Under the Same Sky with Yusuf Henriques of IndyGeneUS AI
On October 26, Abner Mason met with Yusuf N. Henriques, founder and CEO of IndyGeneUS AI and IndyGeneUS Global. IndyGeneUS AI is a genomics company creating the world’s largest block-chain encrypted repository of indigenous and diasporic African clinical and multi-omics data for disease prevention/detection, drug discovery and development, clinical disease management, and precision health equity. This conversation focused on how IndyGeneUS AI is using their combined experience from the FDA, the military, and in academia, to lead change and deliver high-quality, reliable disease insights that are inclusive of populations underrepresented in genetic research, while also building trust among these communities.
View the event summary or watch the full recording.
About Yusuf N. Henriques
Yusuf N. Henriques is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IndyGeneUS AI & IndyGeneUS Global (pronounced indigenous) a precision genomics company aiming to create the world's largest blockchain-encrypted digital health platform of indigenous and diasporic African clinical and genomic data. Their genomics laboratory is located at the JLABS facility in Washington, DC, on the historic grounds of the old Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Henriques once walked the halls as a U.S. Army Combat Medic.
The Jamaican-born immigrant is a serial start-up visionary whose companies are at the helm of technology and thrive at the intersection of financial and health equity. He is passionate about mentoring the next generation of founders and was recently named a 2022 Techstars Mentor-InResidence.
Henriques is a sought after thought leader where he frequently speaks on the importance of precision health equity and the power of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), with an emphasis on BIPOC communities.
Prior to Henriques’ start-up ventures he was a sought after regulatory affairs expert. He launched his career in the regulatory space as the acting Branch Chief for the Ob/Gyn, Gastroenterology, and Urology Divisions in the Center for Device and Radiological Health at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
He served as Director of Regulatory Affairs for SAIC, where he oversaw regulatory compliance strategies for multi-site clinical trials. He was a lead regulatory scientist for the Strategic Innovation Group (SIG) at Booz Allen Hamilton and Senior Research Health Scientist for Outpatient Psychiatry at the James J. Peters Veteran Affairs Medical Center in The Bronx, NY.
Henriques managed a $45M scientific portfolio for a large multi-center clinical trial research project in PTSD and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injuries) for the VA Cooperative Study Research Program and the Department of Defense, where he studied alongside Rachel Yehuda, the Vicechair of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) Psychiatry Department. It was through his association with ISMMS that he gained exclusive rights to the patent for the PTSD genomic assay (TruGen-1) that he developed under his first start-up TruGenomix (Polaris Genomics). The patent is currently being piloted at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide to address the high rate of suicides in the veteran and active-duty populations.
The Howard University graduate earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (Magna Cum Laude) and 95% of his IndyGeneUS team are also Howard Alum. He is a proud father of four girls, an avid LinkedIn contributor, and a lover of soccer.
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