Jiannan studied the regulation of gene expression for his Ph.D. in the UK and postdoctoral work in the US. Inspired by the clinical utility of modern genomics, he joined Resolution Bioscience to develop liquid biopsy assays for cancer patients. Heading up R&D, Jiannan and the team created, patented, developed, and launched multiple NGS assays as Lab Developed Tests (LDTs), Clinical Trial Assays (CTAs), and FDA submissions as Companion Diagnostics (CDx).
The Resolution LDT platform was the first liquid biopsy assay to demonstrate the detection of all four major types of actionable variants (SNVs, Indels, fusions, CNVs) for NSCLC in a clinical study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In the first and largest prospective study of ctDNA-guided therapy with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (>1,300 patients as of 2022), the platform showed superior TAT (<10 days from blood draw) and led to significantly longer overall survival for patients with ctDNA-matched targeted therapy.
On enrolling for clinical trials and PMA submissions for CDx, the Resolution HRD liquid biopsy assay was granted breakthrough device designation by the FDA. In December 2022, the ctDx FIRST assay received its first FDA approval.