Illumina, Inc. announced Dr. Steven Barnard, Illumina's Vice President and Head of Global Advanced Science, will serve as its next Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective immediately. Dr. Alex Aravanis, who held the position of CTO, will be departing Illumina to pursue another opportunity outside of the company. Dr. Barnard joined Illumina in 1998 as the company's first scientist and fourth employee, holding a variety of leadership positions within Illumina's R&D organization throughout his distinguished 25-year tenure.

Through critical roles in research and technology development, Barnard contributed significantly to maturing Illumina's foundational science technologies including synthetic chemistry, protein engineering, surface science, assay research and nanofabrication. He holds more than 100 patents globally and has been published in diverse, scientific journals, such as Analytical Chemistry, Nature, Science, and Genome Research, to name a few. As Vice President and Head of Global Advanced Science, Dr. Barnard played an integral role in advancing Illumina's products, including the launch of the revolutionary NovaSeq X series.

His profound understanding of Illumina's core technologies will allow him to step into this role and continue to improve R&D productivity and efficiency, as well as drive shareholder value. Barnard earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Tufts University under the mentorship of Illumina's scientific founder, Dr. David Walt, and holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Connecticut College. On August 7, 2023, Dr. Phil Febbo, Chief Medical Officer, departed Illumina, Inc.