Andre Marziali

Director, Engineering Physics | Founder, Boreal Genomics

Andre Marziali received his bachelor’s of applied science in engineering physics from UBC in 1989 and his PhD in physics from Stanford University in 1994. He subsequently worked for several years with Prof. Ron Davis in the Stanford DNA Sequencing Technology Center, developing instruments for DNA sequencing and sample purification. He moved to UBC in 1998, where he started the Applied Biophysics Laboratory.

In 2004, Andre co-invented the concept of using synchronous mobility perturbations to create divergent velocity fields for the selective focusing of nucleic acids. This technology formed the basis for Boreal Genomics platforms, which he founded with colleagues from the University of British Columbia in 2007. Andre and the R&D team at Boreal focused on the development of high-accuracy DNA Sequencing library construction technologies with the goal of reducing the cost of clinical assays and have been awarded over 20 patents on methods to enrich tumour DNA and improve the accuracy of sequencing. With the help of Aqua Mergers and Acquisitions, Boreal was sold in a successful exit in 2021. Andre subsequently joined Aqua as an advisor.

Andre has also been awarded the 2004 BC Innovation Council Young Innovator award, the 2007 Association for Lab Automation Innovation Award, and the 2011 Life Science BC Award for Innovation and Achievement.