San Francisco Bay Area
Senior scientific leader working at the intersection of ML-enabled discovery biology, translational pharmacology, and strategic business development. I lead cross-functional efforts to translate cutting-edge science into therapeutic programs, while also driving scientific diligence and evaluation of external opportunities aligned with company strategy. My work spans internal pipeline advancement, external innovation sourcing, and development of data- and ML-driven discovery platforms in regenerative biology, including hands-on contributions to model training and advanced data analysis. Focused on rigorous science, clear decision-making, and building high-performing teams that deliver meaningful impact.
As Senior Director of Discovery Pharmacology at Altos Labs, I lead strategic discovery and translational biology efforts spanning internal therapeutic pipeline advancement, external scientific diligence, and ML-enabled platform innovation in regenerative medicine. Lead and mentor a high-performing in vitro pharmacology and discovery biology organization focused on translational research, target validation, and therapeutic development. Provide scientific and strategic leadership for cross-functional pipeline programs, partnering closely with research, computational, and translational teams to drive program direction, prioritization, and key stage-gate decisions. Drive integration of machine learning into discovery workflows, including hands-on contributions to model-informed target discovery and development of custom computational analyses for complex biological datasets, informing target prioritization, shaping model-driven hypotheses, and enabling program-level decisions. Lead and contribute to scientific diligence and strategic evaluation efforts for external partnerships, platform technologies, and business development opportunities, identifying high-impact capabilities and therapeutic approaches aligned with company strategy. Drive close collaboration with Discovery Sciences and the Institute of Computation (IOC) to translate foundational discoveries into actionable therapeutic programs. Guide development of complex assay systems spanning target qualification, hit identification, drug optimization, biomarker discovery, and translational pharmacology, with an emphasis on scientific rigor, scalability, and reproducibility. Oversee platform assay development supporting large-scale data generation for machine learning model development and data-driven discovery in regenerative biology. Foster a deeply collaborative and scientifically rigorous team culture centered on mentorship, intellectual curiosity, operational excellence, and high-impact execution.
Group and strategy leader responsible for target identification and IND-enabling pre-clinical development of novel therapeutics for immune diseases. Expert at utilizing human genetics (GWAS, PheWAS, functional genomics) for target identification, pre-clinical safety strategy, and indication selection. Lead priority disease area strategy to facilitate target ID and drug development in multiple immune diseases. Leveraged proprietary human genetics dataset and led company-wide cross-functional team to devise strategy and demonstrate feasibility, resulting in executive-level approval. Manage a multi-level team of Master’s- and Ph.D.-level scientists including project leads, oversee CRO relationships and academic collaborations. Lead internal and GSK-partnered cross-functional project teams (30+ scientists) responsible for target identification and validation, drug discovery, and pre-clinical development. Utilize domain expertise in immunology, cell biology, and quantitative biophysical/biochemical assay development to advance 12+ antibody and small molecule therapeutics programs, two of which are in clinical trials to date. Contributed to building 23andMe Therapeutics team from 5 to 130 researchers in 7 years through extensive involvement in hiring decisions, establishment of laboratory infrastructure and methods, training, and mentoring other researchers.
Discovery, development, and MOA characterization of potent HIV-neutralizing antibodies for therapeutic use and to inform vaccine design. Work resulted in authorship on 15 publications and reviews, inventorship on three patents, and licensing deal with Gilead Sciences. Fellow of The American Cancer Society.
Characterized non-classical major histocompatibility (MHC) molecules, their presentation of self and non-self antigens, and their recognition by γδ T cells and NKT cells. Biochemically characterized and solved the first crystal structure of CD1c, a part of the human innate immune system responsible for displaying pathogen-derived glycolipids and glycopeptides to T cells. Work resulted in 6 publications.