Our people
We are a diverse team, passionate about using genetic and information technologies to change the world.
Our team are
passionate specialists committed experts
With over 20 years of expertise in genomic science, our team provides genomic leadership and research-driven biological, DNA-based, and genomic analysis services for commercial and research applications.
Many of our team members have been awarded Master’s level degrees and PhD’s for their study and work in plant and molecular biology, population genetics, organic chemistry, biotechnology, locus identification, genome complexity reduction methods, and computational genomics.
With our combined expertise and experience, our team is passionate about exchanging information and knowledge sharing to make a lasting difference in creating a sustainable future through genomic sciences.
Meet some of our team members below, or find out more about our research.
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Meet some of our experts
Andrzej Kilian
Andrzej founded DArT in 2001, based on his invention of Diversity Arrays Technology. He is passionate about helping farmers, breeders, scientists and ecologists to monitor and improve the performance of agriculture, biodiversity and the use of natural resources. He strongly believes that the things we can achieve at DArT put us in a position to do something positive for the people of the world, to promote global food security and more sustainable agricultural and environmental practices.
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Gavin Tomlins
Gavin is our CIO. Awarded nationally for Thought, Leadership, and Innovation within ICT, he has a wealth of experience in systems integration, infrastructure and solutions, both in the cloud and on-premises. He advocates for Open Source and believes in the collaboration principle of sharing ideas and information to underpin modern scientific and innovation processes. Gavin strongly believes in the DArT vision and its goal to improve the world.
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Dr Adriane Machado
Adriane coordinates our day-to-day operations with a focus on our strategic goals and long-term vision. She leads our laboratory operations, coordinating the workflows, training staff, and providing consultancy services to clients. With a PhD in Plant Molecular Biology and over twenty years of experience leading science and laboratory operational projects, she drives the development and implementation of new technologies to improve productivity and elevate the quality of DArT laboratory services.
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Dr Kasia Heller-Uszynska
With a master’s degree in plant population genetics and a PhD in plant molecular biology, Kasia helped to develop the microarray platforms on which DArT was founded, and now plays a vital role in managing the workflow and reporting of DArTseq services, improving the analytical pipeline, continuing Research and Development and Quality Control, while developing DArT targeted genotyping and contributing to automation of lab processes.
George Huang
George is part of the team that develops our KDDart Applications. He develops front end web interfaces to improve the user experience. He has worked as a Digital Consultant in the marketing and communications space and studied Information Technology.
Grzegorz Uszynski
Grzegorz has been with DArT from the start, as the first IT employee. He has since been instrumental in the development of DArTdb, our Laboratory Information Management System, the plant breeding / variety evaluation system, the environmental/GIS components, and various other software tools and libraries. He has a master’s degree in Landscape Geography and has studied Environmental Sciences.
Puthick Hok
Puthick studied computing and is a fan of GNU/Linux. At DArT, Puthick is in charge of the development of the Data Access Layer for our Knowledge Discovery and Delivery system KDDart, which is a data integration platform connecting phenotypic, genotypic and environmental data in relational databases. He also has expert knowledge of compost, worm casting and biochar to boost soil productivity in regenerative agriculture.
Dr Vidushi Patel
Vidushi is our Senior Laboratory Officer, working in both our Laboratory and Administration areas. With a PhD in Molecular Biology, she assists in optimising DNA extraction from various species, and is also the main contact at DArT for clients with questions about sample requirements and submissions. She also handles CITIES permits, sample receivables and the ordering of supplies.
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Ling Xia
Ling has been with DArT almost since the company began 21 years ago. With Bachelors and Masters degrees in environmental chemistry and a PhD in organic chemistry, Ling has been integral in the development of DArT genotyping services. She has run over a thousand sequencing runs, and works in library preparation, and quantity and quality assessment for DArTseq and DArTag genotyping.
