Meet Sandstone
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Sandstone’s mission is to make high quality medical testing ubiquitous by bringing centrifugation to the patient.
We are scientists, engineers, and professionals committed to solving some of healthcare’s biggest challenges with innovative technologies that empower patients and caregivers.
Meet Our Team
Gary Altman, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Gary is an accomplished CEO, COO, VP and GM with more than 20-years’ experience in start-ups and global businesses including diagnostics, therapeutics, genomics, and life sciences. Gary's past positions include roles at Beckman Coulter, Human Longevity, and Sequoia Pharmaceuticals in addition to an expansive consulting career leading business and strategy initiatives for many small to mid-sized companies. Throughout his career, Gary has launched products, led turnarounds, expanded markets, raised Angel and Venture Capital, and managed budgets up to $250M.
Greg Sommer, PhD
CoFounder and Executive Vice President
Greg has over 15 years experience developing point-of-care diagnostic tools. Prior to cofounding Sandstone, he was a Senior Research Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories where he led R&D in point-of-care diagnostic technologies for biodefense and emergency preparedness applications. Greg is a co-inventor on over 20 issued patents, a co-author on 15 peer-reviewed publications, was named a 2015 Bay Area "40 Under 40", and earned his Mechanical Engineering degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Michigan.
Ulrich Schaff, PhD
CoFounder and Chief Technology Officer
Ulrich leads design and development of Sandstone's new products from concept phase through validation and clinical trials. In addition, as a registered patent agent, he is responsible for managing and expanding Sandstone's IP portfolio. Prior to Sandstone, Ulrich was a Research Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories where he invented the SpinDx point-of-care diagnostic platform. Ulrich is an inventor on over 15 issued patents and earned his degrees in Biomedical Engineering from UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and UC Davis.
Brian Awabdy
VP of Operations and Quality
Brian is an experienced technical development and engineering leader, specializing in hands-on process and product development, continuous improvement, cross-functional project management, and engineering management. Prior to Sandstone, Brian held executive roles at Spirosure, CellScape, and Apieron where he managed a multi-year project to successfully commercialize and enhance the first biosensor-based Class II IVD medical device approved by the FDA. Brian earned his MS and BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Paul Manners
Finance Director
Kyungjin Hong, PhD
Senior Bioengineer
Kyungjin is a Biomedical Engineer with a data-driven mindset. With interdisciplinary backgrounds ranging from surface modification chemistry, nano- and microfabrication to microfluidics and biosensing, she designs and develops medical devices from early concept, prototyping, testing to production. As an ardent learner, Kyungjin is always seeking new learning opportunities and enjoys wearing different “new” hats at Sandstone. Kyungjin earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from UC Davis.
Gabriella Iacovetti
Associate Scientist
Gabriella’s primary role is leading Sandstone’s bioscience efforts. While everyone at Sandstone wears many hats, some of hers include clinical coordination, experimental design and execution, and leading on the job training for the R+D team. Prior to Sandstone, she studied biology at Azusa Pacific University and worked at Donor Network West where she partnered with hospital staff throughout California and Nevada to facilitate tissue donation for transplantation and research. She enjoys combining her passion for biology with her fast-paced clinical experience as a part of Sandstone’s innovative team!
Sean Hong, PhD
Research Engineer and Safety Officer
Sean is a physicist and engineer, leading Sandstone's prototyping, trouble-shooting and optimization of early-concept device development. He is deeply rooted in mathematics and physics, but also has multidisciplinary knowledge and experience including optics and lasers, lipid bilayer membrane study, machining and computer programming/language. Sean earned his PhD in Applied Science from UC Davis.
Jon Epperson
Operations and Research Associate
Jon joined Sandstone in 2013 after graduating from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology. Jon has been heavily involved in the development, clinical trials, and manufacturing scale up of Sandstone's Trak Male Fertility Testing System, and supports Sandstone's operations, quality systems management, and manufacturing activities.
Angela Le
R&D Intern
Tifany Pan
R&D Intern
A recent graduate from UC Davis, Tifany helps design and prototype new devices for Sandstone. She loves learning new things on the engineering and biology side of things, as she is very curious about everything, and loves helping any way she can. In her spare time, she likes to exercise, try lots of food, be with family and friends, and play with her cat. She also enjoys reading, writing and learning even more things!
Jason Ragar
R&D Intern
Jason is a recent grad from San Jose State University where he earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. At Sandstone, he assists with process development and secondary operations. Jason enjoys making things, whether it is something simple or complex, and he also likes to learn more about the world around him.
Board of Directors
Gary Altman, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Greg Sommer, PhD
CoFounder and Executive Vice President
Bob Easton
Co-Chairman at Bionest Partners
Beto Pallares, PhD
Managing Director, Hunt Family Holdings
Faith Charles, JD
Partner, Corporate Transactions & Securities Practice/Chair, Life Sciences Group at Thomson Hine LLP
Scientific Advisory Board
Michael Eisenberg, MD
Director of Reproductive Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center
Steven Lipkin, MD PhD
Professor of Medicine, Clinical Genetics, Weill Cornell Medicine
Elizabeth Hutt Pollard
Director of Reproductive Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center
Priya Balachandran
Chief Operating Officer at Applied Silver, Inc.
