Contributors

Meet the GEN Edge team:

Alex Philippidis | Senior Business Editor | @alexwestchester

Alex specializes in biopharma business news and industry issues for GEN. He joined GEN in 2011 after four years at GenomeWeb, where he covered research institutes, and spent three years following biotech economic development as editor of the weekly newsletter BioRegion News. Alex reports a variety of news stories for GEN and Clinical OMICs and compiles the popular A-Lists series.

Alex previously worked for more than 20 years for various newspapers covering business, science, the Navy, and general-interest news. He has been interviewed and quoted by news outlets including the New York Times and the BBC. He enjoys solving crossword puzzles, watching classic TV game shows, and traveling with his family.

Jonathan Grinstein PhD | Senior Editor | @grinsteinj

Jonathan Grinstein’s wonder for the human mind and body led him to an undergraduate education in Neural Science and Philosophy and a doctorate in Biomedical. He has 10 years of experience in experimental and computational research, during which he was a co-author on research articles in journals such as Nature and Cell. Since then, Jonathan hung up his lab coat and has explored positions in science writing and editing. Jonathan’s science writing work has featured in Scientific American, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), and NEO.LIFE.

Julianna LeMieux, PhD | Deputy Editor in Chief | @julemieux1

Julianna received her PhD in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from Tufts University School of Medicine, where she studied Streptococcus pneumoniae, followed by a postdoc at MIT, working on the nematode C. elegans. She then spent several years teaching as an assistant professor, during which she realized her passion for science communication. She has been writing ever since and joined the editorial team at GEN in 2018.

She served as a faculty member in the Citizen Science program at Bard College both on campus and at the Taconic Correctional Facility through the Bard prison initiative. She currently teaches microbiology at City College of New York.

Julianna lives in New York and loves exploring the city with her family. She crossed the finish line of the NYC marathon in 2017 and 2018.

Kevin Davies, PhD | Editor at Large | @kevinadavies

Kevin has three decades’ experience in science publishing as an editor, journalist, author and publisher. He is the founding editor of Nature Genetics and Bio-IT World magazine and also served as Editor-in-Chief of Cell Press and publisher of Chemical & Engineering News.

Kevin is the author of four popular science books including Cracking the GenomeThe $1,000 Genome, and an updated version of DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution with James D. Watson and Andrew Berry. In 2017, Kevin won a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship in science writing to support a new book, Editing Humanity, which is published in September 2020. That same year, he joined Mary Ann Liebert Inc. to spearhead the launch of The CRISPR Journal and bolster the GEN editorial team.

Kevin holds a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in Human Genetics from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London. He held postdoctoral fellowships at MIT and Harvard Medical School before joining the editorial staff at Nature. He still clings to a British accent.