Leading Expertise. Limitless Ambition.
Leading Expertise. Limitless Ambition.
- All
- Founders
- Management
- Scientific Advisory Board
- All
- Founders
- Management
- Scientific Advisory Board
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Ramaswamy was part of the early foundational team at Roivant Sciences, where he was responsible for helping to identify and evaluate assets across therapeutic areas and launch its first public subsidiary company. He went on to be the Chief Business Officer of Axovant Gene Therapies.
Dr. Ramaswamy received his MD from Brown University and his undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University.
Roger Jeffs, PhD
Co-Founder and
Vice Chairman
Roger Jeffs, PhD
Co-Founder and Vice Chairman
Roger Jeffs is Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Jeffs was the President and co-CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation, joining the company during its start-up phase in 1998. He helped lead the company’s IPO, oversaw the clinical development and regulatory approval of six products for rare diseases, and managed the commercial efforts that led to a $1.5B annual revenue run rate. He currently serves on the boards of Axsome Therapeutics, Albireo Pharma and Liquidia Corporation. He previously served on the boards of United Therapeutics, Sangamo Therapeutics, and Dova Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Jeffs received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Duke University.
Fraser Wright, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright, PhD
Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright is the Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Wright is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine at Stanford University. He was also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Spark Therapeutics, where he helped oversee the product development and manufacturing of LUXTURNA® and other pipeline programs. Prior to co-founding Spark Therapeutics, Dr. Wright was the founding Scientific Director of the Clinical Vector Core Laboratory at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He was also previously the director of development and clinical manufacturing at Avigen.
Dr. Wright received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular immunology and his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and physiology from the University of Toronto.
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Ramaswamy was part of the early foundational team at Roivant Sciences, where he was responsible for helping to identify and evaluate assets across therapeutic areas and launch its first public subsidiary company. He went on to be the Chief Business Officer of Axovant Gene Therapies.
Dr. Ramaswamy received his MD from Brown University and his undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University.
Ilise Lombardo, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Ilise Lombardo, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Ilise Lombardo is the Chief Medical Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Prior to joining Kriya, Dr. Lombardo was co-founder of Arvelle Therapeutics B.V. a European pharmaceutical company focused on epilepsy which was subsequently sold to Angelini Pharma. Through her work at Arvelle, Dr. Lombardo was named one of the top 10 female company founders globally. Prior to founding Arvelle, Dr. Lombardo has held senior roles in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs working with small molecules, biologics and gene therapies at Axovant Sciences, Forum Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. She has built and led successful teams across multiple therapeutic areas including CNS, Ophthalmology, Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Rare Diseases, and Endocrine Care.
Prior to her work in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Lombardo was on the Faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where she previously had completed her residency in Psychiatry. She completed two fellowships, one in neuroreceptor imaging at Columbia University and one in molecular genetics jointly at Yale University and the University of Cambridge in the lab of Nobel Laureate Sydney Brenner. She received her MD from Yale University, an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge and undergraduate degree in philosophy from Brown University.
Melissa Rhodes, PhD, DABT
Chief Development
Officer
Melissa Rhodes, PhD, DABT
Chief Development Officer
Melissa Rhodes is the Chief Development Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Rhodes joins us from Aerami Therapeutics, a company focused on inhaled biologic therapies where she was the Chief Development Officer. Prior to Aerami, Dr. Rhodes was the Chief Development Officer at Altavant Sciences, a respiratory rare disease company. Dr. Rhodes also served as Senior Vice President at Roivant Sciences, where she built and led a team of scientists conducting nonclinical research for multiple Roivant subsidiary companies. She spent almost ten years in R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Rhodes started her career in drug development at an oncology-focused biotech university spin-out.
Dr. Rhodes received her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Rhodes completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.
Britt Petty
Chief Manufacturing
Officer
Britt Petty
Chief Manufacturing Officer
Britt Petty is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Petty joins Kriya from AveXis, a Novartis company, focused on the development and commercialization of gene therapies for neurological genetic diseases, where he was the Chief Technical Officer (interim) and Head of Global Manufacturing. At AveXis, he was responsible for manufacturing the company’s commercial and clinical gene therapy products at both internal and external sites across the United States and Europe. Mr. Petty oversaw all of supply chain, engineering, program management, and manufacturing science and technology functions. Prior to AveXis, Mr. Petty held senior manufacturing roles at Biogen, including as the site head for the company’s North Carolina facility. He previously held manufacturing roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen and Eli Lily and Co.
Mr. Petty received his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Daniel Chen
Chief Financial
Officer
Daniel Chen
Chief Financial Officer
Daniel Chen is the Chief Financial Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Chen joins Kriya from Portola Pharmaceuticals, where most recently he worked as Vice President of Business Planning and Corporate Strategy. In that role, he was responsible for leading the financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury, purchasing and strategic planning functions for the company. Prior to Portola, Mr. Chen held various roles in finance and commercial operations at Johnson & Johnson and Gilead Sciences.
Mr. Chen received his MBA from the University of Southern California and his undergraduate degree in molecular cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dana Johnson
General
Counsel
Dana Johnson
General Counsel
Dana Johnson is the General Counsel at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Johnson joins us from Rakuten Medical where she was General Counsel and Vice President, Head of Legal Affairs and Corporate Compliance at Gritstone Oncology. Ms. Johnson has also held roles at a leading global law firm and BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Ms. Johnson brings over 15 years of international business and legal life sciences industry experience, in both private and public companies, in areas as varied as IPO, complex transactions, corporate governance, litigation, compliance and ethics, among others.
Ms. Johnson received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her undergraduate degree in English literature from Vanderbilt University.
Nachi Gupta, MD, PhD
Chief Technology Innovation
Officer
Nachi Gupta, MD, PhD
Chief Technology Innovation Officer
Nachi Gupta is the Chief Technology Innovation Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Gupta is board-certified in emergency medicine. Prior to his career as a clinician, Dr. Gupta was a quantitative analyst at Brevan Howard Asset Management. He also previously held an associate staff position at MIT Lincoln Laboratories on the ballistic missile defense team.
Dr. Gupta received his MD from Brown University and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He also received his PhD in mathematics from Oxford University. Dr. Gupta holds advanced degrees in computer science and mathematics as well as undergraduate degrees in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Fraser Wright, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright, PhD
Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright is the Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Wright is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine at Stanford University. He was also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Spark Therapeutics, where he helped oversee the product development and manufacturing of LUXTURNA® and other pipeline programs. Prior to co-founding Spark Therapeutics, Dr. Wright was the founding Scientific Director of the Clinical Vector Core Laboratory at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He was also previously the director of development and clinical manufacturing at Avigen.
