Experience

Various

• Investment Management
• 700 & Above Employee

• Consultant

  • Mar 2015 - Present



Nova Synthetix Inc.

• President / Founder

  • Jul 2012 - Mar 2015

  Biomanufacturing Start-Up with a focus on chemical feedstocks. I am currently contributing to the launch of a start-up company (Nova Synthetix) whose focus is on the development of castor as an oilseeds crop to the North American production system. The venture will use biotechnological methods to address both input traits associated with field production as well as modification of the oil profile to produce modified "designer" oil feedstocks for the chemical industry. Biomanufacturing Start-Up with a focus on chemical feedstocks. I am currently contributing to the launch of a start-up company (Nova Synthetix) whose focus is on the development of castor as an oilseeds crop to the North American production system. The venture will use biotechnological methods to address both input traits associated with field production as well as modification of the oil profile to produce modified "designer" oil feedstocks for the chemical industry.



Agarigen Biotechnology (Intrexon AgBio)

• Founder and Director R & D

  • 2006 - 2012

  I was employed by and a founder of a startup biotechnology company (Agarigen, Inc. now part of Intrexon) engaged in efforts to develop a novel protein manufacturing platform utilizing the common fungus, Agaricus bisporus. R & D funding was provided by a contract awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA) based upon a proposal which I authored with my cofounder. I was responsible for developing and executing the R&D strategy, as well as integrating and managing the technical projects key to the platform’s development. Our team successfully increased recombinant protein expression by 100 fold, expressed more than a dozen novel proteins, developed more than 80 novel promoters and created the first commercial heterologous protein product produced in Agaricus. Our team established high throughput transformation and protein expression screening processses, transgenic line management and evaluation, a comprehensive database for tracking the introduction of 2,000 expression constructs and characterization of more than 20,000 transgenic events, and associated infrastructure to support our R & D program. As COO of Agarigen I engaged and managed financial, legal, and facilities essential to maintain day to day company operations. I evaluated and engaged partners for field production and bioprocessing of pilot scale protein production runs. I also maintained a productive collaborative relationship with the US DoD in the role of Systems Integrator of the project, and several academic collaborations of direct relevance to our projects. I initiated a successful exit of the venture via an acquisition by Intrexon Corp. in 2011, and maintained my responsibilities from the legacy company in addition to those associated with the establishment of plant biotech research efforts. I played a central role in business development, partnering efforts, and technology acquisition efforts.



Syngenta

• Switzerland
• Farming
• 700 & Above Employee

• BioPharma PMP Coordinator

  • Mar 2004 - Mar 2006

  I was employed by Syngenta Corp. in the development of a plant-based protein pharmaceutical manufacturing platform. My responsibilities included characterization and selection of transgenic lines and development of protein purification and manufacturing capabilities and facilities. I was employed by Syngenta Corp. in the development of a plant-based protein pharmaceutical manufacturing platform. My responsibilities included characterization and selection of transgenic lines and development of protein purification and manufacturing capabilities and facilities.



Monsanto Company

• United States
• Farming
• 700 & Above Employee

• Analytical Sciences Lead

  • Dec 2002 - Mar 2004

  From 2002 to 2004 I was employed as Analytical Sciences Manager for Monsanto Protein Technologies (MPT). My responsibilities included managing a twelve-person laboratory team that was the company resource for protein and molecular characterization of transgenic plant lines for MPT. The Analytical Sciences team contributed to development of improved expression elements, characterization of protein quality, selection and of transgenic lines for protein production, molecular characterization of the transgene inserts, and generation of molecular and protein regulatory data packages.



Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc

• Regulatory Sciences Manager

  • Mar 2000 - Dec 2002

  In 2000 I accepted a position of Regulatory Science Manager with Pioneer Hi-Bred. At Pioneer I supervised establishment of a medium-throughput molecular genotyping laboratory within regulatory sciences as well as establishment of a GLP quality program for the molecular analysis team. I was also responsible for developing strategies and securing US regulatory agency (USDA, EPA, FDA) buy-in for regulatory data package submissions to support products in the Pioneer pipeline. In 2000 I accepted a position of Regulatory Science Manager with Pioneer Hi-Bred. At Pioneer I supervised establishment of a medium-throughput molecular genotyping laboratory within regulatory sciences as well as establishment of a GLP quality program for the molecular analysis team. I was also responsible for developing strategies and securing US regulatory agency (USDA, EPA, FDA) buy-in for regulatory data package submissions to support products in the Pioneer pipeline.



Monsanto Company

• United States
• Farming
• 700 & Above Employee

• Program Manager

  • 1992 - 1999

  From 1992-1999 I worked as team lead for DeKalb Genetics’ insect control research. I was afforded the opportunity to make significant contributions in all phases of the transgenic plant R & D pipeline; working directly in the areas of technology discovery, product development, regulatory science and product stewardship. My responsibilities grew from leading research functions focused on discovery of novel insect control traits to ultimately managing the R & D program associated with discovery, development and deployment of novel insect resistant traits in corn. Throughout my employment at DeKalb I held responsibility for discovery research for protein-based insect control traits. Our team successfully pursued several approaches to discovery of novel insect control traits including a rational design strategy based upon identification of molecular targets in the pest of interest and a large scale protein screening program. Subsequent to the development and commercialization of the company's first insect resistant corn product by my research team, I assumed primary managerial and technical responsibility for development of the regulatory data package. This was accomplished in 16 months by 10 scientists and included implementation of a GLP quality program. Following commercialization of this product, I continued to play a stewardship role for this product.