Amanda Cashin, PhD is Co-Founder and Global Head of Illumina For Startups, which is focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry by partnering with leading venture capital investors and entrepreneurs to create, launch, and grow genomics startups. Illumina for Startups initiatives include Illumina Accelerator, founded. in 2014, and Sequoia Capital China Intelligent Healthcare Genomics Incubator, Powered by Illumina, launching Fall 2021.. Previously, Amanda was Senior Vice President of Alexandria Venture Investments at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. She earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the California Institute of Technology and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder.