About

Hello! I’m a translational scientist, writer/podcaster and company builder. My passion is working on new therapeutic approaches and helping patients access treatment options.

My career started in the early days of gene and epigenome editing at Sangamo, where I carried out optimization of ZFNs and ZFP-TFs for both research and translational purposes. I went on to get my PhD from the University of Washington (MCB) where I was co-mentored by Dr. Leroy Hood and Dr. Nathan Price at the Institute for Systems Biology. My dissertation work applied systems genomics approaches and a combination of experimental and computational tools to understand how transcription factors drive gene expression changes in disease. During a postdoc fellowship at Altius Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Seattle, I went back to engineering epigenetic and genetic editors for translational applications including enhancing CAR T cells.

A collaboration with David Baker’s Lab led to my recruitment to Lyell Immunopharma in January of 2018, where I integrated de novo designed proteins into next-generation CAR T cell therapies for solid tumor cancers. In September 2020 I joined Tune Therapeutics to advance epigenome engineering efforts into the clinic, including projects focused on ex vivo and in vivo applications; Parkinson’s disease, Rett Syndrome, and oncology.

For the past year, I have been building a next-generation translational medicine clinic in Tijuana, MX, overseeing lab buildout, recruitment, process development and cell manufacturing. I’m a dynamic leader and builder with many interests in the cell therapy and epigenome engineering space. I can build labs and teams from scratch, and love getting into novel scientific strategy that can move the needle for translational science and therapeutic development.

Articles

A Guide to Decentralized Biotech for Future (a16z)

Unleashing The Creative Power Of Code: What Generative Artists Can Teach Us About AI And NFTs (Forbes)

Gassing the Miracle Machine for Not Boring (co-written with Elliot Hershberg)

Blockchain Use Cases for Science (Exponential View)

The DeSci Wiki

Motif (my Substack)

Podcasts

UltraRare The Podcast a show about decentralized science

Lady Scientist Podcast interviews with women scientists

Supported Reporting

Longevity Startup VitaDAO Raise $4.1m, Backed by Pfizer, Balaji Srinivasan (Forbes, John Cumbers)