Dr. Wright received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular immunology and his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and physiology from the University of Toronto.
Guangping Gao, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board Member
Guangping Gao, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Gao is Co-Director of the Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, Director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center and Viral Vector Core, Professor of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, and Penelope Booth Rockwell Professor in Biomedical Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Gao is an elected fellow, both at the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and American Academy of Microbiology.
Internationally recognized in the field of gene therapy, Dr. Gao has made significant contributions to the development of viral vector gene therapy for rare genetic diseases including to the discovery, development and engineering of novel viral vectors for in vivo gene delivery as well as preclinical and clinical gene therapy product development. He has also made significant contributions to the field of viral vector manufacturing for preclinical and clinical gene therapy applications.
Dr. Gao has published nearly 300 research papers, 6 book chapters, and 5 edited books. Dr. Gao holds 174 patents with 373 more patent applications pending. He serves as Executive Editor-In-Chief of Human Gene Therapy, Senior Editor of the Gene and Cell Therapy book series, Associate Editor of Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, and serves on editorial boards of several other gene therapy and virology journals. Dr. Gao was ranked as one of the World Top 20 Translational Researchers in 2017 and 2019 by Nature Biotechnology.
Dr. Gao received his PhD in biological sciences from Florida International University, and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Mark A. Kay, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board Member
Mark A. Kay, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Kay is the Dennis Farrey Family Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics, and Head of the Division of Human Gene Therapy in Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Before joining Stanford, Dr. Kay was an assistant/associate professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Medicine from 1993-1998. He has been a true bench-to-bedside physician-scientist – leading the first demonstration of therapeutic rAAV transduction of the liver in small and large animal models, working out the molecular process of AAV transduction in vivo, and playing a major role in developing a clinical trial representing the first systemic delivery of rAAV in humans.
Dr. Kay is one of the founders of the American Society of Gene Therapy and served as the President in 2005-2006. He has organized many national and international conferences including the first Gordon Conference related to gene therapy. He was elected to the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2010. In 2020 he was elected to the National Academy of Inventors.
Dr. Kay received his Medical Degree and PhD from Case Western Reserve University and completed a residency in pediatrics a fellowship in medical genetics and inborn errors of metabolism, and his postdoctoral research at Baylor College of Medicine.
Fatima Bosch, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board Member
Fatima Bosch, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Bosch is currently Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Director of the Center of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She was a founding member of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, President of the Spanish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and Vice-President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Dr. Bosch is also a member of the Gene Doping Expert Group of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Dr. Bosch’s research focuses on developing AAV-mediated gene therapy approaches for highly prevalent metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Bosch has also been involved in the development of gene therapies for severe inherited metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS).
Dr. Bosch received her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology and her undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the University of Barcelona. Dr. Bosch conducted post-doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University, Case Western Reserve University, and the NCI-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center.
Fulvio Mavilio, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board Member
Fulvio Mavilio, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Mavilio is Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Modena, Italy. Previously, Dr. Mavilio was Senior Vice President, Translational Science at Audentes Therapeutics; Chief Scientific Officer of Genethon and Adjunct Professor of Genetics at the Paris Descartes University in Paris, France; Director of Discovery of Molmed SpA; and co-founder and co-director of the HSR-Telethon Institute of Gene Therapy in Milan, Italy, where he developed the vector technology that formed the basis for the first-in-man use of genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells to treat a genetic disease (ADA deficiency), now Strimvelis®. Dr. Mavilio has served as a Board member in the American and European Societies of Gene and Cell Therapy, and on the Editorial Board of major international journals.
Dr. Mavilio received his PhD in Medical Genetics at the University of Rome, Italy, and trained as postdoctoral fellow at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. An expert and a pioneer in gene therapy and stem cell research, Dr. Mavilio has published over 180 articles in major international journals.
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy, MD
Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Shankar Ramaswamy is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Ramaswamy was part of the early foundational team at Roivant Sciences, where he was responsible for helping to identify and evaluate assets across therapeutic areas and launch its first public subsidiary company. He went on to be the Chief Business Officer of Axovant Gene Therapies.
Dr. Ramaswamy received his MD from Brown University and his undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University.
Roger Jeffs, PhD
Co-Founder and
Vice Chairman
Roger Jeffs, PhD
Co-Founder and Vice Chairman
Roger Jeffs is Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Jeffs was the President and co-CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation, joining the company during its start-up phase in 1998. He helped lead the company’s IPO, oversaw the clinical development and regulatory approval of six products for rare diseases, and managed the commercial efforts that led to a $1.5B annual revenue run rate. He currently serves on the boards of Axsome Therapeutics, Albireo Pharma and Liquidia Corporation. He previously served on the boards of United Therapeutics, Sangamo Therapeutics, and Dova Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Jeffs received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Duke University.
Fraser Wright, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright, PhD
Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor
Fraser Wright is the Scientific Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Wright is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine at Stanford University. He was also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Spark Therapeutics, where he helped oversee the product development and manufacturing of LUXTURNA® and other pipeline programs. Prior to co-founding Spark Therapeutics, Dr. Wright was the founding Scientific Director of the Clinical Vector Core Laboratory at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He was also previously the director of development and clinical manufacturing at Avigen.
Dr. Wright received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular immunology and his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and physiology from the University of Toronto.
Ilise Lombardo, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Ilise Lombardo, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Ilise Lombardo is the Chief Medical Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Prior to joining Kriya, Dr. Lombardo was co-founder of Arvelle Therapeutics B.V. a European pharmaceutical company focused on epilepsy which was subsequently sold to Angelini Pharma. Through her work at Arvelle, Dr. Lombardo was named one of the top 10 female company founders globally. Prior to founding Arvelle, Dr. Lombardo has held senior roles in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs working with small molecules, biologics and gene therapies at Axovant Sciences, Forum Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. She has built and led successful teams across multiple therapeutic areas including CNS, Ophthalmology, Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Rare Diseases, and Endocrine Care.
Prior to her work in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Lombardo was on the Faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where she previously had completed her residency in Psychiatry. She completed two fellowships, one in neuroreceptor imaging at Columbia University and one in molecular genetics jointly at Yale University and the University of Cambridge in the lab of Nobel Laureate Sydney Brenner. She received her MD from Yale University, an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge and undergraduate degree in philosophy from Brown University.
Melissa Rhodes, PhD, DABT
Chief Development
Officer
Melissa Rhodes, PhD, DABT
Chief Development Officer
Melissa Rhodes is the Chief Development Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Rhodes joins us from Aerami Therapeutics, a company focused on inhaled biologic therapies where she was the Chief Development Officer. Prior to Aerami, Dr. Rhodes was the Chief Development Officer at Altavant Sciences, a respiratory rare disease company. Dr. Rhodes also served as Senior Vice President at Roivant Sciences, where she built and led a team of scientists conducting nonclinical research for multiple Roivant subsidiary companies. She spent almost ten years in R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Rhodes started her career in drug development at an oncology-focused biotech university spin-out.
