Personal genomics. One of the handful of innovators in the field of personal genomics to appear on this list, Dr. Agus is an oncologist and co-founder of Silicon Valley-based Navigenics. (The company is now run by list member Lord.) Like other genomic scientists, Dr. Agus is on the  "hunt for biomarkers" because he believes they can help the pharma-tech industry assess a patient's potential clinical response to a therapeutic. That's targeted medicine, which has the potential to cut costs and improve efficacy -- and we like it. Dr. Agus previously founded Oncology.com, a social networking site for cancer patients. He is also director of the USC Center for Applied Molecular Medicine and the USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center, and was previously director of the Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics (proteomics is the study of proteins). He has been an attending physician in oncology at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. After reading this bio it probably won't surprise you to learn that like any overachieving, forty-something-professional in L.A., Dr. Agus has also made a film. It is a documentary, called Who Needs Sleep?. He plays himself.

Blogging on FasterCures.com:

"The technological advances of the past decade have allowed for a unique opportunity to change the slope of the curve of progress versus time – the inflection point as described by Andy Grove in Only the Paranoid Survive – in drug development. I firmly believe that Dr. Grove's [words] are applicable in this case, 'Technology will always win.'"