Ryan Phelan is Co-founder and Executive Director of Revive & Restore, a California-based nonprofit with a mission to enhance biodiversity through the genetic rescue of endangered and extinct species. Thanks to the rapid advance of genomic technology, new tools are emerging for conservation. Endangered species that have lost their crucial genetic diversity may be restored to reproductive health. Those threatened by invasive diseases may be able to acquire genetic disease resistance. It may even be possible to bring some extinct species back to life. Revive & Restore works with some of the world’s leading molecular biologists, conservation biologists, and conservation organizations to develop pioneering, proof-of-concept genetic rescue projects using cutting-edge genomic technologies to solve previously intractable wildlife conservation challenges such as those posed by inbreeding, exotic diseases, climate change, and destructive invasive species.

Ryan is a serial entrepreneur active in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds. She was the founder and CEO of two innovative healthcare companies: DNA Direct, the first medical genetics company to focus on bringing personalized medicine to the consumer, and Direct Medical Knowledge, a consumer health web site unique for its content depth and innovative search interface. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Personal Genome Project, which aims to sequence and publicize the complete genomes and medical records of 100,000 volunteers in order to enable research into personalized medicine.