metagenomics and biological data exchange systems, Dr. Messina joined Cofactor Genomics in 2012. He currently drives the computational R&D and production efforts as Cofactor's Director of Analysis. |
"Every business is manmade. It is a result of individuals. It reflects the personalities and the business philosophy of the founders and those who have directed its affairs throughout its existence. If you want to have an understanding of any business, it is important to know the background of the people who started it and directed its past and the hopes and ambitions of those who are planning its future." - T. Rowe
Advisory Board
The Cofactor Advisory Board consists of Scientists, Economists, Entrepreneurs, and experts in Business Strategy. Cofactor is extremely fortunate to have these leaders in their respective fields joining us as strategic advisors.
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Cheryl Morley Cheryl Morley retired in 2009 as Monsanto's Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy. In her 26 years with the company, she held many high-level positions, including President of Animal Agricultural Group and the New Business Lead in Plant Biotechnology. Prior to Monsanto, she worked with G.D. Searle, NutraSweet, and Nabisco.
Ms. Morley currently serves on multiple boards, including Ceres, Inc., Mercy Health System and the Missouri Botanical Garden Board of Trustees. She serves on the Strategic Advisory Board at Joule Unlimited and Pronutria.
A Certified Public Accountant, Ms. Morley earned a BSBA from the University of Arizona. |
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Dr. David Smoller Dr. Smoller is an Independent Consultant and former Chief Scientific Office of Sigma-Aldrich. In his eight years with the company, he has also served as President of Research Biotech Business Unit and Vice President of Research and Development. Prior to his work at Sigma-Aldrich, Dr. Smoller founded two successful St. Louis-based genomics companies, ProteoPlex and Genome Systems, Inc., leading both through their eventual acquisitions.
Dr. Smoller earned a PhD in Molecular Biology from Emory University and completed post-doctoral fellowships at Washington University and Monsanto. |
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Dr. Samuel Chun Dr. Chun is Assistant Dean of Executive Programs at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, where he also holds the position of Senior Lecturer of Management Practice. He has been with the school for 12 years.
Prior to joining the Olin Business School, Dr. Chun was an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and has served as an economist and consultant to the United States Department of Labor.
Dr. Chun earned a PhD in Business Administration from Washington University in 1995. |
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Dr. John Leamon Dr. Leamon is Vice President, Biology at CyVek. Dr. Leamon held multiple key scientific positions prior to CyVek, most recently as Director of Technology Integration for Ion Torrent Systems through their acquisition by Life Technologies. He served as Project Lead at RainDance Technologies and Group Leader, DNA Amplification Technology at 454 Life Sciences. A leader in the development of next-generation sequencing technology, he is a co-inventor on five published patents.
Dr. Leamon earned a PhD in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Connecticut and conducted postdoctoral research at Yale School of Medicine. |
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Rob Goltermann Rob Goltermann is Director at DCM Group, a full service real estate development and management company. Mr. Goltermann has been in commercial real estate for the past 11 years and has developed a niche with technology pharmaceutical, and biotech related companies. He develops and owns spaces that house these types of companies as well as serves as a consultant to Wexford Science & Technologies. He has served on the board of directors of Trailnet, the Urban Land Institute, and the Saint Louis University Urban Planning and Development Board. |
"I'm extremely excited to have such a talented and accomplished team joining the effort to translate the most talented and experienced team in our industry into unparalleled discovery and progress for Cofactor's target clients." - J. Glasscock, CEO