About Us
Detecting lung cancer early with advanced flow cytometry and AI-driven automated analysis
Early Detection of Cancer Saves Lives
Company Profile
bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIAF) addresses the urgent need for noninvasive, early-stage cancer diagnosis and targeted cancer treatment. Our first product, CyPath® Lung, accurately diagnoses early-stage lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, by analyzing the lung microenvironment to characterize cell populations that are indicative of lung cancer. Physicians order CyPath® Lung for their patients at high risk for lung cancer after low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) reveals a suspicious finding. CyPath® Lung can dramatically increase overall diagnostic accuracy for lung cancer, leading to increased survival, fewer unnecessary invasive procedures, reduced patient anxiety and lower medical costs. CyPath® Lung has shown high sensitivity and high specificity in detecting early-stage lung cancer and is sold as a laboratory developed test (LDT) by Precision Pathology Laboratory Services, a bioAffinity Technologies company.
Statement from Our CEO
“CyPath® Lung, our non-invasive test to detect lung cancer at its early stages when treatment is most effective, will give more people more time by significantly lowering the death rate of this deadliest of cancers.
The hard-working scientists and other professionals at bioAffinity are committed to bringing to market products that give people longer, healthier lives by the early detection of cancer and other lung diseases, and advancing therapeutic discoveries that treat cancer at the cellular level.
Flow cytometry allows for analysis of whole cells and cell populations that make up the lung environment. Our research provides a better understanding of how disease changes the lung environment and how flow cytometry can be used as a diagnostic tool by analyzing sputum for the presence of lung cancer, as well as other diseases such as COPD and asthma.”
— bioAffinity Technologies CEO Maria Zannes
The Company’s Why
President & CEO Maria Zannes discusses the origins of the company and why we are dedicated to the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Industry Classification & Contact Info
Key Information
Industry Classifications
Sector: Biotechnology
Industry: In Vitro Diagnostics
NAICS: Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)
SIC: Commercial Physical and Biological Research (8731)
Contact Information
Company Contact:
bioAffinity Technologies, Inc.
3300 Nacogdoches Road, Suite 216
San Antonio, TX 78217
T: 210-698-5334
info@bioaffinitytech.com
Investor Relations:
Julie Anne Overton, Director of Communications
3300 Nacogdoches Road, Suite 216
San Antonio, TX 78217
T: 210-698-5334
jao@bioaffinitytech.com
Senior Leadership
Management Team
Maria Zannes
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Zannes brings more than 30 years of executive-level management experience dedicated to defining and advancing company goals and overcoming obstacles impeding corporate success. Prior to her position at bioAffinity Technologies, Ms. Zannes founded The Zannes Firm focusing on strategic solutions for private industry in the medical, environmental and energy fields. In her current capacity as bioAffinity Technologies CEO and President, she has built a team of award-winning scientists and executives who are advancing breakthrough oncology-focused diagnostics and therapeutics.
Ms. Zannes was President of the Energy Recovery Council, the national trade group for the $10 billion waste-to-energy industry, and General Manager of ECOS Corporation, a subsidiary of Burlington Environmental. Ms. Zannes also served as a project manager at Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. where she led project teams that developed, negotiated and financed the company’s renewable energy generation facilities. Ms. Zannes began her career as a journalist, working for Voice of America and the Associated Press. Before entering the business world, she served as a legislative aide specializing in energy policy and law for Representative Charles Wilson (D-TX). She is licensed to practice law in New Mexico. She has been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Earth Engineering Center Award from the WTE Council of Columbia University.
She is the co-founder of two engineering research centers at Columbia University. Ms. Zannes received her BA in Journalism from the University of New Mexico and her JD from the University of Puget Sound in Washington State.
