{"id":1677,"date":"2018-03-29T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2018-03-28T20:18:07","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T00:18:07","slug":"cindy-dowd-greene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1677","title":{"rendered":"Cindy Dowd Greene"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changing the World with Science\u00a0<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Central New York, we\u2019re going to be really making a huge difference, and we\u2019re going to impact people\u2019s lives across the world,\u201d said Cindy Dowd Greene, president of Quadrant Epigenetics, LLC, and COO of Quadrant Biosciences Inc.<\/p>\n

Cindy and the team at Quadrant Epigenetics, part of local company Quadrant Biosciences Inc., are planning to release a diagnostic aid for developmental specialists to use to streamline the diagnostic process for children with autism. The test \u2014 the first of its kind, due to the fact that it uses saliva to test micro and microbial RNAs \u2014 is slated to be released later this year in at least 43 states.<\/p>\n

While Cindy didn\u2019t always know she wanted to go into the business side of science, she always knew she wanted to make a difference.<\/p>\n

Originally from Baldwinsville, Cindy went to college at Clarkson University, where she earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemical engineering. However, after college, she worked as an engineer for only about 15 months. She quickly found the business side to be a better fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I will say is that I would still complete an engineering degree because it taught me a way to think,\u201d Cindy said, adding that her study in the male-dominated field also prepared her for the business world, which had similar demographics at the time.<\/p>\n

She and her husband, also a chemical engineer, lived in a couple different states before returning to the Central New York area for her husband\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

When they moved back, Cindy had recently retired from a career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she\u2019d been part of the Technical Operations division and the U.S. Oncology and Immunology Division executive team.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d planned to pursue work in the nonprofit sector, but ended up consulting for a startup business for a number of years at the request of a friend.<\/p>\n

She also started a consulting firm with colleagues from BristolMyers Squibb, and then consulted for a trade association in the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n

She then received a call that would lead her down a life-changing path. A colleague told her about a job at SUNY Upstate in Industry Relations that Cindy would be a great match for. She took the part-time position, and it was during that time that she met Richard Uhlig, the founder and CEO of Quadrant Biosciences.<\/p>\n

Richard, previously the chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley Bank, had been inspired to get involved with concussion research after his son suffered from a concussion. He founded Motion Intelligence, which eventually became Quadrant Biosciences.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Cindy retired from Upstate. She stayed in touch with Richard and, in August 2015, joined Quadrant Biosciences.<\/p>\n

Soon after, they learned of a small pilot study that looked at the saliva of about two dozen children with autism and about 21 neurotypical children that could distinguish, with more than 95 percent accuracy, between the two groups of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge need, and we all recognized the need,\u201d Cindy said. \u201cAlmost everyone you know knows someone who is affected by autism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ongoing study, \u201cValidation of a Salivary miRNA Diagnostic Test for Autism Spectrum Disorder,\u201d which looks at the saliva of children ages 2 to 6, is the first of its kind. It uses micro and microbial RNAs to determine whether a child is likely to have autism.<\/p>\n

The gold standard assessment for autism, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), is only about 75 percent accurate and is not utilized by all clinicians. Today, clinicians utilize many different tools to provide a diagnosis of autism.<\/p>\n

It currently takes years to obtain a diagnosis. According to a recent market research study they conducted amongst parents with children with ASD, they reported the average age of their suspicion their child had autism was 2.7 years and the average age of diagnosis for their child was 4.5 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really establishing new science,\u201d Cindy said.<\/p>\n

The company is expected to launch the saliva-based diagnostic aid later this year. Quadrant Epigenetics\u2019 team is also doing research for biomarkers for Parkinson\u2019s disease, TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) and the success rate of anorexia therapies. In the future, they plan to conduct biomarker studies in ADHD, Alzheimer\u2019s and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Cindy\u2019s work doesn\u2019t stop with the field of science. Chair of the Baldwinsville board of managers at the time, Cindy led the 15-year effort to build the Northwest Family YMCA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a beautiful facility,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd, believe me, the facility exists because the community stood behind us for more than 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cindy is also an SU basketball fan and a supporter of the arts in Central New York along with everything else the area has to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who say there\u2019s nothing to do here live under a rock,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n

Though she hasn\u2019t officially landed in the nonprofit sector, Cindy\u2019s been working to make a difference her entire career, from getting antibiotics to children when she worked for Bristol-Myer Squibb to Quadrant Epigenetics\u2019 innovative work with autism diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been really important to me to make a difference in people\u2019s lives,\u201d Cindy said. SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about Quadrant Epigenetics\u2019 autism study, visit upstate.edu\/autismstudy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changing the World with Science\u00a0 By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 \u201cHere in Central New York, we\u2019re going to be really making a huge difference, and we\u2019re going to impact people\u2019s lives across the world,\u201d said Cindy Dowd Greene, president of Quadrant Epigenetics, LLC, and COO of Quadrant Biosciences Inc. Cindy and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[156,572,590,133,592,591,573],"class_list":["post-1677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-alexis-emm","tag-april-2018","tag-cindy-dowd-greene","tag-lorna-oppedisano","tag-quadrant-biosciences-inc","tag-quadrant-epigenetics-llc","tag-the-entrepreneurship-edition"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/SWM-APRIL-2018-Alexis-Emm-Photo-4-4.jpg?fit=5200%2C3455&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1041,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1041","url_meta":{"origin":1677,"position":0},"title":"Museum of Intrigue","author":"Staff","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A New Kind of Story By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of strange things with my life,\u201d Jono Naito, Museum of Intrigue developer\/lead designer said. \u201cI\u2019ve studied chemistry. 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Patterson\u00a0 \u201cWhen you\u2019re a mom and you have kids with cystic fibrosis, you wake up in the morning and every day is unpredictable, because your day could change from minute to minute,\u201d Cindy Nappa said. 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