MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoya Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKYA) (“Akoya”), the Spatial Biology Company^?, today announced Scott Mendel has been appointed as Chairman of its Board, effective October 2, 2024. Mr. Mendel succeeds Robert Shepler, founding Chairman, who will remain on Akoya’s board. Mr. Mendel has served as a member of Akoya’s board of directors since June 2021 and has over 30 years of financial and operational management experience.

“I am thrilled to continue working with Akoya’s Management Team to capitalize on the Company’s leadership position in Spatial Biology. I intend to leverage my public company experience to assist in delivering on Akoya’s potential and maximizing shareholder return,” said Mr. Mendel.

Mr. Mendel, a leader in the diagnostics industry, previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of GenMark Diagnostics, Inc., a publicly traded molecular diagnostics company, from May 2020 until its acquisition by Roche in April 2021 for $1.8 billion. From May 2014 to May 2020, Mr. Mendel also served in various roles of ascending responsibility with GenMark, including as interim Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Before GenMark, Mr. Mendel served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Active Network, Inc., a publicly traded global SaaS company that provided technology to organizers of events and activities, from March 2010 through its acquisition in November 2013 by Vista Equity Partners. Prior to joining The Active Network, Mr. Mendel held finance positions at General Electric for over 20 years, including Chief Financial Officer from March 2003 to March 2010 of General Electric’s Healthcare IT division, a leading provider of medical technologies and services. Mr. Mendel has served on the board of Quantum-Si Incorporated, a public protein sequencing company, since May 2023 and serves as a director of Pattern Biosciences, a company focused on rapid pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility test (AST).

“Having been involved with Akoya since its start-up in 2015 as one of its founding investors and a board member, I felt it was time to transition the Chairman’s role to such a talented executive as Scott. I am proud of what the Akoya team has achieved to date and very excited about its future prospects with Scott’s leadership as Chairman,” said Mr. Shepler.

“Scott’s long and successful history of operational leadership, coupled with his experience advising multiple companies in the tools and diagnostics industry makes him an ideal person for this role. I look forward to working even more closely with Scott to continue to ensure Akoya makes a positive impact for all stakeholders,” said Brian McKelligon, CEO of Akoya Biosciences.