Dr. Mark Neff is working on two startups in biotech. Prior to that, he was founding Director of the Center for Canine Genomics, a research program jointly held at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix and the Van Andel Research Institute of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Neff received his PhD for cell cycle research in classical yeast genetics at the University of Virginia. After graduate school, Dr. Neff accepted a Human Genome Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at UC Berkeley with National Academies member Dr. Jasper Rine. Dr. Neff's current research interests are focused on the unique attributes of pet dogs to serve as a non-political animal model for advancing genomic, precision-based, personalized, and preventive medicine.