Corporate governance

Carl Hull co-founded Maravai in 2014 and served as its Chief Executive Officer for eight years, during which time he oversaw an extraordinary period of growth and operational expansion and the company’s initial public offering. He has over 35 years of sales, marketing and general management leadership in the diagnostics and life sciences industries. Prior to founding Maravai LifeSciences, Mr. Hull was CEO of Gen-Probe, where he had been recruited in 2007 as part of a board-directed succession plan for the CEO. He focused the company strategy to take full advantage of its core molecular diagnostics and automation strengths. During his tenure, the value of Gen-Probe doubled, creating nearly $2 billion in value for shareholders and culminating in a successful sale of the business in 2012 to Hologic. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hull had been in sales, marketing and management positions for Abbott Laboratories, Ventana Medical Systems (acquired by Roche), Applied Imaging (now part of Danaher) and Applied Biosystems (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific). Mr. Hull holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in political science and international relations from the Johns Hopkins University.

Sean Cunningham has served as a member of Maravai LifeSciences’s board since March 2016. Mr. Cunningham joined GTCR in 2001 where he is currently a Managing Director, Co-Head of Healthcare. He was previously a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Cunningham holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a B.A. and B.E. in engineering sciences from Dartmouth College.

Benjamin Daverman has served as a member Maravai LifeSciences’s board since March 2016. Mr. Daverman joined GTCR in 2008 where he is currently a Managing Director, Co-Head of Healthcare. Prior to joining GTCR, he worked as a Venture Capitalist at Alta Partners as well as an Investment Banking Associate at JMP Securities and an analyst in the mergers and acquisitions group at J.P. Morgan (formerly Hambrecht & Quist). Mr. Daverman holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in history from Colgate University. He also holds an M.S. in biotechnology from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. DeFord is the chairman, chief executive officer and president of privately-held, South Carolina-based Samothrace Medical Innovations, Inc., which he co-founded in March 2022.  Until his retirement in May 2021, Dr. DeFord was the executive vice president and chief technology officer of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) (BDX), a global medical technology company, which he joined in December 2017 in connection with its acquisition of C.R. Bard, where he served as senior vice president, science, technology and clinical affairs since June 2007. Dr. DeFord joined Bard in 2004 and served in science and technology roles of increasing responsibility during that time. Prior to joining Bard, Dr. DeFord was managing director of Early Stage Partners, a venture capital fund. Before Early Stage Partners, Dr. DeFord was president and chief executive officer of Cook Incorporated, a privately held medical device manufacturer. He also serves on the board of directors of Nordson Corporation (NDSN),  NuVasive (NUVA), Enable Injections, Inc., Blue Spark, Inc. and GeniPhys, Inc.  DeFord graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in electrical/biomedical engineering. 

Susannah Gray served as the Chief Financial Officer of Royalty Pharma from January 2005 to December 2018. She was promoted to Executive Vice President of Finance and Strategy in December 2018 and retired from Royalty Pharma in September 2019. Prior to Royalty Pharma, Ms. Gray served as a managing director and senior analyst covering the healthcare sector of CIBC World Markets’ high yield group from 2002 to 2004, and also previously served in similar roles at Merrill Lynch and Chase Securities (predecessor of J.P. Morgan Securities). Ms. Gray holds an MBA from Columbia University and a B.A. in social studies from Wesleyan University.

Jessica Hopfield is a scientist and business leader with more than two decades of experience in the medical and healthcare fields. She serves as an independent director on the Board of Directors of Insulet Corporation, Editas Medicine and Radius Health. In addition, she is a strategic advisor and investor in start-up healthcare firms. Dr. Hopfield is a former Partner of McKinsey & Company in its global pharmaceuticals and medical devices practice where she led work in strategy, research and development management, and marketing across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. She also held management positions at Merck Sharp & Dohme in clinical development, outcomes research, and marketing. Dr. Hopfield holds a Ph.D. in biological sciences from The Rockefeller University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in biology from Yale College.

Gregory T. Lucier has served as a member of Maravai LifeSciences’s board since January 2020. Mr. Lucier is Executive Chariman of Corza Health, a life sciences company, and is a 30+ year veteran of the healthcare industry. Prior to Corza Health, Mr. Lucier was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NuVasive, a global technology leader in minimally invasive spine and orthopedic surgery, from 2015 to 2018. Prior to NuVasive, from 2003 to 2014, Mr. Lucier served as Chairman and CEO of Life Technologies—formerly Invitrogen. Mr. Lucier’s early career included roles as a corporate officer of General Electric Company and as an executive at GE Medical Systems Information Technologies. Lucier serves on several public and private company boards, including Catalent, Dentsply Sirona, Berkley Lights, Maravai LifeSciences, and Epic Sciences. Lucier holds a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Luke Marker has served as a member of Maravai LifeSciences’s board since 2016. Mr. Marker joined GTCR in 2009 and is a Managing Director. Prior to joining GTCR, he worked in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. Mr. Marker holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Kalamazoo College.

Trey Martin has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in life sciences operations, engineering, sales, product development, and marketing. Prior to assuming the CEO role in July 2023, Mr. Martin served as President, Biologics Safety Testing at Maravai from December 2022 to July 2023. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Genomic Medicines at Danaher Corporation, where he oversaw new business creation in the areas of mRNA, gene editing and gene therapy. Mr. Martin originally joined Danaher with the acquisition of Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) in 2018, serving as President of IDT. Prior to the acquisition by Danaher, Mr. Martin held positions of increasing responsibility over his more than two decades of tenure at IDT and contributed to the consistent growth and competitiveness of the company’s genomic solutions business through directing organic and inorganic growth investments, including product portfolio and service capability expansions, strategic customer collaborations and global M&A in the nucleic acid space. Mr. Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Iowa.

Constantine Mihas has served as a member Maravai LifeSciences’s board since March 2016. Mr. Mihas joined GTCR in 2001 where he is currently Co-CEO and Managing Director. Prior to joining GTCR, Mr. Mihas was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Delray Farms, a specialty food retailer. Prior to Delray Farms, Mr. Mihas was with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Mihas holds an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. in finance and economics from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Murali K. Prahalad has served as a member Maravai LifeSciences’s board since August 2016. Dr. Prahalad is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Iridia, a nanotechnology company, and was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Epic Sciences, a medical diagnostics company, from August 2013 through April 2019. Dr. Prahalad has two decades of experience in the technology and life science industries. From 2007 through 2013, Dr. Prahalad served in multiple roles at Life Technologies, including as Vice President of Corporate Strategy. Before Life Technologies, Dr. Prahalad was Vice President of Business Development at Sequenom. Dr. Prahalad received a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology as well as an M.S. in medical sciences from Harvard University. He also holds a B.S. in cellular and molecular biology and economics from the University of Michigan.