Dr. Rhodes received her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Rhodes completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.
Britt Petty
Chief Manufacturing
Officer
Britt Petty
Chief Manufacturing Officer
Britt Petty is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Petty joins Kriya from AveXis, a Novartis company, focused on the development and commercialization of gene therapies for neurological genetic diseases, where he was the Chief Technical Officer (interim) and Head of Global Manufacturing. At AveXis, he was responsible for manufacturing the company’s commercial and clinical gene therapy products at both internal and external sites across the United States and Europe. Mr. Petty oversaw all of supply chain, engineering, program management, and manufacturing science and technology functions. Prior to AveXis, Mr. Petty held senior manufacturing roles at Biogen, including as the site head for the company’s North Carolina facility. He previously held manufacturing roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen and Eli Lily and Co.
Mr. Petty received his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Daniel Chen
Chief Financial
Officer
Daniel Chen
Chief Financial Officer
Daniel Chen is the Chief Financial Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Chen joins Kriya from Portola Pharmaceuticals, where most recently he worked as Vice President of Business Planning and Corporate Strategy. In that role, he was responsible for leading the financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury, purchasing and strategic planning functions for the company. Prior to Portola, Mr. Chen held various roles in finance and commercial operations at Johnson & Johnson and Gilead Sciences.
Mr. Chen received his MBA from the University of Southern California and his undergraduate degree in molecular cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dana Johnson
General
Counsel
Dana Johnson
General Counsel
Dana Johnson is the General Counsel at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Johnson joins us from Rakuten Medical where she was General Counsel and Vice President, Head of Legal Affairs and Corporate Compliance at Gritstone Oncology. Ms. Johnson has also held roles at a leading global law firm and BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Ms. Johnson brings over 15 years of international business and legal life sciences industry experience, in both private and public companies, in areas as varied as IPO, complex transactions, corporate governance, litigation, compliance and ethics, among others.
Ms. Johnson received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her undergraduate degree in English literature from Vanderbilt University.
Nachi Gupta, MD, PhD
Chief Technology Innovation
Officer
Nachi Gupta, MD, PhD
Chief Technology Innovation Officer
Nachi Gupta is the Chief Technology Innovation Officer at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Gupta is board-certified in emergency medicine. Prior to his career as a clinician, Dr. Gupta was a quantitative analyst at Brevan Howard Asset Management. He also previously held an associate staff position at MIT Lincoln Laboratories on the ballistic missile defense team.
Dr. Gupta received his MD from Brown University and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He also received his PhD in mathematics from Oxford University. Dr. Gupta holds advanced degrees in computer science and mathematics as well as undergraduate degrees in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mitch Lower
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Mitch Lower
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Mitch Lower is the Vice President of Technical Operations at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Lower joins Kriya from AveXis, a Novartis company, where he was most recently the Vice President of Global Engineering and Facilities, responsible for overall implementation and management of the company’s manufacturing capabilities and the support of the AveXis engineering and facilities global network. Prior to AveXis, Mr. Lower held positions of increasing responsibility at Biogen for more than 20 years in roles across technical operations, engineering and facilities, manufacturing, supply chain, and network strategy.
Mr. Lower received his MBA from Duke University his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at North Carolina State University.
Ashlyn Bassiri, PhD
Vice President, Immunology
Ashlyn Bassiri, PhD
Vice President, Immunology
Ashlyn Bassiri is the Vice President of Immunology at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Bassiri joins Kriya from CSL Behring where she was the Head of Translational Safety. Prior to that, she was the Pharmacovigilance Leader for all liver-targeted programs and supported the US and European filings for LUXTURNA® at the Philadelphia-based gene therapy company, Spark Therapeutics. She spent ten years in R&D at GlaxoSmithKline where she focused on immune toxicities in both the nonclinical and clinical safety groups, eventually chairing the Immune Safety panel.
Dr. Bassiri received her PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She received her master’s and undergraduate degrees in Biomedical Sciences and Immunology from Ohio University.
Brian Furmanski, PhD
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Brian Furmanski, PhD
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Brian Furmanski is the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Furmanski joins Kriya from Nuventra Pharma Sciences where he was the Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to Nuventra, Dr. Furmanski was a Senior Clinical Pharmacology Reviewer at the FDA where he reviewed and provided regulatory and scientific advice on hundreds of IND, NDA and BLA submissions. Before his time at the FDA, Dr. Furmanski was an investigator in the muscle metabolism and repair group at GlaxoSmithKline. He started his career at Siga Technologies where he contributed to the development of novel antiviral therapies.
Dr. Furmanski received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Furmanski received his undergraduate degrees in economics and engineering, also from the University of South Carolina.
Erik Hughes, PhD
Vice President, Applied Science and Technology
Erik Hughes, PhD
Vice President, Applied Science and Technology
Erik Hughes is the Vice President of Applied Science and Technology at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Hughes joins Kriya from Biogen where he held various roles included Director of Global Process Sciences and Director of North American Manufacturing Sciences. Within these roles, he was responsible for partner relationships, development of second-generation processes, technology transfer, process scale-up, GMP cell banking, process compliance, and lifecycle management across a portfolio of commercial and clinical products. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Hughes started his career at Wyeth Research where he worked in upstream process development on Prevnar13® and a meningococcal group B vaccine.
Dr. Hughes received his PhD in chemical engineering and his undergraduate degrees in economics and chemical engineering from Rice University.
Harold Alterson
Vice President, Quality
Harold Alterson
Vice President, Quality
Harold Alterson is the Vice President of Quality at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Alterson joins Kriya from bluebird bio where he was most recently Senior Director of Quality Control and CMC Lead. Mr. Alterson was part of the team involved in the construction and startup of bluebird bio’s first internal manufacturing facility. Mr. Alterson was responsible for building out the Quality Control team at the site to support facility qualification and routine operations. Prior to bluebird bio, Mr. Alterson held positions of increasing responsibility in Quality Assurance at Biogen with roles overseeing Quality Engineering, Quality Systems, and Quality Operations. In addition to roles within Quality, he spent the early part of his career in research and development focused on alphavirus vectors for vaccine use at AlphaVax.
Mr. Alterson received his undergraduate degree in microbiology from Montana State University.
