Cayuse, Inc.

Management Team

Dr. Christian Harker

CEO & Founder Dr. Harker received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Michigan in 1985. Following post-doctoral training at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Dr. Harker joined the faculty of the Division of Vascular Surgery and the Department of Physiology at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland. He also served as Director of the Core Laboratory for the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at OHSU and held these positions until 1998 when he resigned to direct Cayuse full-time. After ensuring that Cayuse was on sound footing, Dr. Harker took on an additional challenge. In November of 2008, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, which is a part-time citizen legislature. Not surprisingly, he is passionate about education and health care and he hopes to be able to shape state-level policy and funding decisions which directly impact the research community and associated economies.

Mark Ace

President Mr. Ace earned his undergraduate degree from Binghamton University in New York. An entrepreneur for most of his professional life, Mark brings nearly 20 years of small business marketing and management experience to the Cayuse team. Prior to Cayuse, he has held ownership and management positions with privately held businesses, and has engaged as a consultant and vendor to dozens of technology-based businesses.

Benjamin Priest

Vice President of Technology Mr. Priest received his undergraduate education at Carleton College and his MSCS from University of Wisconsin. His over 25 years of experience includes Bell Labs, Verdix, Rational Software, and Integrated Chipware before coming to Cayuse. In the more than five years Ben has worked for Cayuse, he has managed the company’s product line through the significant changes required by electronic submission.

Al Hooton

Vice President of OperationsMr. Hooton has been professionally active in the software and information system industries for over 30 years. Mr. Hooton has held various roles throughout his career, including hardware/software engineer, chief architect, quality assurance manager, engineering manager, Chief Information Officer and President. Mr. Hooton holds a Baccalaureate of Science degree in Computer Science from Purdue University, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana.

Jeff Colley

Professional Services Manager Mr. Colley earned his undergraduate degree from Dominican University in San Rafael, California. Jeff has over 16 years of experience working in higher education including 8 years at the University of California, San Francisco where he was a Manager and Signing Official in the Office of Sponsored Research. Jeff also spent a year as IT Systems Manager at UCSF where he managed and focused on academic education, research, and administrative systems.

Jessica Tomforde

Manager of Finance & AdministrationMs. Tomforde received her undergraduate in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire. She has over 7 years of experience establishing efficient internal systems necessary for organizations to reach long-term goals. Today, at Cayuse, Jessica oversees the financial management, human resources, legal contracts and overall office operations.