Mickie Henshall
About Mickie Henshall
Independent director of VolitionRx Limited since August 15, 2022; age 53 as of the 2025 proxy record date. She is currently Chief Business Officer at Ambry Genetics (a Tempus subsidiary) overseeing Commercial Operations, Product Management, Marketing and Market Access (since January 2025). Prior roles include Chief Marketing Officer at REALM IDx, Inc. (October 2020–January 2025), Chief Marketing Officer at Genomic Life (April–October 2020), and senior marketing leadership roles at Agena Bioscience, Accriva Diagnostics, Biotix, and Illumina. She holds a B.S. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| REALM IDx, Inc. (formerly Konica Minolta Precision Medicine) | Chief Marketing Officer | Oct 2020 – Jan 2025 | Led corporate rebranding, marketing org restructuring, commercial expansion and product development processes; supported successful exits of Ambry and Invicro businesses . |
| Genomic Life, Inc. | Chief Marketing Officer | Apr 2020 – Oct 2020 | Corporate strategy and marketing for Cancer Guardian precision medicine benefit program . |
| Agena Bioscience (now part of Mesa Laboratories, NASDAQ: MLAB) | Vice President of Marketing | 2017 – Apr 2020 | Led Corporate Marketing, Product Management, Scientific Affairs, Custom Assay Services and regional marketing teams . |
| Accriva Diagnostics, Inc. | Vice President of Marketing | 2014 – 2017 | Built marketing team, rebranded POC cardiovascular diagnostics, developed portfolio roadmap; supported sale to Werfen Life . |
| Biotix, Inc. | Vice President of Marketing | 2010 – 2014 | Led global marketing across branding, channel marketing, PR, sales training . |
| Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) | Increasing leadership roles in Diagnostics Marketing | 2005 – 2010 | Developed first diagnostic portfolio strategy, convened Diagnostic Advisory Board, built diagnostics marketing team, launched first FDA-cleared system . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambry Genetics (Tempus subsidiary) | Chief Business Officer | Jan 2025 – Present | Leads Commercial Operations, Product Management, Marketing, Market Access . |
Board Governance
- Committee assignments: Compensation Committee member; Nominations & Governance Committee member. Not on Audit Committee .
- Committee chairs: Compensation Chair is Kim Nguyen; Nominations & Governance Chair currently Guy Innes (to be Timothy Still post-annual meeting). Henshall is not a chair .
- Independence status: Board affirmatively determined Henshall is independent under NYSE American guidelines; Audit Committee members meet heightened independence criteria .
- Attendance: In FY2024, all directors attended at least 75% of board and applicable committee meetings; Board held 5 regular meetings and acted by written consent 12 times; Audit held 5 regular meetings (6 written consents); Compensation held no regular meetings (10 written consents); Nominations & Governance held 1 regular meeting (3 written consents) .
- Tenure and election: Director since August 15, 2022; scheduled for election with other nominees at the 2025 Annual Meeting .
Fixed Compensation
| Item | Terms/Amounts | FY2024 Actual Paid | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board cash retainer | $10,840 per calendar quarter | $0 | Henshall elected not to receive cash compensation under her Independent Director Agreement . |
| Committee service fees | $500 per half day; $1,000 per full day | $0 | She elected to forego committee cash fees . |
| Director equity (annual/other) | RSUs in lieu of cash possible under plan | $4,240 stock awards (fair value) | FY2024 Director Compensation Table shows Henshall received $4,240 in stock awards; no cash fees . |
Performance Compensation
| Award Type | Grant Date | Shares / Fair Value | Vesting / Performance Metric | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs (Independent Director Agreement) | Aug 15, 2022 | 15,000 shares | Time-based vesting: 50% at 12 months and 50% at 24 months | Granted at appointment; time-based, not tied to revenue/TSR/ESG metrics . |
| RSUs (outstanding as of 12/31/2024) | Not disclosed | 9,000 shares | Time-based (details not specified in 2025 proxy) | Outstanding balance disclosed; not included in 60-day beneficial ownership calc . |
No director-specific performance metrics (e.g., revenue growth, EBITDA, TSR hurdles) are disclosed for Henshall’s equity awards; her initial RSUs are purely time-based .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
- No other public company directorships are disclosed in Henshall’s proxy biography; her external role is as an operating executive (Ambry Genetics/Tempus), not a director position .
- No related-party arrangements or Item 404 transactions involving Henshall were reported at appointment; no family relationships with directors or executives .
Expertise & Qualifications
- Domain expertise: 20+ years in IVD, clinical and life science markets; extensive marketing, commercialization, and product development leadership .
- Education: B.S. in Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley .
- Board-relevant skills: Commercial strategy, global marketing operations, market access and product lifecycle processes; aligned with VolitionRx’s diagnostics commercialization needs .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Beneficially Owned | % of Class | Options Exercisable ≤60 Days | RSUs Settling ≤60 Days | RSUs Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mickie Henshall | 23,206 | * (<1.0%) | 0 | 0 | 9,000 (as of 12/31/2024) |
| Notes | Beneficial ownership % based on 100,775,334 shares outstanding as of April 25, 2025 | Beneficial ownership excludes awards not exercisable/settling within 60 days | RSU count disclosed; grant date not specified in 2025 proxy | ||
| Citations |
Governance Assessment
- Independence and committee roles: Strong independence posture with service on Compensation and Nominations & Governance; not on Audit. Compensation Committee oversight includes approval of Clawback and Forfeiture Policy—an investor-friendly alignment tool .
- Engagement and attendance: Meets minimum attendance thresholds; board and committee actions indicate active governance via written consents (useful for small-cap companies with lean boards) .
- Pay-for-performance alignment: Henshall elected to forego cash compensation, relying on equity awards—an alignment-positive signal for investors. Her disclosed RSUs are time-based; no evidence of discretionary bonuses, tax gross-ups, or option repricings tied to her director pay .
- Ownership alignment: Modest direct ownership (<1%); RSUs outstanding indicate ongoing equity exposure. No pledging or hedging disclosed; absence of options/warrants within 60 days reduces near-term in-the-money incentives .
- Conflicts/related-party exposure: At appointment, no related-party transactions requiring disclosure; current external role at Ambry Genetics (Tempus) is in adjacent industry but no disclosed transactions with VolitionRx—monitor for future overlap with suppliers/customers or strategic partnerships .
- RED FLAGS: None disclosed regarding legal proceedings, related-party transactions, hedging/pledging, or compensation anomalies. Note that the Compensation Committee did not use an external compensation consultant in FY2024—which can be neutral but warrants monitoring for benchmarking rigor .