We're Trailblazers
CEO Co-founder
Jay Lee, MD, PhD
Jay is a visionary leader and pioneering scientist dedicated to transforming precision medicine. With over 15 years of experience in academia, cancer research, and the biotechnology industry, Jay has driven advancements in spatial biology and diagnostic technologies. As Chief Scientific Officer at Ultivue, he played a key role in the company’s turnaround, culminating in its successful merger with Vizgen.
Jay is a recognized inventor of spatial genomics intellectual property, including foundational patents at 10x Genomics, and an emerging leader of spatial proteomics in diagnostics. At Terrain Life Science, he leads a mission to revolutionize precision oncology through comprehensive spatial proteomics and data science, enabling personalized treatments for cancer patients. Jay’s passion for innovation is combined with his difficult journey as a patient growing up—seeing how good-enough diagnosis can impact a person, family members, and uproot hopes and dreams.
Jay completed his undergraduate studies and medical residency at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.D. Ph.D. from Tufts University and completed his post-doc studies in the laboratory of George Church at Harvard Medical School. When he’s not working, he is thinking of the next big adventure in his life and improving his driving skills in Gran Turismo.
CSO Co-founder
Brian P. Dranka, PhD
Brian brings decades of experience leading teams to build category-defining life science research products, data, and software. Throughout his career, he has developed innovative assays and analytical tests as well as tools for transforming large volumes of clinical information into practical insights. At Seahorse Bioscience, he led a research lab that used real-time live cell analysis assays to push the boundaries of cellular research. Later, at Deep Lens, he oversaw the go-to-market strategy and used clinical reports and genomics data to help identify patients eligible for difficult-to-recruit clinical trials. This strategy supported significant customer expansion and laid the groundwork for the company’s eventual acquisition.
Today, Brian is focused on improving patient outcomes in cancer and other chronic diseases. He co-founded Terrain with Jay and Kirby to develop a cancer diagnostic based on spatial proteomics. Their microscopy-based test scans multiple biomarkers at once, providing oncologists with a clear, targeted assessment of each tumor. By incorporating known insights about specific targets, Brian and his team aim to refine and advance treatment strategies. Throughout his work, Brian remains committed to enhancing healthcare by designing data-driven solutions that help clinicians and researchers make more informed decisions for patients.
CTO Co-founder
Kirby Bloom
Kirby boasts over 20 years of experience in technology leadership, specializing in building innovative platforms and high-performing teams in fast-paced, complex environments. With expertise in developing large-scale data analytic platforms, he has significantly impacted the healthcare and life sciences industry.
Most notably, at Illumina, as Head of Informatics for Applied Genomics, he led the development of transformative solutions enhancing sample to answer capabilities across forensics, transplant, microbiology, and consumer product offerings. Prior to pioneering the use of LLMs, knowledge graphs and agentic workflows to optimize clinical trials at Ryght, Kirby served as Chief Technology Officer at LunaDNA, where he established a secure platform for interactive, large-scale, continuous research between disease registries and pharmaceutical companies.
His expertise encompasses data engineering, AI, and cloud technologies, underpinned by an M.S. in Data Science from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Texas Tech University.