Harold Swerdlow

Dr. Harold Swerdlow is currently Senior Director of NGS R&D at DNA Electronics (DNAe) in London. His role there involves managing Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology and product development for an initial sepsis diagnostic offering. Dr. Swerdlow is a leading expert in NGS and recently served as a consultant for both ONI (Oxford Nanoimaging), a super-resolution microscopy company, and Nuclera, a DNA synthesis start-up after being Head of NGS Technology Development at LGC Genomics..

As VP of Sequencing at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) from 2014-2017,Dr. Swerdlow directed the Technology Innovation group and managed the production and clinical laboratory facilities (with about 30 Illumina DNA sequencers). Prior to NYGC, Dr. Swerdlow was Head of Research and Development for the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK (2008-2014). In that role, Dr. Swerdlow directed the R&D department and helped build the Sanger Institute’s next-generation DNA-sequencing production facility into one of the world’s largest. Previously, Dr. Swerdlow was the Chief Technology Officer of Dolomite Ltd., a leader in microfluidics and microfabrication. Prior to Dolomite, Dr. Swerdlow was an inventor of the core technology relating to NGS at Solexa Ltd., a company which he joined in 2000 when it had only three employees. From then until 2006, as Senior Director of Research, Dr. Swerdlow helped launch Solexa’s first product, the Genome Analyzer DNA sequencing platform. At Solexa, Dr. Swerdlow was responsible for instrument engineering, integration of the next-generation DNA sequencing system and early applications work, along with assisting in the development of many of the system’s biochemical components. Dr. Swerdlow was a key member of the Senior Management team that delivered Solexa’s first genome sequence, an end-to-end proof-of-principle. Following its NASDAQ listing, Solexa was acquired by Illumina Inc. for US$600 million and Solexa’s technology became the core of Illumina’s world-leading NGS products.