Our Leaders

Helmy Eltoukhy is the chairman and co-CEO of the leading precision oncology company Guardant Health, which he co-founded in 2012 with Dr. AmirAli Talasaz. In 2007, Eltoukhy co-founded Avantome to commercialize semiconductor sequencing which was acquired by Illumina. While at Illumina, Eltoukhy served as senior director of Advanced Technology Research, where he developed novel chemistries, hardware, and informatics for genetic analysis systems. Eltoukhy received his PhD, MS and BS degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

AmirAli Talasaz is the co-CEO of the leading precision oncology company, Guardant Health, which he co-founded in 2012 with Helmy Eltoukhy. Prior to co-founding Guardant Health, he was senior director of Diagnostics Research at Illumina and led the efforts for emerging clinical applications of next-generation genomic analysis. Before Illumina, he founded Auriphex Biosciences, which focused on purification and genetic analysis of circulating tumor cells for cancer management. Talasaz received his PhD in electrical engineering and MSc in management science from Stanford University.

Michael Bell is the chief financial officer at Guardant Health, where he oversees the company’s financial activities. Bell has more than 30 years experience, and prior to Guardant he led the global financial operations of leading clinical diagnostic companies, including serving as the CFO of CareDx, Novartis Diagnostics and Singulex. He also worked in public accounting and consulting at Deloitte and Ernst & Young. Bell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with Computing from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Darya Chudova is the chief technology officer at Guardant Health, where she oversees the company’s technology strategy and development. During her time at the company, Chudova served as the senior vice president, where she led the technical development of Guardant’s screening products (Shield), as well as therapy selection portfolio (Guardant360 LDT and CDx). Prior to Guardant Health, Chudova developed tools for clinical diagnostics and interpretation of genomic expression data at Veracyte, Inc., and non-invasive prenatal testing at Illumina, Inc. Chodova holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Craig Eagle currently serves as Guardant Health’s chief medical officer. Prior to joining Guardant Health, Dr. Eagle served as Vice President of Medical Affairs Oncology for Genentech, where he oversaw the medical programs across the oncology portfolio and developed innovative cancer trials and strategies in personalized health care. Dr. Eagle attended medical school at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and received his general internist training at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. Dr. Eagle completed his specialist training in hemato-oncology and laboratory hematology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and was granted Fellowship in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia (FRCPA).

Chris Freeman is the chief commercial officer at Guardant Health, where he oversees the commercial strategy for the company. Prior to Guardant Health, Freeman served as Vice President at Gilead Sciences, where he led their $13B HIV treatment and prevention business and was responsible for the launch of Veklury (remdesivir) for emergency use authorization to treat COVID-19. Freeman previously worked at Elan Pharmaceuticals, where he was the commercial lead for Elan’s Alzheimer’s pipeline products, as well as at Genentech. Freeman is a member of the National Board of Directors for the Dream Foundation, a national dream-granting organization for terminally ill adults and their families. Freeman also served in the U.S. Army, and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Kumud Kalia is the chief information officer at Guardant Health, where he oversees the company’s enterprise applications, information technology, data engineering and security teams. Prior to Guardant Health, Kalia served in CIO and CTO roles at Cylance, Akamai and Direct Energy as well as leadership roles at UBS and Morgan Stanley. Kalia holds degrees in Electronic Engineering (Bangor University, Wales) and Cybersecurity (UC Berkeley). He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the British Computer Society, and was voted ‘CIO of the Year’ in 2021 by his Bay Area peers.

Terilyn Juarez Monroe is the chief people officer at Guardant Health, where she is responsible for the global People team, including the end-to-end talent framework, solutions, and services. Prior to Guardant Health, Monroe held chief people officer roles at Varian, Acxiom and Bonterra and various leadership roles at Intuit, including chief diversity officer. She previously was recognized with a “CHRO of the Year Award of Distinction" by HRO Today and named “Top 50 Diversity Professionals in Industry” by The Economist. Monroe is Directorship Certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors, an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow, and a board member of the non-profit CASSY. Monroe has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations, Business Minor from San José State University.

John Saia is the chief legal officer at Guardant Health, where he oversees the global legal and compliance operations for the company. His prior experience includes nearly three decades serving in leadership roles within two different branches of the US government, in private practice at multinational law firms and as a C-suite level executive at both large and small public companies. Prior to joining Guardant Health, Saia was the SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at WageWorks, where he was responsible for leading the fintech SaaS provider of consumer-directed benefits with more than 75,000 customers. Saia earned his JD from The George Washington University Law School, and his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Santa Clara University.

Jennifer Higgins is the senior vice president of Public Affairs, where she leads and directs the overall government affairs, patient advocacy and public policy functions for Guardant Health. Prior to Guardant Health, Higgins represented a wide variety of Fortune 500 healthcare companies before Congress and the Administration, serving as Partner with two prominent lobbying firms. She also worked as an analyst and Special Assistant at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, with an emphasis on Medicare policy. Higgins attended Davidson College where she received a B.A. in Medical Economics and Ethics and currently serves on the College’s Board of Visitors. She also holds a Certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute.

Darl Moreland is the senior vice president of Regulatory and Quality at Guardant Health, where he oversees Regulatory Affairs, Product Quality and Quality System-Risk Management activities for the company. Prior to his role, Moreland was the Senior Vice President of Regulatory, Quality and Compliance at Accuray, Inc, as well as Senior Vice President of Quality at Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Moreland received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University-Purdue University.

Stephen Murphy is the senior vice president of Marketing for Guardant Health, where he oversees the commercial marketing and strategy for Guardant’s screening division. Prior to Guardant Health, Murphy served as a marketing leader for several health care and financial service organizations including CVS Health/Aetna, TransUnion, Allstate and Discover Card, where he was instrumental in delivering some of their most iconic advertising campaigns. He also led business development and M&A initiatives across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Murphy holds a bachelor’s in Finance and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Missouri.