bioAffinity Technologies CEO Maria Zannes says the company has made a key hire
May 4, 2023
As published in the San Antonio Business Journal
By: W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
BioAffinity Technologies Inc. has made a key change in its executive ranks, locking in Michael Dougherty as its new chief financial officer.
The move comes roughly eight months after the San Antonio-based cancer diagnostics company went public and as leadership is working to expand its product portfolio and commercialization efforts.
Dougherty is a veteran C-level executive who brings more than two decades of financial management and business strategy experience to the nine-year-old biotech. He was previously CFO for Alexa Business Domains, Amazon’s Alexa AI and Voice division, where he was responsible for the financial strategy tied to Alexa’s multibillion-dollar investments in AI-generated customer experiences. Prior to that, he served as CFO for Amazon Pay, where he supported Amazon’s digital payment wallet globally.
His move into the CFO seat at bioAffinity is well-timed, the company’s CEO, Maria Zannes, said.
“What struck me with Mike Dougherty, it wasn’t just that he had a good strong background in finance. But he’s a strategic thinker,” Zannes said. “Having that combination will be great for this company.”
Dougherty succeeds Mike Edwards, who has been with bioAffinity (Nasdaq: BIAF) since its inception in 2014, initially working as a consulting CFO during the company’s infancy. Zannes said with bioAffinity now a public company, that requires a different level of commitment from chief executives than Edwards was interested in at this stage.
“Edwards has been absolutely great. He’ll continue to consult, and it certainly helps that the two of them get along great,” Zannes said. “That’s a good team as we transition.
Dougherty takes on the new role as bioAffinity is working to expand the commercialization of its initial product, CyPath Lung, an early cancer detection diagnostic that Zannes said the company will look to apply to other diseases.
“His experience in strategy development and mergers and acquisitions will be crucial as we expand the CyPath brand into other indications and pursue therapeutics opportunities,” Zannes said, noting that Dougherty’s leadership experience will help bring bioAffinity greater visibility among investors, analysts and the broader financial community.
