Mara Aspinall profile page

Illumina Ventures Partner, Mara Aspinall, is a healthcare pioneer with deep diagnostics, genomics and genetics expertise. A leader and civic advocate, she drove growth through innovation and quality at some of the most transformative life science companies. Aspinall was President & CEO of Ventana Medical Systems, a $1B division of The Roche Group (now Roche Tissue Diagnostics), where she led 20+ product launches and global leadership in companion diagnostics. Prior, Aspinall spent 13 years at Genzyme Corporation. As Genzyme Genetics’ President, she transformed the company into a top five U.S. diagnostic lab, setting new quality industry standards. The business was sold to LabCorp for $1B. She also led Genzyme Pharmaceuticals, turning it into an international leader in custom manufacturing. A dedicated educator and thought leader, Aspinall created Arizona State University’s (ASU) biomedical diagnostics master’s degree program – the only program focused solely on diagnostics, genetics and genomics. She authors the widely read Sensitive and Specific: The Testing Newsletter, annual Diagnostics Year in Review report and published the first business paper on personalized medicine in Harvard Business Review in 2007. During COVID, Aspinall became a national testing authority, serving as ASU’s principal investigator on The Rockefeller Foundation-funded COVID-related grants. She launched TestingCommons.com and EvidenceCommons.com, two widely used COVID diagnostics global resources She co-founded BlueStone Venture Partners, backing diagnostics, devices and digital health startups across the US Southwest. Aspinall was named Arizona Biosciences Leader of the Year and one of PharmaVOICE’s 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences. She holds a BA from Tufts University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and cybersecurity certification from Carnegie Mellon/NACD.