Reuben Durham
Reuben has expertise across many disciplines at DArT. In addition to his career as a music composer and recording engineer, he has built skills in the whole process of DNA sequencing, and other lab operations. After working on some of the in-house software tools, he is now engaged in software development for the OneDArT Product Platform.
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Cina Vipin
With a bachelor’s degree in Botany, a master's in Biotechnology, and PhD studies on locus identification for Pleiochaeta setosa in white lupin, Cina is an invaluable member of the DArT team. She works predominantly in various aspects of the Genotyping by Sequencing workflow but is also involved at DArT in various aspects of Quality Management and Work Health and Safety.
Bianca Mauch
With a Bachelor of Business in Accounting, and a background in Finance and Administration, Bianca is responsible for DArT’s entire financial department, while also performing a range of business administrative tasks.
Faisal Pirzad
Faisal is a very versatile member of our DArT team. He has degrees in Medicine and Medical Science, and his tasks include managing incoming genotyping services and assisting across all areas including DNA extraction, library preparation, Next Generation Sequencing, Research and Development, training new and existing staff, and automation.
Maureen Kariuki
Maureen’s expertise is in the areas of genomic quality control of DNA samples, both those extracted internally and externally, library preparation and next-generation sequencing. With both bachelor's and master's degrees in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Maureen is highly experienced in all aspects of lab operations, research & development, spectral soil, feed & leaf testing and analysis, technical reporting and training.
Michelle Guo
We certainly have a wide diversity of expertise within our team at DArT, and Michelle is no exception, with both a Bachelor of Applied Science in Forensic Studies and a Bachelor of Clothing Design and Engineering! Michelle is a laboratory technician working mainly in the area of DNA extraction, while training in our DArTreseq and DNA-methylation services.
Matthew Sellers
Matthew’s background is in Information Technology and Electronics, Microelectronic engineering and Information Technology, and he holds a Bachelor of Information Technology. Matthew performs general and embedded programming as well as equipment maintenance and electronic design.
Dr Anyu Zhu
Anyu (Andy) has expertise in molecular biology, bioinformatics and plant genetics, genomics and epigenetics - and is currently working with other R&D team members to develop and test new DArT products.
Sissi Vulling
Sissi is a biologist with skills in the field, wildlife, and research biology. She has a bachelor's in biology and a master's degree in behaviour, evolution, and conservation. At DArT, Sissi is part of our lab team and works on creating and preparing libraries for sequencing, collaborating from DNA to Target quality workflows, as well as working in our next-generation sequencing workflow. She has particular interests in conservation, ecology, and sustainability.
Jenish Aryal
With a degree in Information Technology, Jenish is gaining professional experience as a member of the DArT team. Jenish has a passion for learning how we can use technology to transform people’s lives.
Andrew Kowalczyk
Andrew works for DArT as a Bioinformatician developing applications for downstream data analysis. Also, as a Software Engineer, he develops user-friendly GUIs and applications to deliver custom implemented tools for non-technical users. Andrew holds degrees in Software Engineering and Statistics from the University of Melbourne.
Annabel Lloyd
Annabel is one of our DArT Laboratory Technicians, working in the areas of DNA extraction, target and genomic quality control, and laboratory maintenance. With strong interests in chemistry and biology, she has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology majoring in Forensic Psychology, and is now working towards a Bachelor of Applied Science in Forensic Studies.
Justin Millsteed
Since graduating with a degree in Environmental Science, Justin has worked in the IT space, particularly in the area of Environmental Data.
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Kaiman Peng
Kaiman is a senior scientist who has played a key role in the research and innovation development of the original Diversity Arrays microarray technology, DArTreseq and DArTmethylseqTM technology. Kaiman manages the workflow and quality control of DArTreseq and DArTmethylseq, and supports the testing and optimisation of DArTseq and Targeted Genotyping. Kaiman has an undergraduate degree in microbiology, a master's degree in molecular biology and a PhD in plant molecular biology.
