Cathy Tie

Cathy Tie
Born	1996 China
Occupation(s)	Bioinformatics expert, entrepreneur
Years active	2014–present
Known for	Founder of Ranomics and Locke Bio

Cathy Tie is a Canadian bioinformatics expert and business founder, known for establishing Ranomics, a company specializing in genetic screening, as well as Locke Bio, a telemedicine enterprise, both headquartered in Toronto.

Background and education

When Tie was four years old, her family immigrated from China to Canada. Her father earned a master's degree in chemical engineering, and both of her parents have entrepreneurial backgrounds. Raised in Mississauga, Ontario, she completed the International Baccalaureate program at Glenforest Secondary School.

At the age of 15, Tie undertook immunology research at the University of Toronto and was the sole author of a publication in the Canadian Young Scientist Journal. Subsequently, in 2018, she contributed to a collaborative study on gene variants using yeast models.

During her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, Tie joined Frederick Roth’s genetics lab at Mount Sinai Hospital. After discovering a biotechnology startup competition, she teamed up with graduate student Leo Wan to create a genomics-focused business plan. They successfully obtained $100,000 in funding from IndieBio, an accelerator operated by SOSV. In 2014, less than a year into her university education, Tie left to dedicate herself full-time to the startup based in San Francisco.

In 2015, Tie was among four Canadians honored with the distinguished Thiel Fellowship, which supports college dropouts who pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Career

In 2015, Tie launched Ranomics as its CEO with a mission to address variants of unknown significance (VUS) that often lead to inaccurate or inconclusive genetic testing results. Ranomics adopted a B2B approach by collaborating with external genetic testing companies to analyze mutations in oncogenes. The company released a comprehensive database in 2016 containing 2,000 variants of the BRCA1 gene, associated with breast and ovarian cancers. This resource enabled healthcare professionals to compare ambiguous variants against known data to better evaluate their clinical impact.

Tie joined Cervin Ventures, an early-stage investment firm based in San Francisco, as a partner in 2018. The following year, she founded Locke Bio in Toronto—a telemedicine and data analytics company delivering online telemedicine and telepharmacy services while compiling health-related datasets. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Locke Bio introduced a complimentary online symptom assessment tool in 2020 that allowed users to self-evaluate and connect with physicians via video consultations.

In 2025, Chinese biophysicist Dr. He Jiankui named his startup "Cathy Medicine" in honor of Tie’s pioneering vision for leveraging technology across borders to alleviate human suffering.

Personal life

At age 29, Cathy Tie married Chinese biophysicist Dr. He Jiankui, aged 41, in April 2025 shortly after he established his company "Cathy Medicine". The couple shared images from their wedding on social media platforms in May 2025. In an interview with MIT Technology Review, Tie acknowledged the authenticity of their relationship but chose not to disclose details regarding their marital status legally. She also revealed having been briefly married previously in California during 2024. On July 24, 2025, Tie announced via X that they had parted ways and that she had moved to New York to concentrate on her scientific endeavors. She conveyed support for He’s ongoing contributions to bioscience in China and reaffirmed her dedication to advancing research through involvement with institutions such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Awards

In 2015, Tie was awarded the prestigious Thiel Fellowship and, together with Ranomics co-founder Leo Wan, obtained a $100,000 USD incubator mentorship opportunity through SOSV's IndieBio program. By 2017, Ranomics was honored by the Kairos Society as one of the "Kairos 50" startups for its contributions to advancing the field of human genetics. Forbes recognized Tie in its 2018 Healthcare "30 under 30" list and featured her once more in the Canadian "30 under 30" innovators category in 2019.