Matt Onsum

Matt Onsum is the head of bioinformatics, biomarkers and diagnostics at Seattle Genetics. His team is responsible for collecting and analyzing large datasets obtained from tumor samples with the goal of learning which patients will benefit most from a given cancer drug. Prior to Seattle Genetics, Matt was at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Merrimack's subsidiary company Silver Creek.

At Merrimack he led the transnational research program for MM-111, a bi-specific antibody designed to treat ErbB2 positive gastric cancer. At Silver Creek, Onsum was president and CEO and helped lead the company from a business plan and initial IP to fundraising and growing a multidisciplinary team to develop a bi-specific protein for treating heart disease.

Before joining Merrimack, Onsum was a senior scientist at AstraZeneca R&D Boston, where he used computational model simulations to help identify new drug targets. He received his bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His graduate work, under the supervision of Adam Arkin, used both computational and experimental biology to study how immune cells track and capture invading microbes. His first real job was at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he helped with the design of a laser spectrometer for measuring water on the surface of Mars.