Thao Vu
With a degree in Software Engineering, specialising in Web and Application Development, Thao started at DArT as an intern, learning both back-end and front-end development. She has a strong interest in mentoring students, especially women, both in university and the workforce.
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Angus Boyes
Before any work can be done on the DNA sent to us by our clients, Angus and his fellow genomic quality control technicians check that it is up to standard. He is currently studying for a Bachelor's degree in science, specialising in genetics, and has keen interests in research and development, limiting the effects of genetic disease, and the creative pursuit of xenogenetics - alien DNA!
Taylor Politch
Since joining the DArT team in early 2018, Taylor has worked in many capacities across the company. With a degree in International Business and a Masters in Information Technology and Systems, Taylor’s highlights at DArT have included developing and improving user guides, and supporting testing projects for the software development team, with a particular focus on mobile data collection applications. He also works with the quality team, helping maintain high standards and fostering continuous improvement across all DArT domains.
Dr Damian Jaccoud
Damian was involved in the development of some of the original Diversity Arrays microarray technology.With his background in biochemistry and molecular biology, Damian’s PhD work explored genome complexity reduction methods for rice and mouse, both in the lab and in-silico. His interests include marker designs, disease detection, innovative R&D, and metagenomic analysis methods.
Jason Carling
Jason has played a key role in the development of the principle tools for marker data generation and the sequencing library methods for DArTseq, Targeted Genotyping and DArTreseq. With the analytics team, he has a focus on the creation of new automated pipelines for provision of the company’s data services and the integration of these services in the One DArT domain, combining data storage and analytics for high volume, high throughput applications.
Qiao Wang
Qiao specialises in data analysis using cost-effective computational tools for biological knowledge discovery. His background includes expertise in GPU computing, machine learning and genomics, and he holds a PhD in computational biology.”
Colleen Hopper
With a Diploma in Management and having studied Laboratory Technology Pathology Testing, Colleen is a valued member of the DArT team. Colleen has been involved in the operation of our previous microarray facilities and currently supports our laboratory operations, administration and finance teams.
Richard Campbell
Richard is currently working on a PhD in computational genomics, to complement a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science, with a first class honours in mathematics. He has spent more than a decade researching and applying statistical and computational methods to uncover disease signals in human disease datasets. For DArT, he works on developing and applying machine learning methods to predicting trait outcomes in agricultural breeding programs.
Zayne Tomlins
Zayne Tomlins brings a strong sense of social responsibility to his role on the OneDArT platform team. An alumnus of Generation Innovation, Zayne’s background before joining DArT was in QGIS and Geospatial Data. In his current role, he focuses on cloud technologies and solutions development as a member of the OneDArT platform team. His creativity and passion for software and technology design drive his innovative approach to problem-solving and development.
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Evan Kelly-Johnston
Evan Kelly-Johnston is well known for his enthusiastic and positive ‘can-do’ attitude. As a passionate technology evangelist, Evan is a key member of the OneDArT team, working as a solutions developer writing both frontend and backend solutions for solution modules of the OneDArT platform. His team won first place at the Canberra Innovation Network’s Open Source Hackathon. Evan embraces challenges in his work and, with a growth mindset, is passionate about learning and always strives to apply the knowledge he gains to his work at DArT.
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Brenton Keats
With a passion for software design and system integration, Brenton is committed to creating "clean-code" for both backend and frontend solutions for the OneDArT Product Platform. Maintaining a growth mindset and an enthusiasm for problem-solving, no task is too hard for him to take up. He brings valuable experience in scale, enterprise, workflow automation and customer support services to his work. Currently, Brenton is completing a Bachelor of Information Technology to further enhance his skills and better serve DArT and its clients.
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Looking for your next career opportunity?
We welcome team members who want to work with us to further our mission. This might be across our laboratory work, IT development, or research, and may include long term collaboration or employment, or just casual contact on a short visit.
