—The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center continues to add heft to its management ranks, announcing today Matthew Trunnell has joined as vice president and CIO. He previously worked as the CIO for the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
“With his experience in biomedical research and informatics planning and computing, Matthew is exceptionally positioned to provide leadership in defining the future for data, informatics and information analytics across Fred Hutch,” said Fred Hutch President Gary Gilliland in a release.
Trunnell, who received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his master of science from the University of Washington, will help the non-profit organization engage with local tech companies to better utilize cloud technologies that could help pick the right medicine for the right patient.
“Fred Hutch is home to world-class scientific research, and as scientists from all fields share and integrate their findings, information technology and focused administrative systems and processes that support that collaboration are crucial,” Trunnell said. “I’m excited to be working with senior leaders and researchers at Fred Hutch to maximize the impact of technology on scientific research and business operations.”
His appointment comes a week after the Fred Hutch announced that Nicole Robinson is joining as vice president of tech transfer. Gilliland was named president last fall.
—Seattle startup veteran John Pollard, who most recently sold the company Elemental Foundry to Porch, has joined Amazon.com. He is working as a director of “Amazon Answers, Customer Reviews, Star Ratings and a few other cool things,” he says.
Pollard called the new job an “amazing opportunity to innovate, at scale, around features that are iconic and core to the Amazon experience.”
Prior to Elemental Foundry, Pollard co-founded Jott Networks, which sold to Nuance Communications. Before that, he worked at Microsoft and Expedia. He graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in history, and holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.
—Fell Swoop, a Seattle digital design firm that has developed mobile applications for The New Yorker, People magazine and Epicurious, hired Corrie Westmoreland-Vairo, formerly of Deloitte Digital and Banyan Branch, as director of accounts. The firm also named Tracy Wald, formerly of Fitch and Weber Marketing Group, as director of operations.
“The growth in our team is a direct reflection of the needs of our clients. We’ve expanded on our user experience design services in order to better serve our customers’ needs, introducing branding, social media marketing, analytics and strategy, and web development in the last year. We’re filling out our capabilities as a full service digital agency” said Founding Principal Matt Dente. “Corrie and Tracy have deep experience in critical disciplines as we scale up to handle our expanding services, client portfolio, and growing team.”
—DevHub, a Seattle startup that helps businesses manage and operate responsive Web sites, named Matt Pangrazio as vice president of agency & franchise enterprise sales. He previously worked at Marchex, AdXpose and Marchex. We are “stoked that our recent wins have attracted talent like Matt and are looking forward to the continued growth of our Agency and Franchise Partner channel,” said DevHub CEO Ed O’Keefe.
—Limeade, a Bellevue startup that helps brands such as Jamba Juice, Puget Sound Energy and The Ohio State University improve health and wellness of employees, named Suzanne Obst vice president of partnerships.
Obst joins Limeade after nearly a decade at McKesson as senior vice president of strategy and business development for the U.S. Pharmaceutical Distribution. She received a B.A. in psychology from Harvard University and an MBA from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
The appointment comes as Limeade makes its first acquisition, announcing Monday that it purchased Kirkland-based 9slides. Limeade, which scored a $25 million venture round last year, now employs 150 people.
—DogVacay, an online marketplace for pet sitting that competes with Seattle-based Rover.com, named Deborah Sharkey as chief operating officer. Sharkey joins DogVacay — which raised $25 million in venture funding last fall — after more than 11 years at eBay, where she was most recently vice president of local marketplaces.
—Lighthouse eDiscovery named John Olson to the position of director of Focus Discovery. He previously worked as a staff attorney in the e-Discovery Analysis and Technology Group at K&L Gates.
“John is a creative and talented industry leader, and he holds more than 20 years of experience in the discovery industry,” said Beau Holt, vice president of Service Delivery, Lighthouse eDiscovery. “Utilizing his deep technical knowledge and clear subject matter expertise relating to document review best practices, John has carried Focus Discovery from an idea to a fully-functional service offering, outlined the workflows, and driven the launch of Lighthouse’s latest service. We at Lighthouse are thrilled to have someone like John in place to guide Focus Discovery.”
—Joseph O’Neill has joined Sikich Investment Banking as a managing director. He will be based in Seattle, working with technology clients based in the Pacific Northwest and West Coast. He previously founded Tiger Mountain Group and worked as vice president of business development at Motorola.
“Joe will add significant depth to our technology practice and expand our geographic presence to reach a wider range of high-growth businesses looking to raise capital or expand through mergers and acquisitions,” said Chris Geier, partner-in-charge of Sikich Investment Banking.
GeekWire’s John Cook contributed to this report.