J. Michael Edwards, MBA, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Edwards has more than three decades of experience in financial management and business strategy. He previously served bioAffinity Technologies as consulting Chief Financial Officer until 2023 and has rejoined the management team to help oversee the long-term financial and strategic direction of the Company, including the ongoing commercialization of CyPath® Lung. Previously, Mr. Edwards was CFO of CytoBioscience Inc., which develops and manufactures instruments for disease analysis and treatment, and OncoVista Innovative Therapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted anticancer therapies by utilizing tumor-associated biomarkers. Earlier in his career, Mr. Edwards held finance positions at BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Ilex Oncology, Inc. He is a certified public accountant who began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Mr. Edwards earned his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
William Bauta, PhD
Chief Science Officer
Dr. Bauta is a medicinal chemist with more than 25 years of experience in discovery, development, and commercialization of pharmaceuticals to treat oncology, virology, neuroscience, immunology, and metabolic diseases. He joined bioAffinity Technologies from Southwest Research Institute where he helped develop the Institute’s pharmaceuticals services and bioengineering business. Dr. Bauta was Associate Director of Science at Genzyme Corporation and held a similar position at Ilex Products, Inc., where he was responsible for the discovery, development, and FDA approval of multiple therapeutics. He holds several patents and has published in the journal Science and more than a dozen other scientific journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Bauta received his PhD from the University of Chicago.
Xavier T. Reveles, MS, CG(ASCP)CM
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Reveles brings more than 25 years of experience as a clinical geneticist skilled in the creation and management of CLIA clinical laboratories, coding and CPT reimbursement valuations. Mr. Reveles is board certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathology as a clinical specialist in cytogenetics. He was Laboratory Director for OncoPath Laboratory – START Cancer Center in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Reveles is (co)author of 15 publications and three abstracts in peer-reviewed journals. He earned his Master’s Degree in biology/genetics from the University of The Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
Dallas J. Coleman
Vice President of Sales
Mr. Coleman has more than 15 years’ experience in medical sales and marketing where he has succeeded in launching new products to the healthcare market, driving business development and strong client relationships, and implementing strategic sales initiatives. Prior to joining bioAffinity Technologies, he was executive account manager for the respiratory portfolio of Olympus America’s therapeutic solutions division. At Olympus, a leading global medtech company, Mr. Coleman worked primarily with pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons and physicians treating patients with lung disease. Earlier in his career, he held sales management positions at Caldera Medical, a medical device company focused on women’s health, and Ecolab, a global sustainability leader providing water, hygiene and hospital infection prevention solutions and services.
David Elzi, PhD
Vice President, Research
Dr. Elzi brings 20 years of research experience to bioAffinity where he leads research on the mechanism of porphyrin uptake in cancer cells that has resulted in therapeutic discoveries to selectively kill cancer without harm to normal tissue. Dr. Elzi earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington, in conjunction with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He subsequently performed post-doctoral research at the Bonfils Blood Center and University of Colorado Department of Surgery, where he studied the molecular mechanisms of transfusion-related lung injury. Dr. Elzi comes to bioAffinity from The UT Health Science Center where his research included applying proteomic techniques to study cellular senescence in primary and cancer cells. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles.
Jennifer Rebeles, PhD
Vice President, Diagnostics
Dr. Rebeles brings 18 years of research experience to her work with bioAffinity where she directs the research and development of our porphyrin-based cancer diagnostics and has extensive experience in flow cytometry. She was Technical Director of the Flow Cytometry and Microarray Core at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Rebeles received her Master’s Degree in Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She earned her PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she investigated the role of metabolism on immunity to infectious disease. Her previous position as a research scientist with the United States Air Force 59th Medical Wing included responsibility for identifying critical gaps in military medicine and scientific support for multiple research projects. Dr. Rebeles has received multiple honors, has published seven peer-reviewed papers and a book chapter, and is working on several additional scientific papers.
Timothy P. Zannes, JD
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Mr. Zannes has been corporate legal counsel to both public and private biomedical firms for more than 16 years, having begun his legal career as a sole practitioner accepting criminal, business, family, and tort litigation. Prior to receiving his JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law, Mr. Zannes was a court bailiff and ran his own private investigation firm after serving as an investigator for the Albuquerque City Attorney. He attended the New England Conservatory with studies in violin and saxophone. Mr. Zannes began his undergraduate education at The University of North Carolina where he was a student athlete on scholarship. In addition to his duties as General Counsel and Secretary, Mr. Zannes is responsible for corporate compliance and directs Human Resources. Mr. Zannes and Maria Zannes are siblings.
our board members
Board of Directors
Steven Girgenti
Executive Chairman
Steven Girgenti is a veteran healthcare executive with a foundation of expertise in healthcare marketing strategies, financing and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Girgenti has been Executive Chairman of bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. since November 2014. He is presently the Managing Partner of Medi-Pharm Consulting, LLC, providing strategic services to medical device, pharmaceutical and diagnostic businesses. Mr. Girgenti was formerly CEO and co-founder of DermWorx Incorporated, a dermatology company that specialized in developing nanotechnology formulations to enhance the performance of topical drugs. He was also the founder and CEO of Healthworld Corporation, a leading global healthcare marketing services network with 55 offices in 36 countries. The network had more than 1,000 brand assignments from nearly 200 clients worldwide, providing strategic marketing and communications services to many of the world’s leading healthcare companies.
Mr. Girgenti founded Healthworld in 1986, and under his leadership, the company made numerous acquisitions to expand and diversify the business. Healthworld went public in 1997. In 1998 and again in 1999, Business Week named Healthworld one of the “Best Small Corporations in America.” In 1999, Forbes listed Healthworld as one of the “200 Best Small Companies.” Mr. Girgenti was recognized as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by NASDAQ in 1999 and Med Ad News’ first “Medical Advertising Man of the Year” in 2000. In 2010, he was inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame. In addition, Mr. Girgenti is Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Mt. Sinai Hospital Prostate Disease and Research Center in New York City and is on the Board of Directors for the Jack Martin Fund, a Mt. Sinai Hospital-affiliated charitable organization devoted to pediatric oncology research. He graduated from Columbia University and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since 1968 for companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Carter Wallace and DuPont.
Robert A. Anderson
Director
Mr. Anderson has more than 40 years of broad experience in the healthcare industry in which he held executive positions at CIBA, Becton Dickinson, Pfizer, Warner Lambert-Parke-Davis, Schering Plough and Centocor. Mr. Anderson was Vice-President of Marketing for the Key Pharmaceuticals division of Schering-Plough and later at Centocor, a worldwide healthcare company now owned by Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Anderson sat on the Executive Committee of Physicians World Communications Group (PWCG), where he was Partner and Chief Operating Officer of the company. Mr. Anderson currently provides executive management services to a number of CEOs of healthcare companies. Mr. Anderson received a BA in political science from Rutgers University and is a MENSA member.
Stuart Diamond
Director
Stuart Diamond is the Global Chief Financial Officer for GroupM, the world’s leading media investment company responsible for over $50 billion in media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis, LLC. Before joining GroupM, Mr. Diamond was a member of the WPP plc family as the CFO for Healthworld Corporation (now called Ogilvy Health), where he took the company public and negotiated its sale to Cordiant Communications Group in 2000. He also served as CFO for National Medical Health Card Systems, Inc., a comprehensive pharmacy benefit management company. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Diamond was the CFO for GroupM North America, where he established financial strategies and supervised all corporate accounting and financial activities for GroupM and its agencies. Earlier in his career, he held the positions of Vice President and Controller for Calvin Klein, Inc. and as Senior Vice President and CFO for Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation. Mr. Diamond holds a BS from the State University of New York, a Master’s in Taxation from Pace University, and an MBA from Fordham University.
Roby Joyce, MD
Director
Roby Joyce, MD, is the Laboratory and Medical Director of Precision Pathology Laboratory Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. and President of Village Oaks Pathology Services (VOPS). Dr. Joyce is board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology by the American Board of Pathology and is a Fellow in the College of American Pathologists. He is also board-certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Neurology) and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Neurology. He has served in various capacities at Northeast Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1994-1995 and Chief of Staff of the Methodist Healthcare System from 2005-2006. Throughout a career in pathology that spans more than 40 years, he has been a highly regarded speaker at medical and scientific conferences, has served in leadership roles on dozens of professional organizations and committees, and has served as lead or co-author of numerous scientific articles. Dr. Joyce received his medical degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans. He completed an internal medicine internship at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver, his residency in neurology at the Letterman Army Medical Center Hospital in San Francisco and his residency in
pathology at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He is a retired US Army colonel.
Peter S. Knight
Director
Peter S. Knight is a Partner at Cyan Capital Partners, a fund dedicated to helping new fund managers and asset owners in the field of sustainable investing. Prior to that, Mr. Knight was a Founding Partner at Generation Investment Management, where he worked with partners Al Gore and David Blood to build a leading global sustainable investing firm with assets under management exceeding $30 billion. Prior to his retirement from the firm in 2018, Mr. Knight held leadership positions within Generation Investment Management, developing and overseeing the firm’s U.S. business.
