Andrew Lin joined Micronoma in July 2021 as a CLS Supervisor and is responsible for building, operating, and managing a clinical lab that is compliant with all CLIA/CAP/NY regulations. Though originally from Yorba Linda, Ca, he has lived in San Diego for the last four years. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of California Riverside in Biochemistry, and worked most recently for Illumina before joining the team at Micronoma.
Andrew spoke with us to provide some insight into his work and path to Micronoma.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I am a creature of habit and routine. I always start my day with a stretch session and a workout at home. During the pandemic, my girlfriend and I went crazy and built an elaborate home gym. After a good workout, I come to work. Being in a startup, my days at Micronoma are anything but routine. Besides my primary expected lab tasks, I can be doing anything from assembling furniture to graphic designing artwork for kits to helping brainstorm for other departments like business development and marketing. After work, my day ends with me doing an activity with my dog Bullet, a six-year-old blue nose Pitbull. Recently I have taught him to not fear the pool and now he can go fetch his ball and swim on his own.
Tell us about your educational background and previous work.
After I graduated from UC Riverside, I started my work life at ASP (Advanced Sterilization Products), a Johnson & Johnson company. I did product testing for an endoscope sterilization product known as the Evotech ECR (Endoscope Cleaner and Reprocessor). There, I tested the product, ran internal PMs on all their units, and tested many different models of endoscopes to add to their already long list of models. Later, I moved on to Ambry Genetics where I worked in quality control (QC) and the clinical lab to join their training program and got my CLS CGMBS license. I ran clinical samples through many complex assays manually. TumorNext-Lynch was the last big project I worked on before leaving Ambry. I assisted in transferring the product from R&D to clinical lab standards. After Ambry, I relocated to San Diego from Orange County to work for Illumina. My main role was to process clinical samples doing genotyping analysis. The volume of samples was massive, so I was exposed to a lab that had nearly 100% of the processes automated.
What led you to working at Micronoma?
In my previous job, I felt that there was limited opportunity to grow. I wasn’t job searching at the time, but I heard from Micronoma’s COO, Darryl Garrison, on this opportunity to join a start-up. I looked into Micronoma and was instantly intrigued by their technology. Throughout my career, I utilized cancer genetic testing only on the human genome. Seeing that cancer could be categorized not only by the human genome, but also by the microbiome is game changing. I was hesitant at first about joining a startup because of how risky they can be. But ultimately this is a chance I couldn’t pass. So, I jumped in!
How has cancer personally impacted you?
Cancer impacted me way back when I was in high school. I did an internship at a children’s oncology department and the experience blew me away. Just seeing how these children are fighting cancer at such a young age and their attitude towards it was what inspired me to join the fight against cancer.
What’s your favorite part about working at Micronoma?
My favorite parts of working at Micronoma are the people and the variety of tasks I can have in any given day. Funny for someone who typically likes routines!
What gets you most excited about the company’s future?
I am most excited to see how our knowledge of the cancer microbiome will impact the lives of many.
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
In two years, I see this company processing clinical samples at a large scale and starting to change the industry on how cancer types are diagnosed. I will be the one that will be supervising the analysis of these samples and reporting out results. I am excited to build and manage the lab for success while it grows.
What are your hidden talents or hobbies?
I am what is known as the “Jack of all Trades.” When I have a problem to solve, I always tend to want to do it myself, mainly a lot of house and car improvement and repairs. My hobbies are mainly cars and snowboarding. I just love cars and the technology they bring. Snowboarding: I try to go to as many resorts as I can that the Ikon pass offers. My next destination is to snowboard at a resort outside of the U.S.