BIO: Dawn Barry is the co-founder of LunaDNA, a community-owned platform for health research, and has over 20 years of experience in the genomics industry.

Prior to LunaDNA, Dawn spent 12 years with Illumina Inc., serving as the vice president of Applied Genomics and leading multiple teams to expand the application of genomics including preemptive health screening, food security, and transplant diagnostics.

Dawn joined other Illumina executives to create LunaDNA with the belief that people’s health data is valuable and they should have control over how their data is used. She now serves as the president of LunaPBC, a public benefit corporation that manages the LunaDNA platform.

The passion for engaging the community as research partners came after Dawn lost both her parents to cancer in the same year, realizing their passings could have been delayed or even prevented with greater genomic insight. Dawn wanted a way to make people more aware and involved in understanding how their unique genomic data could play a huge role in accelerating a true era of personalized medicine.

LunaDNA’s mission is to motivate people to donate their health data for the greater good of health research. The Company was established as a Public Benefit Corporation built for driving positive impact in health and quality of life engrained in its mission.

LunaDNA is focused on reimagining traditional approaches to research by putting data ownership and control into the hands of the people. This platform offers the opportunity for individuals to share their data for health research in a way that is transparent, controlled, private, and mutually beneficial.

To create LunaDNA, Dawn teamed up with Bob Kain, a renowned pioneer in the genomics field, who spent a majority of his career building Illumina, Inc.

from the ground up. During his 15 years as chief engineering officer of Illumina, Inc., Bob helped the company grow from a pre-IPO company with 30 employees and no revenue into a tour de force of over 3,000 employees and $1.4 billion in revenue. While at Illumina. Bob also invented the HiSeq DNA Sequencer, which paved the way to make genome sequencing technology accessible and economical. David Lewis, CFO, and co-founder leads the company’s strategic funding and investment initiatives.

The team has a shared vision of creating the first ever community-owned human health database comprised of donated DNA, medical, and environmental information, resulting in a scope and scale of data that’s never before been possible. The aim is to provide donors with control, privacy, and transparency over their data, which means that every donor will know where and to what type of research their information is going, and will always maintain the right to delete their data at any time.

Aside from the intrinsic value of empowering research, giving back, and contributing to new discoveries that could enhance all of our lives, donors will acquire shares in the company and receive compensation in the form of dividends with each donation made. The ultimate goal is to reshape research and accelerate breakthroughs in health and quality of life by aggregating and organizing data from a variety of sources, not the least of which are understudied populations.

The team at LunaDNA is patiently awaiting qualification by the SEC; once received, the platform will be open to the public.

They’re thinking long-term, with a plan to implement additional portals for sharing electronic health records, and lifestyle and fitness information through APIs such as Fitbit. Interested in learning more?

As the co-founder and president of LunaDNA, Dawn Barry share a vision of creating the first ever community-owned human health database comprised of donated DNA, medical, and environmental information, resulting in a scope and scale of data that’s never before been possible. The aim is to provide donors with control, privacy, and transparency over their data, which means that every donor will know where and to what type of research their information is going, and will always maintain the right to delete their data at any time.

Aside from the intrinsic value of empowering research, giving back, and contributing to new discoveries that could enhance all of our lives, donors will acquire shares in the company and receive compensation in the form of dividends with each donation made. The ultimate goal is to reshape research and accelerate breakthroughs in health and quality of life by aggregating and organizing data from a variety of sources, not the least of which are understudied populations.

The team at LunaDNA is patiently awaiting qualification by the SEC; once received, the platform will be open to the public. They’re thinking long-term, with a plan to implement additional portals for sharing electronic health records, and lifestyle and fitness information through APIs such as Fitbit. Interested in learning more?

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