Jason Mallory, PhD
Vice President of Clinical Development
Jason Mallory, PhD
Vice President, Clinical Development
Jason Mallory is the Vice President of Clinical Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Mallory joins Kriya from Spark Therapeutics, where he was a Clinical Development Leader, focused on liver-targeted AAV clinical programs (Pompe disease, Hemophilia A, and early-stage programs). Prior to Spark Therapeutics, Dr. Mallory led clinical development activities spanning all phases of drug development for gene therapy programs at GlaxoSmithKline (Libmeldy™ for patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy) and Adverum Biotechnologies. Prior to his experience in the development of gene therapies for rare diseases, Dr. Mallory spent approximately ten years in clinical development of medicines for common diseases, including contributing to the development and successful global licensure of albiglutide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist) for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Dr. Mallory received his PhD in molecular biology and genetics from Baylor University and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Institute of Metabolic Disease at Baylor University Medical Center. Dr. Mallory received his undergraduate degree Biology from Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls.
Joseph Rabinowitz, PhD
Vice President, Process Sciences
Joseph Rabinowitz, PhD
Vice President, Process Sciences
Joseph Rabinowitz is the Vice President of Process Sciences at Kriya. Dr. Rabinowitz joins Kriya from Pfizer where he was the Senior Director of Capsid Development in the Rare Disease Research Unit where he led a team generating AAV viral libraries. Dr. Rabinowitz brings over 20 years of experience in AAV vector development. Prior to working at Pfizer, he was a faculty member at Temple University and Thomas Jefferson University.
Dr. Rabinowitz received his PhD in genetics from Case Western Reserve University and completed his postdoctoral work at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Gene Therapy. Dr. Rabinowitz received his undergraduate degree in microbiology from the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Lily Nguyen
Vice President, Project Management
Lily Nguyen
Vice President, Project Management
Lily Nguyen is the Vice President of Project Management at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Nguyen joins Kriya from SpringWorks, a company focused on advancing therapies in rare disease and oncology, where she was Director of Program and Alliance Management. She supported development teams to plan and execute on global clinical studies and managed development programs with alliance partners. Prior to SpringWorks, Ms. Nguyen was Senior Director of Program Management at Roivant Sciences where she led planning and organization of drug development projects through NDA preparation and coordination of due diligence reviews for potential in-license assets. She has over 15 years of drug development experience and has held project management roles of increasing responsibility at Aerie, Cempra and Synthon Pharmaceuticals.
Ms. Nguyen received her MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University.
Michele Stone, PhD
Vice President, Translational Development
Michele Stone, PhD
Vice President, Translational Development
Michele Stone is the Vice President of Translational Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Stone joins Kriya from Axovant Gene Therapies, where she was Vice President of Early Development and Head of Nonclinical and Bioanalytical. Prior to Axovant Gene Therapies, Dr. Stone was Executive Director of Vaccine Development and Bioanalytical at Liquidia Technologies. Dr. Stone was also the Director of R&D at Aeras where she was responsible for developing and leading partnerships to advance multiple vaccine platforms (viral vector, protein, and nucleic acid) into and through clinical development. In addition, Dr. Stone was a Senior Scientist at Canon US Life Sciences where she contributed to the development of diagnostics targeted towards personalized medicine.
Dr. Stone received her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in physiology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Stone received her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Lynchburg College.
Stephen Soltys
Vice President, Process Development
Stephen Soltys
Vice President, Process Development
Stephen Soltys is the Vice President of Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Soltys joins Kriya from AveXis, a Novartis company, where he was Director of the Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT) labs and led a team of upstream, downstream, and analytical scientists. Prior to AveXis, Mr. Soltys designed the manufacturing processes for multiple gene therapy companies, including Precision BioSciences and Bamboo Therapeutics (a Pfizer, Inc. subsidiary), and was a process development scientist at the University of North Carolina Gene Therapy Center.
Mr. Soltys received his master’s degree in molecular biology from Thomas Jefferson University and his undergraduate degree in biology at Marietta College.
Wayne Yount, PhD
Vice President, Analytical Development
Wayne Yount, PhD
Vice President, Analytical Development
Wayne Yount is the Vice President of Analytical Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Yount joins Kriya from KBI Biopharma, Inc., where he was most recently the Senior Vice President of Analytical and Formulation Sciences, responsible for leading a global organization providing analytical and formulation services for biopharmaceutical development. During his 16 years at KBI, Dr. Yount held roles of increasing responsibility, specializing in analytical development, characterization and formulation development as well as method qualification/validation and clinical through commercial release/stability.
Dr. Yount received his PhD in chemistry at Duke University and his undergraduate degree in chemistry from East Carolina University.
Zhu Pirot, PhD
Vice President, Translational Sciences
Zhu Pirot, PhD
Vice President, Translational Sciences
Zhu Pirot is the Vice President of Translational Sciences at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Pirot joins Kriya from Sangamo Therapeutics, where she was the head of analytical method development, CMC lead where she built and led the analytical function for AAV-mediated gene therapy, gene editing, and cell therapy programs. Dr. Pirot has more than 20 years of experience in drug development and has held positions of increasing responsibility at Chiron, Avigen, and Geron.
Dr. Pirot received her MD from Inner Mongolia Medical College, her PhD in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Turin and her master’s degree in cytogenetics from the Beijing Cancer Institute.
Amy Chen
Senior Director, Corporate Controller
Amy Chen
Senior Director, Corporate Controller
Amy Chen is the Corporate Controller at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Chen joins Kriya from Jazz Pharmaceuticals where she as the Director of Accounting, supporting all aspects of the company’s U.S. accounting operations and related SOX compliance. Before Jazz, she was the Assistant Controller at Natera, then a biotech startup, where she played a key role in the company’s accounting readiness for its initial S-1 filing. Ms. Chen has also held roles in both technical accounting and BU finance. Ms. Chen started her career in public accounting with Deloitte and subsequently Ernst & Young, serving both public and private audit clients across various industries. She is a Certified Public Accountant actively licensed in the state of California.
Ms. Chen received her master’s degree in economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and her master’s degree in accounting from the University of Georgia. Ms. Chen receive her bachelor’s degree in economics from Zhongnan University of Economics of Law in China.
Bruce Schnepp, PhD
Senior Director, Technology Development
Bruce Schnepp, PhD
Senior Director, Technology Development
Bruce Schnepp is the Senior Director of Technology Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Schnepp joins Kriya from Limelight Bio where he was a Research Scientist and led a team of scientists developing both AAV-mediated and non-viral therapeutics for genetic diseases. Prior to Limelight Bio, Dr. Schnepp was a Scientist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was involved in the preclinical design and development of the first-in-human study that used a recombinant AAV vector to deliver a gene for a monoclonal antibody to block HIV infection. Dr. Schnepp has more than 20 years of experience in rAAV gene transfer, as well as vector biodistribution, safety, and genome persistence.
