Melanie Swan
Writer, Broader Perspective

Melanie Swan is the founder of DIYgenomics.org which coordinates crowd-sourced clinical trials (http://www.DIYgenomics.org/). Her educational background includes an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a BA in French and Economics from Georgetown University and recent coursework in bioscience, nanotechnology, physics, and computer science.

Ms. Swan’s career has focused on research, finance, and entrepreneurship, including founding a technology startup company, GroupPurchase, which aggregated small business buying groups. She was Director of Research at Telecoms Consultancy RHK/Ovum and previously held management and finance positions at iPass in Silicon Valley, J.P. Morgan in New York, Fidelity in Boston and Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles.

Ms. Swan serves as an advisor to research foundations, government agencies, corporations, and startups and is active in the community promoting science and technology, and opportunities for women. She designs professional and educational simulations, including “Discontinuity Futures,” “Being an Entrepreneur” and “The Trader’s Pit.” Ms. Swan is the former Treasurer of San Francisco-based non-profit Equal Rights Advocates, an Advisory Board member of the Foundational Questions Institute, Lifeboat Foundation and Accelerating Studies Foundation, a presenter at the Expanding Your Horizons math and science conference and co-moderator of the Philadelphia and Boulder Future Salons.

Ms. Swan speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese, and is an advisor and faculty member at Singularity University.