The Pangea Team
COVID-19 PCR Testing at Pangea
Laboratory
Pangea Team
At the core of Pangea Laboratory is not just innovative technology or state-of-the-art facilities; it is our group of passionate individuals who are deeply committed to redefining the future of healthcare diagnostics. Our team is a blend of visionary scientists, dedicated technicians, and compassionate healthcare advocates with a shared purpose: to ensure that every individual has uncompromised access to the best of non-invasive medical testing.
Our journey began with a simple but profound vision: to bridge the diagnostic chasm that exists across various communities. We realized that for healthcare to truly be inclusive, diagnostic solutions needed to be not just accurate but also accessible and convenient. That’s why our team has poured countless hours into developing groundbreaking remote sample collection methods and pairing them with innovative non-invasive testing solutions in the fields of oncology and infectious disease.
As we move forward, our goal remains unwavering: to democratize healthcare and make it more human-centered.
Management & Board of Directors
Larry (Xi-Yu) Jia
Dr. Jia received his medical degree from Suzhou Medical College, China in 1982 and his Masters in Microbiology from the Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science in 1986. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Virology before relocating to the USA.
After postdoctoral training in Virology at the University of Utah, he joined the University of California, Irvine faculty where he held numerous research and teaching positions as a virologist.
Among Dr. Jia’s notable contributions to the field of virology was his discovery of the West Nile virus in North America in 1999, highlighting the direct impact of his research on public health.
Dr. Jia founded Pangea Laboratory in 2014 and serves as CEO. He is also the founder and President of Zymo Research Corp, the leading research company in the fields of epigenetics and microbiomics. His companies made significant contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, innovating next-generation patient sample collection and transportation devices, and supplying over 100 million COVID-19 tests globally.
Yap Ching Chew
Dr. Chew is Chief Operating Officer of Pangea Laboratory, where she began as a Director in 2015 and guided the clinical testing laboratory to receiving its CLIA certification and CAP accreditation.
Prior to this she held pivotal roles at Zymo Research Corporation, a globally established biotechnology company, entering as a Scientist in 2012 and rising to Director of Epigenetics Technologies by 2014. She previously held roles at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and was a Research Assistant at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, where she also earned her BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Molecular Nutrition.
With over 21 years in epigenetics and molecular biology, Dr. Chew led the creation of key epigenetic products at Zymo Research Corp., and currently spearheads the commercialization of our novel diagnostic testing in oncology and infectious diseases.
Scientists
Anna Nguyen
PhD
Dr. Nguyen is a Scientist at Pangea Laboratory, where she leads the Research and Development Engineering team. Her expertise lies in the fields of Lab-on-a-Chip, Microfluidics, and Point-of-Care testing. Prior to joining Pangea Laboratory, D. Nguyen conducted a one-year Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture and Bioresources in Canada. She earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada, with a minor specialization in Nanotechnology. Additionally, Dr. Nguyen earned a BASc in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York – Binghamton University.
Kaitlyn Redford
PhD
Dr. Redford is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Pangea Laboratory, working extensively with the PrecisionBIOME next-generation sequencing assay. She earned her BS in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, researching microbial physiology in Dr. Jeffrey Gralnick’s lab. Before her Ph.D., she worked at the University of California, Santa Cruz, exploring microbial communities in groundwater and the impact of permeable barriers on bacteria growth at Dr. Chad Saltikov’s lab. She completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, with an emphasis on biophysics and physiology in Dr. Geoffrey Abbott’s electrophysiology lab. Her thesis examined potassium channel activation by plant-based medicines, aiming to understand their molecular therapeutic mechanisms.
Paolo Piatti
PhD
Dr. Piatti is a Project Manager at Pangea Laboratory and a Senior Scientist at Zymo Research Corp. He has 19 years of experience in the molecular biology and epigenetic fields. Originally from Italy, Dr. Piatti began his career in epigenetics at the Innsbruck Medical University where he conducted studies on the function of chromatic remodeling factors during mouse embryogenesis. Since then, he has focused his research efforts on the development of molecular and epigenetic-based assays, specifically for the early detection of cancer and other clinical conditions from non-invasive liquid biopsies.
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The Core of Pangea Laboratory
Pangea Laboratory unites visionaries and scientists dedicated to non-invasive diagnostics, from remote sample collection to early cancer detection. Merging expertise with innovation, our team is working to develop transformative solutions that will shape the future of healthcare.