Prior to joining Whole Biome he was a senior scientist at Pacific Biosciences and was responsible for designing experiments and producing analyses to optimize DNA polymerase for single-molecule sequencing. Kris received his PhD in Biophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he focused on dissecting the mechanism of protein complexes responsible for degrading damaged or unneeded proteins. He received his BS in Physics at Washington State University where he modeled ultracold ions confined by electric and magnetic fields.