Dr. Schnepp received his PhD in molecular genetics from the Ohio State University. He completed his postdoctoral work at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Schnepp received his undergraduate degree in biology from Purdue University.
David Lee, PhD
Senior Director and Head of Molecular Screening Platforms
David Lee, PhD
Senior Director and Head of Molecular Screening Platforms
David Lee is Senior Director and Head of Molecular Screening Platforms at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Lee joins Kriya from Color Health, where he was the Head of Assay Development and led a team that helped develop, build and scale Color’s LAMP-based high-through put COVID-19 diagnostic laboratory. Previously, he led the development of novel library preparation assays for Color’s NGS testing lab and worked in Sunney Xie’s lab at Harvard University to invent new methods for highly sensitive single-cell transcriptome amplification and rare mutation detection.
Dr. Lee received his PhD in chemistry from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree in physics and biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jane Bethea
Senior Director, Program Management
Jane Bethea
Senior Director, Program Management
Jane Bethea is the Senior Director, Program Management at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Bethea joins Kriya from Dermavant Sciences, a company focused on development and commercialization of therapeutics in immuno-dermatology, where she was Director, Program Management and Alliance Management. She supported development teams on the planning and execution of clinical studies, NDA submission and managed development programs in coordination with alliance partners. Prior to Dermavant Sciences, Ms. Bethea was Director, Program Management at Roivant Sciences where she led planning and organization of drug development projects and coordination of due diligence reviews for potential in-license assets. She has over 20 years experience and has held prior positions at GlaxoSmithKline in Global Project Management.
Ms. Bethea received her undergraduate degree in business administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College.
Jed Leviner
Senior Director & Head of Information and Operational Technology
Jed Leviner
Senior Director & Head of Information and Operational Technology
Jed Leviner is the Senior Director and Head of Information and Operational Technology at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Leviner joins Kriya from Liquidia Technologies where he was Executive Director of Information Technology. He developed and led the execution of the technology strategy to transition from R&D and clinical manufacturing to commercial manufacturing. Mr. Leviner was also the Director of Information Technology and Automation for Medicago, where he scaled the technology strategy, infrastructure, and operations in the build-out of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded manufacturing facility in North Carolina and the conceptual design of a commercial-scale facility in Quebec. Mr. Leviner began his career with Campbell Soup Company and held various roles of increasing responsibility in manufacturing automation and information technology before transitioning to the life sciences industry.
Mr. Leviner received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Appalachian State University.
Sherry Clough
Senior Director, Supply Chain
Sherry Clough
Senior Director, Supply Chain
Sherry Clough is the Senior Director of Supply Chain at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Clough joins Kriya from Cellectis Biologics where she was the Director of Supply Chain. Ms. Clough was part of the team involved in the early construction and startup of the Cellectis manufacturing facility in Raleigh, NC and was responsible for establishing the supply chain end-to-end planning, equipment and material procurement and logistics processes, and building the supply chain team. Prior to Cellectis, Ms. Clough held supply chain leadership positions at Novan Inc, KBI BioPharma and Merck. Ms. Clough spent the early part of her career in various supply chain, operations, finance and engineering roles in both the automotive and telecom industries.
Ms. Clough received her master’s degrees in business management and materials science engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her undergraduate degree in Industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.
Spencer Knight, PhD
Senior Director and Head of Computational Biology
Spencer Knight, PhD
Senior Director and Head of Computational Biology
Spencer Knight is the Principal Scientist, Machine Learning at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Knight joins Kriya from AncestryDNA, where he worked on COVID-19 phenotypic modeling research as a project and technical lead, and developed software pipelines for data science research. Dr. Knight also worked as a Data Scientist, and as a scientific co-founder and bioinformatics lead at Algen Biotechnologies. Dr. Knight has extensive experience leading projects at the interface of biology, human health, and applied machine learning.
Dr. Knight received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Veronica Wong
Senior Director, Corporate Legal & Compliance
Veronica Wong
Senior Director, Corporate Legal & Compliance
Veronica Wong is the Senior Director of Corporate Legal & Compliance at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Wong joins Kriya from Gritstone Oncology, where she was Director of Legal & Compliance, and responsible for leading contracting and compliance efforts, implementation of legal and compliance systems, as well as managing financing and corporate governance activities. Ms. Wong brings over a decade of global legal operations and corporate compliance experience in the life sciences industry, covering all phases of research and development.
Ms. Wong received her undergraduate degree in art history from University of California, Davis.
Bill McCullers
Director, Quality Assurance
Bill McCullers
Director, Quality Assurance
Bill McCullers is the Director of Quality Assurance at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. McCullers joins Kriya from bluebird bio where he was most recently Associate Director of Quality Services & Compliance. Mr. McCullers was responsible for establishing the quality systems and providing Quality oversight for validation activities at bluebird bio’s first internal manufacturing facility. Prior to bluebird bio, Mr. McCullers worked for 30 years at Merck, holding positions of increasing responsibility in Quality, including roles overseeing bulk vaccine manufacturing and sterility assurance.
Mr. McCullers received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jennifer Coggburn
Director, Human Resources
Jennifer Coggburn
Director, Human Resources
Jennifer Coggburn is the Director of Human Resources at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Coggburn joins Kriya from the IBM Corporation where she was the Senior Benefits Program Manager. Prior to IBM, she held a variety of leadership positions at Citigroup. Ms. Coggburn brings more than two decades of human resources leadership and experience.
Ms. Coggburn received her master’s degree in human resources at the University of South Carolina and her undergraduate degree in management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jiewu Liu, PhD
Director, Bioanalytical Science
Jiewu Liu, PhD
Director, Bioanalytical Science
Jiewu Liu is the Director of Bioanalytical Science at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Liu joins Kriya from Cambridge Biomedical, where he was an Associate Director and built and led a team to provide bioanalytical support for drug development under GxPs. He has over ten years of combined experience in bioanalytical assay development and validation. Before that, Dr. Liu served as bioanalysis manager at Enzyvant and its parent company Roivant Sciences where he was responsible for bioanalytical method development. Dr. Liu held positions of increasing responsibility at Vascular Pharmaceuticals, Argos Therapeutics, and BioAgilytix.
Dr. Liu received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and completed his postdoctoral fellowships at St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Dr. Liu received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Nankai University, China.
Justin Reehl
Director, Engineering and Facilities
Justin Reehl
Director, Engineering and Facilities
Justin Reehl is the Director of Engineering and Facilities at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Reehl joins Kriya from Biogen where he was most recently a Sr. Engineer, Global Engineering. Mr. Reehl has expertise in areas of traditional biologics, single use manufacturing and oligonucleotide processes. He brings over 15 years of end-to-end engineering and project experience in the gene therapy field.
