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Mary-Claire King, a professor of medicine with the Division of Medical Genetics and of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. (UW Photo)
— Mary-Claire King, a groundbreaking innovator in genetics, has received The National Academy of Sciences’ most prestigious metal, the Public Welfare Medal.
King is a professor of medicine with the Division of Medical Genetics and of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
“King will be recognized for leveraging the power of genome sciences throughout her career to promote justice around the globe,” the UW said in an announcement.
King’s past research led to the reunification of Argentinian infants separated from their families during the country’s military dictatorship, and helped identify U.S. soldiers’ remains from past wars. She has conducted research addressing schizophrenia and pinpointing causes of genetic disorders in Middle Eastern families.
King is probably best known for her discovery of the BRCA1 gene, which when mutated can cause breast and ovarian cancer.
— The T-Mobile board of directors plans to nominate Thomas Dannenfeldt to serve on its board — a role he previously held for five years, ending in 2018. Dannenfeldt is also the former chief financial officer of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Westbrook resigned from the board of the Bellevue, Wash., telecom giant. Srinivasan Gopalan is also leaving the board and taking the role of chief operating officer, as previously announced.
Violett CEO Michael Kurtzman, left, and co-founder and former CEO Branden Doyle, who is now chief technologist. (Violett Photos)
— Michael Kurtzman is the new CEO of Violett, a Seattle-area startup providing technology for air purification and air quality monitoring. Founder and former CEO Branden Doyle has shifted to the role of chief technologist.
“With Michael’s deep experience in SaaS, AI, and data-driven productivity tools, Violett is poised to expand its impact on global health and wellness,” Violett said in announcing the news.
Jessie Schurman, Violett co-founder and senior project manager for Bristol Myers Squibb’s cell therapy business services and capabilities. (LinkedIn Photo)
Violett has developed hospital-grade air sanitizing units that use ultraviolet-C (UVC) light to destroy bacteria, mold, smoke, allergens and viruses such as COVID, RSV and influenza.
Doyle, a former nuclear engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense, launched the company in 2020 with Jessie Schurman.
Schurman, who had previously worked as a research scientist at NanoString Technologies and Universal Cells, left Violett in 2023. This month Schurman announced a new role as senior project manager for Bristol Myers Squibb’s cell therapy business services and capabilities.
— Seattle startup Edera hired former Chainguard marketing leader Kaylin Trychon as chief marketing officer. Edera, which helps companies secure their Kubernetes and AI workloads, this month announced a $15 million Series A funding round.
— After more than nine years at Expedia Group, Dave McNamee has taken a role as vice president of corporate communications and analyst relations at New York-based company Zendesk. McNamee was previously VP of global corporate communications for Expedia.
— Sarah O’Sell joined the University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs as the climate manager. In the newly created role, O’Sell will oversee the strategy, operations, outreach and community engagement for the climate tech incubator program at the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub, which launched last month.
— Vancouver, Wash., software development company ZoomInfo announced Rob Giglio will join its board of directors as Patrick McCarter resigns from the board after serving for eight years. Giglio is chief customer officer at the design platform Canva.
— Three University of Washington faculty were selected as 2025 Sloan Research Fellows by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Amy X. Zhang is the head of the Social Futures Lab at the UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Her work is focused on reimagining “how social platforms can empower end users and communities to take control of their own online experiences for social good,” according to the UW.
Amy L. Orsborn is an assistant professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Bioengineering at the UW with a focus on brain plasticity and adaptation. Orsborn also investigates brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), which harness neural activity to control devices, potentially helping restore movement to individuals with paralysis.
Chemistry Assistant Professor Dianne J. Xiao is researching crystalline porous materials and developing ways to control their porous architecture. The materials have applications in energy and other sectors.
— Derek Sutherland, co-founder and former CEO of CTFusion, is vice president of R&D for Realta Fusion. Seattle’s CTFusion shuttered after running out of funding, leading Sutherland to join Zap Energy in 2023 as a physics lead. Realta is based in Madison, Wis.
— Seattle’s Yujian Tang joined the early-stage investment firm Banyan as a venture partner. Tang has held multiple engineering roles and is CEO of OSS4AI, an organization promoting education and community around artificial intelligence. He’s also organizing the upcoming Seattle Startup Summit.
