After receiving a B.S. in Chemistry with honors at California Institute of Technology, Dr. Wei entered the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was awarded her M.D. and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology under the Medical Scientist Training Program Grant awarded by the National Institute of Health. Dr. Wei continued her residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at UCLA. As a trainee, she recognized and appreciated the expanding role of molecular pathology in daily clinical practice. In 2009, she entered a one-year fellowship in Molecular Genetic Pathology (MGP) under the mentorship of Dr. Wayne Grody at UCLA prior to joining Ambry Genetics in 2010.
Clinical Directors
Jennifer Wei, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Director
Elizabeth Chao, M.D.
Assistant Medical Director
Dr. Chao graduated with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and received her M.D. from University of California, Irvine. As a Howard Hughes Scholar at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), Dr. Chao specialized in genomic technologies and cancer genetics. More recently her research has focused on novel methods for interpreting DNA variants. Dr. Chao completed her training in Clinical Molecular Genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and prior to joining Ambry, served as Associate Director of the Genetic Diagnostic Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.
Julie Neidich, M.D.
Medical Director
With more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of clinical genetics and diagnostics, Dr. Neidich holds specialty board certifications in Clinical Genetics, Clinical Cytogenetics, Clinical Biochemical and Molecular Genetics and Pediatrics. Dr. Neidich earned her B.A. at Bennington College, received her M.D. at George Washington University School of Medicine and finished her residency in pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. After completing her fellowship in genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she began her career in genetics as an Assistant Professor at Cornell University Medical College, followed by an 8-year academic appointment as a faculty member at Stanford University School of Medicine. She served as a Medical Director at Quest Diagnostic Nichols Institute prior to joining Ambry in 2011.
Wenqi Zeng, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Clinical Genomics
Dr. Zeng is certified in clinical molecular genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and holds a California director license. Dr. Zeng received his M.D. from Xiangya Medical School of Central South University and practiced in Neuropsychiatric specialty in China. After subsequently earning a Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology at Otago Univerisy, New Zealand, he accepted postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and discovered SLC19A3 gene defective in biotin-responsive basal ganglia disease under mentorship of Dr. James Gusella. Dr. Zeng completed the Clinical Molecular Genetics Fellowship Program at Harvard Medical School and served as Co-Director of Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory at City of Hope National Cancer Center and Associate Medical Director at MEDomics prior to joining Ambry in 2011.
Chai-Ling Gau, M.D.
Laboratory Director
Dr. Gau is certified in clinical molecular genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics. She graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology and obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She remained at UCLA for her post-doctoral fellowship studying potential gene therapy vectors for treating arginase deficiency. Dr. Gau completed her training in clinical molecular genetics from Cedars Sinai / UCLA Medical Center prior to joining Ambry.
Brigette Tippin, Ph.D.
Technical Laboratory Director
Dr. Tippin received a B.S. in biological sciences and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California where she received an NIH-NIA fellowship to research defects in DNA replication and repair mechanisms leading to human disease. She completed her post-doctoral training as an NIH Fellow in Clinical Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) / Cedars Sinai Medical Center and is certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics. Prior to joining Ambry, Dr. Tippin was on the faculty at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the Division of Medical Genetics where her research focused on the development of novel molecular therapeutics for rare-genetic disorders, including lysosomal storage diseases and inherited forms of colon cancer.
Shareef Nahas, Ph.D.
Assistant Technical Director
Dr. Nahas graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. He received both his M.S. in Physiological Sciences and his Ph.D. in Molecular Toxicology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Following completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Nahas was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA, where he specialized in the molecular genetics of DNA repair / immunodeficiency disorders. Prior to Ambry, Dr. Nahas completed his training in Clinical Molecular Genetics from Cedars Sinai / UCLA Medical Center.
Tim Vo, Ph.D.
Lab Director
Dr. Vo graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Wayne State University. After completing his post-doctoral in the same department, where his work included identifying and characterizing several novel CNS-specific genes located in the 4p16.3 sub-band, Dr. Vo was a clinical fellow in the Detroit Medical Center’s Molecular Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory. While there, he gained experience starting a CLIA-certified molecular laboratory. Dr. Vo was ABMG board certified in 1999 and became the lab’s technical director. He subsequently took a position as a clinical molecular lab director at what was then USLabs prior to joining Ambry.