Mr. Reehl received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Lehigh University and is a Registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina.
Mark Chen
Director, Manufacturing Strategy & Program Management
Mark Chen
Director, Manufacturing Strategy & Program Management
Mark Chen is the Director of Manufacturing Strategy and Program Management at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Chen joins Kriya from Biogen, where he was most recently Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships. Mr. Chen was responsible for the strategic relationship management and day-to-day oversight of Biogen’s insourcing manufacturing commitments. Prior to this role, Mr. Chen held roles of increasing responsibility within Biogen across the Manufacturing, Technical Development, and Manufacturing Sciences organizations.
Mr. Chen received his MBA from Duke University and his undergraduate degree in biological sciences at North Carolina State University.
Peter McElerney
Director, Finance
Peter McElerney
Director, Finance
Peter McElerney is the Director of Finance at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. McElerney joins Kriya from Patheon (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) where he was Finance Director Global SG&A and responsible for planning, managing, and analyzing investments in Global SG&A. Prior to his time at Patheon, Mr. McElerney was Controller and Finance Manager at BD Technologies, a medical device company.
Mr. McElerney received his MBA from Iona College and his undergraduate degree in economics at the State University of New York at Albany.
Pilar Prentiss
Director, Translational Development
Pilar Prentiss
Director, Translational Development
Pilar Prentiss is Director, Translational Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Prentiss joins Kriya from Roivant Sciences where she was Associate Director in Nonclinical Operations. During her tenure in the Roivant family, she supported the nonclinical development of multiple assets in the metabolic, dermatologic, immunologic, and infectious disease therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Roivant Sciences, Ms. Prentiss worked as a proposal developer and contracts analyst at Quintiles (now IQVIA) where she worked collaboratively with various departments and subject matter experts. Earlier in her career, Ms. Prentiss was a Senior Scientist at XenoTech, LLC, where she worked as a Study Director for the Research and Development and Enzyme Induction departments.
Ms. Prentiss received her graduate degree in environmental health with a specialization in toxicology from Colorado State University and her undergraduate degree in environmental health from the University of Kansas with distinction.
Rich Guerra
Director, Technical Operations
Rich Guerra
Director, Technical Operations
Rich Guerra is the Director of Technical Operations at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Guerra joins Kriya from Clark, Richardson, and Biskup Consulting Engineers, where he was a Senior Project Manager and responsible for managing the delivery of capital projects from concept through detailed design. Prior to CRB, Mr. Guerra held a variety of leadership roles within Engineering, Manufacturing, and Manufacturing Science and Technology at Biogen. Mr. Guerra has also held roles of increasing scope and responsibility as a senior engineer at Amgen.
Mr. Guerra received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Fernie Mitchelson, PhD
Associate Director, Process Development
Fernie Mitchelson, PhD
Associate Director, Process Development
Fernie Mitchelson is the Associate Director of Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Mitchelson joins Kriya from Biogen, where she was a Senior Engineer of Process Sciences in the Global Manufacturing Sciences department and she managed cell culture tech transfers of biologics from external partners and supported commercial biologics manufacturing.
Dr. Mitchelson received her PhD in chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Virginia.
Gustav Green
Associate Director, Operations Technology
Gustav Green
Associate Director, Operations Technology
Gus Green is Associate Director, Operations Technology at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Green joins Kriya from Novartis where he was most recently the Sr Manager of Manufacturing Intelligence and Infrastructure, responsible for plant floor infrastructure as well as data acquisition and analytics systems. Prior to Novartis, Mr. Green held positions of increasing responsibility within the Automation Department at Biogen. Mr. Green has also worked in consulting in areas of electrical, instrumentation and controls design as well as automation.
Mr. Green received his undergraduate degree in computer science from North Carolina State University.
Jeisa Pelet, PhD, PE
Associate Director, Process Development
Jeisa Pelet, PhD, PE
Associate Director, Process Development
Jeisa Pelet is an Associate Director, Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Pelet joins Kriya from Biogen, where she was a Senior Engineer III of Process Sciences in Global Manufacturing Sciences. She led tech transfers and process validations of biologics and oligonucleotides and supported clinical and commercial manufacturing. Dr. Pelet was also a Senior Scientist at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where she worked in process development of oligonucleotides.
Dr. Pelet received her PhD in chemical engineering at Cornell University and completed her postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Pelet received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Puerto Rico.
Nicole Baker, PhD
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Nicole Baker, PhD
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Nicole Baker is Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Baker joins Kriya from the Regulatory Affairs group at Precision BioSciences, Inc., a company focused on using a targeted gene editing technology to create innovative cell and gene therapy products. Prior to Precision BioSciences, Dr. Baker was a Manager in the Regulatory Affairs departments at both Enzyvant Therapeutics and Roivant Sciences where she worked on investigational biologics for rare pediatric diseases.
Dr. Baker received her PhD in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Michigan State University.
Richard Steere
Associate Director, Quality Control
Richard Steere
Associate Director, Quality Control
Richard Steere is the Associate Director of Quality Control at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Steere joins Kriya from Seqirus, where he held multiple roles of increasing responsibility over ten years. Most recently Mr. Steere held the role of Senior Manager of Global Product Specifications and Reference Standards and was responsible for the global specification review committee, the generation and calibration of QC reference standards and the management of a team of specialists providing analytical support for manufacturing sites in the US, Great Britain and Australia. Prior to this role, Mr. Steere held positions as Manager of the QC Biochemistry laboratory and various titles supporting the QC Analytical Method Validation group, with responsibilities for the development, validation, transfer and ongoing technical support for QC Chemistry and Raw Materials laboratory methods.
Mr. Steere received undergraduate degrees in biological engineering and chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Shuailiang Lin, PhD
Associate Director, Translational Sciences
Shuailiang Lin, PhD
Associate Director, Translational Sciences
Shuailiang Lin is the Associate Director of Translational Sciences at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Lin joins Kriya from Ligandal Inc., where he was the Director of Genome Editing and built and led the team of gene editing, gene delivery and TCR engineering in T cells. Dr. Lin was part of the early development team and a co-inventor of CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system in Feng Zhang’s lab at The Broad Institute. Beyond gene editing, Dr. Lin has also applied the CRISPR system in gene regulation in vivo at Harvard Medical School and human genome-wide screen at UCSF. Dr. Lin has more than ten years of experiences in genome engineering and gene delivery.
Dr. Lin received his PhD at Tsinghua University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Lin received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from the China Agricultural University.
