Emily Winn-Deen, PhD '74

Dr. Winn-Deen received her B.S. in Chemistry from Lehigh University and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Boston University, has over 45 years of experience in diagnostics and genomics product development, and is an inventor on 38 issued and 11 pending US patents.  At the end of 2023 she retired as senior vice-president, diagnostics strategy for Mercy BioAnalytics, a start-up company working to develop blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer.

Additional executive experience includes serving as president of Rx Dx Advisors, a diagnostics and life sciences consulting company, where she focused on assisting clients with bringing cutting edge molecular diagnostics to market, chief strategy officer and advisor for Mesa Biotech, a start-up company focused on delivering simplified molecular diagnostic solutions for point-of-care applications, vice president of research services at AltheaDx, and vice president for diagnostics product development at Illumina. Previously she was vice president for both business development and genetics and oncology R&D at Cepheid and senior director of the genomics business area at Roche Molecular Systems. Dr. Winn-Deen’s molecular experience also includes directing the high throughput genotyping laboratory at Celera Genomics, developing the Applied Biosystems cystic fibrosis assay, and directing diagnostics R&D at Oncor, Inc. Her earlier career included development of clinical chemistry reagents, urinalysis strips, and immunoassays for several Siemens Healthcare business units.

Dr. Winn-Deen has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on funded grants from the NIST Advanced Technology Program, the National Cancer Institute, and the US Department of Defense, and on grant review committees for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the National Cancer Institute.  

Dr. Winn-Deen received the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Northern California Section’s Harold Van Remortel Service Award (1993), their Outstanding Contribution to Clinical Chemistry through Science and Technology Award (2006), and AACC’s Outstanding Speaker Award (1997). Other awards include Behring Diagnostics’ Customer Acceptance Award (1981) and Behring Award (1985), and Applera Corporation’s Inventor Award (2001). In recognition of her career achievements, she was elected a Fellow in the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry in 2000.

Professional volunteer activities include serving on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS) (2003-2006), on the Centers for Disease Control’s Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee (CLIAC) (2007-2011) and as vice-chair of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Expert Panel on Molecular Methods (2015-2018) where she was involved in writing consensus guidelines for clinical molecular testing. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics and the Dean’s Advisory council for the Lehigh University College of Health.