Session Chair Profile

Biography
Steve Kulisch has been responsible for Fluidigm’s portfolio management at Fluidigm as General Manager since 2019 and is a member of the executive team responsible for the companies COVID-19 response planning and strategy. As part of Fluidigm’s response, early engagement and partnership with public institutes led to the rapid development of a high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 molecular test early in the pandemic. Shortly after, Fluidigm was selected as one of the first seven companies to advance in the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program to scale testing access with a $37M investment on its novel, microfluidic platform. Subsequent partnership with Washington University’s McDonnell Genome Institute resulted in the first FDA Authorized SARS-CoV-2 test using saliva, simplifying sample collection and reducing assay costs. Under Steve’s leadership, the company developed programs to expand access to academic institutes (Campus Safeguard) and community programs (Community Connect) to expand access to more sensitive, SARS-CoV-2 molecular tests. Prior to joining Fluidigm, Steve held key management positions within the life science tools and diagnostics industry with Becton Dickinson and Bio-Rad Laboratories. He holds a BS in Applied Microbiology from the University of California, Davis.