Mara Couto-Rodriguez is the Chief Scientific Officer of Biotia, where she directs research and development for the company's clinical metagenomic diagnostic assays. She oversees scientific strategy, assay development, analytical and clinical validation, and ongoing optimization of Biotia's NGS-based tests, including the BIOTIA-DX assay and the BIOTIA-ID Urine and Joint Fluid tests.

Before stepping into the CSO role, Mara served as the Director for R&D at Biotia, where she contributed to development and validation of the company's molecular diagnostic tests. Earlier in her career she worked at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University as a Senior Research Staff Associate, supporting microbiome and genomics research initiatives.

Mara holds a Master of Science from the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Georgia and is based in New York. She has co-authored peer-reviewed publications demonstrating the clinical utility of metagenomic diagnostics for urinary tract infections and bacterial vaginosis-associated organisms in urine, as well as microbiome insights in health and disease with work appearing in Microbiology Spectrum, Science Translational Medicine, and Nature Communications.