Weiran Shen, PhD
Associate Director, Vector Design and Innovation
Weiran Shen, PhD
Associate Director, Vector Design and Innovation
Weiran Shen is the Associate Director of Vector Design and Innovation at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Shen joins Kriya from Sangamo Therapeutics, where he was a lead scientist and led the efforts to design novel AAV vectors to treat CNS diseases. Prior to Sangamo, Weiran led a group at the discovery lab in the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Shen received his PhD in microbiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shen received his master’s degree in neuroscience from Second Military Medical University and his undergraduate degree in biology at Southwest University in China.
Yunchao Gai, PhD
Associate Director, Analytical Sciences
Yunchao Gai, PhD
Associate Director, Analytical Sciences
Yunchao Gai is the Associate Director of Analytical Sciences at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Gai joins Kriya from Koniku Inc. and Sangamo Therapeutics, where he led a team in the fields of diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Gai has more than 15 years of experience in the fields of molecular and cellular biology.
Dr. Gai received his PhD in innate immunity from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and completed his postdoctoral training in immunology at the University of Missouri and in neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Gai received his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from the Hefei University of Technology.
Carlos Serrano
Senior Manager, Facility Operations
Carlos Serrano
Senior Manager, Facility Operations
Carlos Serrano is Senior Manager, Facility Operations at Kriya Therapeutics. Most recently he worked as a Senior Reliability and Asset Management Engineering Consultant, participating in projects with Bristol Meyers Squibb, B. Broun Medical, and Vigene Bios, among others. Prior to that, Mr. Serrano worked at Biogen as a Manager of Plant Engineering and Maintenance where he participated in the startup and licensing of Biogen’s facility in Denmark. Mr. Serrano began his career in Wyeth Vaccines (now Pfizer), where he spent 21 years in positions of increasing levels of responsibility in the areas of plant engineering and maintenance. Mr. Serrano is a biotechnology professional with 30 years of experience with plant engineering and asset management.
Mr. Serrano received his AAS in industrial plant maintenance electromechanical from Central Carolina Technical College and his undergraduate degree in business administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College.
Dana McKinney
Senior Manager, Quality Systems
Dana McKinney
Senior Manager, Quality Systems
Dana McKinney is the Senior Manager of Quality Systems at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. McKinney joins Kriya from bluebird bio, where she was most recently Manager of Quality Control, Raw Materials. Ms. McKinney was responsible for creating a raw material program for bluebird bio’s first internal manufacturing site. Prior to bluebird bio, Ms. McKinney was part of a team involved in the construction of the new facility for the Diabetes Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients – US project at Novo Nordisk. Ms. McKinney held various roles in Quality at Biogen and Catalent Pharma Solutions.
Ms. McKinney received her master’s degree in public health from Emory University and her undergraduate degree in biological sciences at North Carolina State University.
Emilia Bora
Senior Manager, Vector Core
Emilia Bora
Senior Manager, Vector Core
Emilia is the Senior Manager, Vector Core at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Bora has worked in the biotech industry since 2006 for Fortune 100 companies as well as startups from early stage through IPO. Ms. Bora has broad expertise in Research and Development, Quality Control, Process Development, Clinical Testing and a strong focus in Analytical Development.
Emilia received her master’s degree in biology from Tufts University and her undergraduate degree in biology from University of Bucharest.
Andrea Pappas, PhD
Program Manager, Development
Andrea Pappas, PhD
Program Manager, Development
Andrea Pappas is a Program Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Pappas joins Kriya from the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, where she was a program management lead and managed quality assurance programs that provided support to external laboratories developing HIV vaccines. Dr. Pappas also managed the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs) Program which aimed to develop and manufacture a global influenza vaccine.
Dr. Pappas received her PhD in neurobiology from Duke University and her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Utah.
Brandy Bateman
Manager, Quality Assurance
Brandy Bateman
Manager, Quality Assurance
Brandy Bateman is the Quality Assurance Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Bateman joins Kriya from bluebird bio, where she was the Quality Control Lead for the Sample Control department. Ms. Bateman was a part of the facility’s startup team and led development of processes and built the initial team. Prior to bluebird bio, Ms. Bateman was a part of the Quality Assurance team at Biogen, holding positions in Quality Engineering and Quality Operations. Ms. Bateman spent her early career at Biogen in Technical Development.
Ms. Bateman received her master’s degree in regulatory science from Johns Hopkins University and her undergraduate degree in biological sciences and biomanufacturing from North Carolina State University.
Eric Szymczyk
Manager, Information Technology Infrastructure and Support
Eric Szymczyk
Manager, Information Technology Infrastructure and Support
Eric Szymczyk is the Manager of Information Technology Infrastructure and Support at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Szymczyk joins Kriya from Novartis Gene Therapies (formerly AveXis, Inc.), where he was an Information Technology Manager responsible for all aspects of corporate IT supporting the Durham manufacturing site. Prior to Novartis, Mr. Szymczyk worked for McKesson Corporation (formerly Biologics, Inc.), advancing in his responsibilities as the company went through multiple years of unprecedented growth.
Mr. Szymczyk received his undergraduate degree in business administration from Northeastern University.
Eva Tung
Manager, Accounting
Eva Tung
Manager, Accounting
Eva Tung is the Accounting Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Tung joins Kriya from Tile Inc. where she served as Senior Accountant and was responsible for streamlining various accounting processes and handling month end close procedures. Ms. Tung brings 15 years of accounting experience in both private and publicly held companies. Ms. Tung also worked for pharmaceutical companies, including Natera and Coherus. At Natera, Ms. Tung led a team of four people and oversaw the accounting areas of general ledger and accounts payable.
Eva received her undergraduate degree in accounting from San Jose State University.
Kari Sanders
Manager, Quality Control Microbiology
Kari Sanders
Manager, Quality Control Microbiology
Ms. Kari Sanders is the Quality Control Microbiology Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Sanders joins Kriya from bluebird bio, where she most recently was the Senior Specialist in Quality Operations. She was also a member of the facility’s startup QC Microbiology team. Prior to bluebird bio, she was a part of the Quality Control Microbiology teams at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Exela Pharma Sciences. Ms. Sanders received her undergraduate degree in microbiology, with a biomedicine concentration, from Clemson University.
Kristopher Britt
Manager, Supply Chain
Kristopher Britt
Manager, Supply Chain
Kris Britt is the Supply Chain Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Britt joins Kriya from AveXis, a Novartis company, where he was the Purchasing Supervisor. His responsibilities included both direct and indirect purchasing, as well as all materials management activities involved with the implementation of AveXis’ North Carolina manufacturing facility. Prior to AveXis, Mr. Britt worked for Organon Teknika (a part of Merck & Co., Inc.), Merck & Co, Inc., and Biogen, holding positions of increasing responsibility within the discipline of supply chain management.