Prior to that, Mr. Knight was a Managing Director of Met West Financial, a Los Angeles-based asset management company. Mr. Knight started his career at the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice. From 1977 to 1989, he served as the Chief of Staff to Represenative and later Senator Al Gore. He served as the General Counsel of Medicis Pharmaceutical and then started his law practice which represented the International Olympic Committee, the US Olympic Committee and numerous Fortune 500 Companies. Mr. Knight has also held senior positions on four presidential campaigns, including serving as campaign manager for President Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign.
Mr. Knight has extensive board experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He served on a number of public company boards, including Medicis, Par Pharmaceutical, Entremed (Casi), Healthworld, Whitman Education, Comsat and the Schroder Mutual Fund Board complex. Mr. Knight currently serves on the fund boards of Generation Investment Management and on the Board of Gratitude Railroad. His philanthropic efforts include serving as chairperson of the Climate Museum and sitting on the board of Emergent, a nonprofit intermediary to help stop deforestation in tropical forest nations. He received a BA from Cornell University and a JD from the Georgetown Law School.
Jamie Platt, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Platt brings 20 years of progressive leadership in genomics and molecular diagnostics, guiding teams in developing, validating, and commercializing more than 40 innovative, high-complexity molecular tests for US and global firms (both LDTs and IVDs). She served as Chief Operating Officer at PGDx (acquired by LabCorp) and Inivata (acquired by NeoGenomics) leading development and operationalization of liquid biopsy products and completing two M&A exits in 2021 for a combined value of nearly $1 Billion ($965M USD). As Chief Operating Officer at Inivata, Dr. Platt led the organization’s transition from research-stage through early commercialization, developing and launching two best-in-class liquid biopsy products, as well as establishing a $25 million equity investment with follow-on acquisition by NeoGenomics. As Vice President of Genomic Solutions at MPLN/Geneuity and Director of Advanced Sequencing at Quest Diagnostics, she introduced next generation sequencing (NGS) clinical assays and genomics products and line extensions. Dr. Platt earned her Ph.D. in Molecular & Cellular Biology from Oregon State University and completed post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is founder and CEO of BRIDGenomics, a molecular diagnostic laboratory consulting firm and serves on the boards of Pictor, Ltd. DxTerity Diagnostics, and bioAffinity.
Dr. Platt is passionate about leveraging her expertise in product development and clinical laboratory operations to provide accretive value to the boards and organizations she serves. She is an industry-recognized peer educator and speaker, holds multiple US and international patents and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications.
Gary Rubin
Director
Mr. Rubin, a Certified Public Accountant, serves as a Managing Member of Masters Research Partners, LLC, an investment Fund of Hedge Funds that he co-founded in October 2000. Mr. Rubin began his career with Deloitte & Touche and later served as Managing Partner at Schissel, Rubin & Lehman, a New York-based public accounting firm. He has been involved in the investment business, including hedge funds, private equity and investment banking, for more than 20 years. Mr. Rubin is active in numerous charities and his family’s foundation. He serves on the boards of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation Family Promise and the Federation of South Palm Beach County. He is on the Finance Committee of the Levitz Jewish Community Centers. He earned a BS cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Maria Zannes
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director
Ms. Zannes brings more than 30 years of executive-level management experience dedicated to defining and advancing company goals and overcoming obstacles impeding corporate success. Prior to her position at bioAffinity Technologies, Ms. Zannes founded The Zannes Firm focusing on strategic solutions for private industry in the medical, environmental and energy fields. In her current capacity as bioAffinity Technologies CEO and President, she has built a team of award-winning scientists and executives who are advancing breakthrough oncology-focused diagnostics and therapeutics.
Ms. Zannes was President of the Energy Recovery Council, the national trade group for the $10 billion waste-to-energy industry, and General Manager of ECOS Corporation, a subsidiary of Burlington Environmental. Ms. Zannes also served as a project manager at Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. where she led project teams that developed, negotiated and financed the company’s renewable energy generation facilities. Ms. Zannes began her career as a journalist, working for Voice of America and the Associated Press. Before entering the business world, she served as a legislative aide specializing in energy policy and law for Representative Charles Wilson (D-TX). She is licensed to practice law in New Mexico. She has been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Earth Engineering Center Award from the WTE Council of Columbia University.
