Senior Director of Research
Karius
Dr. Igor D. Vilfan is a senior research leader with over two decades of experience at the forefront of molecular diagnostics and next-generation sequencing technologies. He currently serves as Senior Director of Research at Karius, where he leads innovation efforts that integrate diverse biomarkers and fluid types into advanced NGS-based diagnostics. Since joining Karius in 2015, Dr. Vilfan has played a central role in developing and automating The Karius Test, contributing foundational IP and guiding the transition from lab innovation to commercial product.
Before Karius, he held scientific leadership roles at Pacific Biosciences, pioneering methods for direct RNA sequencing and target enrichment for long-read technologies. His academic journey spans a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Georgia Tech and postdoctoral research at Delft University of Technology, where he helped achieve first-in-field milestones in RNA polymerase kinetics and nanopore translocation.
Dr. Vilfan holds numerous patents and is widely published in top-tier journals such as Nature Microbiology and Cell Reports. His work continues to redefine the boundaries of non-invasive infectious disease diagnostics and molecular technology platforms.