Seattle Chapter

Seattle Fall Seminar and Exhibition

After a very successful relaunch, we are pleased to announce the Fall Seminar and Exhibition.

Get ready for our Fall Seminar and Exhibition, where you'll learn, network, and discover the latest in life science automation.

📅 Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025

⏰ Time: 12 to 6pm (PST)

📍 Location: Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1900 9th Avenue

Vendor Exhibition -  Please email us if you'd like to be added to a wait list. 

Vendors from the life science community will be exhibiting at the event. Their sponsorship makes our program possible, so please be sure to visit.  Please email us if you'd like to be added to the vendor list for the next meeting. 

Chapter Officers

Navdeep Grewal, President

navdeep.grewal@lrig.org

Navdeep has over 14 years of life science experience and more than 10 in automation with companies large and small. In the lab doing histology at UCSF, Navdeep discovered a knack for collaboration, especially with vendors. She jumped to the commercial side with QIAGEN and has been a part of multiple companies since, and currently with SPT Labtech. As an avid trivia and jigsaw enthusiast, she finds unmatched satisfaction in solving puzzles and brings that enthusiasm to work daily. She is excited to kick off the LRIG Seattle chapter and help connect the automation community in this growing life science market.

Louis Murray, Board Member

louis.murray@lrig.org

Louis Murray has spent over 25 years in the Pacific Northwest focused on Lab Automation across various roles, including; current North Americas Sales Manager with the Lab Automation group at Thermo Fisher Scientific responsible for all commercial activities.  Automation Engineer at Exelixis, beta tested the GeneMachines RevPrep, Field Application Manager at Velocity11 building and supporting robotic platforms around the globe and Product Manager at Agilent Technologies for the automation portfolio and launched the Encore MultiSpan Liquid Handler.  Louis cofounded the LRIG Seattle chapter in 2024.  Louis holds a Master of Science from the University of Aberdeen.

Jeff James, Program Chair and Scientific Advisor  

jeff.james@lrig.org

Kelle Hammock, Secretary

kelle.hammock@lrig.org

Kelle has 20+ years in the life science space, with most of her expertise being in genomics. She began her career in 2004 in Clinical Diagnostics as a Cytogeneticist and continued to broaden her molecular testing capabilities in the lab, until joining Agilent in 2018. She started in the sales organization as a Genomics Account Manager in the PNW and in 2022 joined the Genomics Marketing Team, where her focus has primarily been on partnerships and collaborations. Having spent years in the clinical lab and servicing customers at a company which is a tools provider, it was easy for her to recognize and appreciate the value that automation offers. She is looking forward to connecting more closely with the automation community in this evolving market.

Deirdra Parker, Treasurer  

deirdra.parker@lrig.org

Deirdra has over 24 years of life science experience in the Pacific Northwest. Her career began while she was attending the University of Washington, where she meticulously weighed compounds for a natural products library. This led to her joining a high throughput screening and assay development group. Here, she undertook numerous internal and customer projects, developing screening assays in a variety of formats using lab automation. In 2008, Deirdra made the move to BioTek Instruments, becoming the first sales representative for the Pacific Northwest, and in 2019, she transitioned to Agilent Technologies with the acquisition of BioTek. Today, she is the Account Manager for the Cell Analysis Division in the Pacific Northwest. She is excited to help restart the Seattle LRIG chapter to foster collaboration and connection in the automation community. 

Austin Tzou , Scientific Advisory Board Member

austin.tzou@lrig.org

Austin trained as a biologist at MIT and has spent the past 15 years building and scaling lab automation systems. Having started at the bench, Austin is passionate about expanding the toolkit for advancing scientific discovery and improving clinical outcomes. At Adaptive Biotechnologies, he leads teams responsible for multi-site lab equipment development and operations that support FDA-cleared IVD testing and reagent manufacturing. Austin focuses on making lab automation both practical and approachable, and delivering solutions that empower end users and drive efficiency.