She is the co-founder of two engineering research centers at Columbia University. Ms. Zannes received her BA in Journalism from the University of New Mexico and her JD from the University of Puget Sound in Washington State.
Scientific advisors
Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
Sheila Habib, MD
Director of Pulmonary Lung Nodule Clinic and the Lung Cancer Screening Program at the South Texas Veterans Health Care Systems’ Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Dr. Habib specializes in pulmonary nodule management and lung cancer. Dr. Habib completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University with a degree in Economics in 2006. She received her Doctor of Medicine from Texas Tech University School of Medicine and her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in pulmonary/critical care medicine at the University of Texas Health San Antonio.
Sandeep Bansal, MD
Medical Director, Lung Innovations Network, Dubois, PA
Dr. Bansal runs a comprehensive lung center that has improved access to lung cancer screening, treatment, clinical research and advanced technology for patients in western and central Pennsylvania. The Lung Innovations Network model uses rapid assessment and management of healthcare needs to bring advanced pulmonary services to more than 10,000 patients per year.
Neil Alexis, PhD
Principal Investigator at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology
Dr. Alexis focuses on the use of sputum as a primary sampling tool for measuring cellular, biochemical and genetic outcomes in the human airway. Dr. Alexis is a leading expert in the use of flow cytometry in the analysis of sputum.
Catherine Sears, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine
Dr. Sears is a physician-scientist with a focus on lung cancer whose laboratory focuses on the impact of DNA damage and repair on the development of smoking-related lung cancers and on treatment response.
Gerard Silvestri, MD, MS, FCCP
Professor of Medicine and Lung Cancer Pulmonologist at the Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Silvestri specializes in the evaluation, management and improvement of outcomes in lung cancer patients. He has experience in evaluating new technologies for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. His research includes screening for lung cancer, how patients should be diagnosed and staged with the disease, and how to evaluate new technologies needed to diagnose and treat these patients.
David Hill, MD
Critical Care Physician – Waterbury Pulmonary Associates
Dr. Hill is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician with Waterbury Pulmonary Associates and serves as its director of clinical research. He is a member of the American Lung Association’s National Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of the Northeast Regional Board of the American Lung Association. He serves on the Leadership Board of the American Lung Association in Connecticut and is a former chair of that board. He is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, an assistant clinical professor at the Frank Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, and a clinical instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Dr. Hill attends at Waterbury Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut, and serves as the chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at Waterbury Hospital. He is the past president of the Connecticut Thoracic Society. He has been the principal investigator for more than 75 pulmonary research trials and the author of many papers.
Research & Development Efforts
Scientific Publications & Abstracts
bioAffinity Technologies’ research and development program is actively engaged with the scientific community through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Our team of scientists are expanding our core porphyrin platform technology to create targeted diagnostics and therapeutics in the fight against cancer.
bioAffinity's Diagnostics Efforts
CyPath® uses a porphyrin molecule that displays an unusually high affinity to bind to cancer cells that fluoresce brightly when labeled to distinguish cancer from non-cancer cells using flow cytometry.
Our innovative scientific research is aimed at developing non-invasive diagnostics for various cancers and other lung diseases. Our first test, CyPath® Lung, is available through Precision Pathology Laboratory Services to physicians for their patients at high risk for lung cancer.
This animated video produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Star CellBio introduces flow cytometry, a technique in which cells are suspended in a fluid and flow one at a time through a focus of exciting light, which is scattered in patterns characteristic to the cells and their components.
Cells are labeled with fluorescent markers so that light is first absorbed and then emitted at altered frequencies. A sensor detecting the emitted light measures the size and molecular characteristics of individual cells. Millions of cells can be examined in minutes and the resulting data is analyzed by computer. A picture of the lung environment is revealed by analyzing the cell populations in a sample to determine if a disease is present.
https://starcellbio.mit.edu/
bioAffinity's Therapeutics Efforts
Through our subsidiary, OncoSelect® Therapeutics, our company focuses on advancing discoveries related to broad-spectrum cancer therapeutics. In researching porphyrins’ selectivity for cancer, we discovered novel therapies that kill cancer cells without harm to normal cells in vitro.
We will continue with animal studies to advance our discoveries. Our research also looks to attach cancer-killing cytotoxic drugs to porphyrins, a cancer-selective molecule that is taken up by tumors in much greater amounts than by non-cancer tissue.
Animation of a Porphyrin molecule