Mr. Britt received his undergraduate degree in business management at East Carolina University.
Rob Ballard
Manager, Manufacturing Operations
Rob Ballard
Manager, Manufacturing Operations
Rob Ballard is the Manager of Manufacturing Operations at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Ballard joins Kriya from Biogen, where he was an Engineering Supervisor. Mr. Ballard has extensive experience with manufacturing processes related to biologics and gene therapy.
Mr. Ballard received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Sarah Brown
Manager, Human Resources
Sarah Brown
Manager, Human Resources
Sarah Brown is the Manager, Human Resources at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Brown joins Kriya from MedSource, a clinical research organization, where she served as the Benefits Manager and was responsible for creating an exceptional employee experience. Ms. Brown brings over 10 years of professional experience with advancing responsibilities in the Human Resources field.
Ms. Brown received her undergraduate degree in finance from Virginia Tech.
Beth Marbois, PhD
Principal Scientist, Process Analytics Group Leader
Beth Marbois, PhD
Principal Scientist, Process Analytics Group Leader
Beth Marbois is the Principal Scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Marbois joins Kriya from a gene editing and vaccine technical development background. Dr. Marbois has extensive experience working at the bench and leading teams to develop, qualify and execute release methods to measure AAV, mRNA, protein and small molecule for quality and safety decision making. Dr. Marbois has held positions at Precision BioSciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, bioMérieux and Atairgin Technologies, as well as the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Marbois received her PhD in biological chemistry at the UCLA Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, where she also completed her postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Marbois received her master’s degree in science and public health in nutritional sciences and her undergraduate degree in dietetics also from UCLA.
Ben Rusche
Senior Scientist, Process Development
Ben Rusche
Senior Scientist, Process Development
Ben Rusche is the Senior Scientist, Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Rusche joins Kriya from United Therapeutics where he worked as a process engineer, developing lung cell isolation, purification, and expansion methods. He has also developed and manufactured cell therapies from neonatal tissues.
Mr. Rusche received his undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and microbiology from North Carolina State University.
Dawn Fellner
Senior Scientist, Translational Development
Dawn Fellner
Senior Scientist
Dawn Fellner is a Senior Scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Fellner joins Kriya from Intertek and Roivant Sciences where she worked in nonclinical operations roles. Prior to these two roles, Ms. Fellner worked as a technician and project manager at Charles River Laboratories.
Ms. Fellner received her undergraduate degree in biology at Kent State University.
Greg Cockrell, PhD
Senior Scientist, Process Development
Greg Cockrell, PhD
Senior Scientist, Process Development
Greg Cockrell is the Senior Scientist, Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Cockrell joins Kriya from Biogen, where he was a Scientist II of Process Sciences in the Global Manufacturing Sciences department. His responsibilities included managing analytical and downstream lab projects to advance clinical tech transfers and the commercial manufacturing of biologics.
Dr. Cockrell received his PhD in chemistry from Boston College. He received his master’s and undergraduate degrees in chemistry from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Jennifer Israel, PhD, PMP
Senior Genomics Data Scientist
Jennifer Israel, PhD, PMP
Senior Genomics Data Scientist
Jennifer Israel is Senior Genomics Data Scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Israel joins Kriya from Sarepta Therapeutics, where she led the computational genomics efforts to design and evaluate CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing strategies for therapeutic target development. Prior to Sarepta, Dr. Israel worked as a Scientist and Data Team Lead at Novozymes, where she provided scientific and strategic leadership for analytic and digital transformation initiatives within the microbial quality organization.
Dr. Israel received her PhD in genetics and genomics from Duke University and completed her postdoctoral training in genomics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Israel received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin, and she is a certified Project Management Professional.
Allison Lewis
Scientist
Allison Lewis
Scientist
Allison Lewis is a Scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Lewis joins Kriya from Pfizer, where she was an Associate Scientist and worked in AAV production. MS. Lewis subsequently transitioned to the capsid development team within the Rare Disease Research Unit at Pfizer.
Ms. Lewis received her undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical science at North Carolina Central University.
Michael Walker
Scientist
Michael Walker
Scientist
Mike Walker is a Scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Walker joins Kriya from Precision BioSciences, where he was a Research Assistant. Mr. Walker has experience with molecular cloning, plasmid purification and GLP vector production. Mr. Walker has also served as a Combat Engineer in the United States Army.
Mr. Walker received his undergraduate degree in biology from East Carolina University.
Priya Togarrati, PhD
Scientist
Priya Togarrati, PhD
Scientist
Priya Togarrati is the Scientist II, Translational Sciences at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Togarrati joins Kriya from Eat JUST Inc., where as a Cell Line Development Scientist she developed stable mammalian cell lines and developed analytical assays to characterize the candidate manufacturing cell lines. Prior to Eat JUST Inc., Priya was Staff Scientist-I at Vitalant Research Institute, her work focused in the field of cellular therapy and she worked on derivation and characterization of human hematopoietic, endothelial and mesenchymal stem cells from primary tissues and pluripotent cell sources, and developing functional assays to test their potency in in vitro and in vivo mice models.
Dr. Togarrati has received her PhD in cancer genetics from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, India. She completed her postdoctoral research at University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of California, San Francisco in the fields of hematopoietic stem cells and transplantation immunology. Dr. Togarrati received her undergraduate degree in zoology from Khallikote College, India
Priyanka Kulkarni, PhD
Scientist
Priyanka Kulkarni, PhD
Scientist
Priyanka Kulkarni is a Scientist, Translational Sciences at Kriya Therapeutics. Dr. Kulkarni joins Kriya from the NCIRE -The Veterans Health Research Institute, where she led the research to understand the role of non-coding RNAs in drug-resistant urological cancers. Before joining NCIRE, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she identified the novel biomarkers for renal carcinoma.
Dr. Kulkarni received her PhD in life sciences from the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH), Mumbai, a premier research institute of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). She received her graduate and undergraduate degrees in biotechnology from the University of Mumbai.
Rosalie Bateson
Scientist
Rosalie Bateson
Scientist, Process Development Analytics
Rosalie Bateson is the Scientist, Process Development at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Bateson joins Kriya from Precision Biosciences where she was a research associate in the CMC analytical department, working molecular analytics for cell and gene therapies.
Ms. Bateson received her master’s degree in cellular and molecular physiology from Yale University and her undergraduate degree in biology from Stanford University.
Samantha Lasater
Scientist
Samantha Lasater
Scientist
Samantha Lasater is a scientist at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Lasater joins Kriya from Pfizer working in the gene therapy group. Prior to that, she worked at KBI Biopharma, a contract development and manufacturing organization, where she worked in cell line development.
Ms. Lasater received her master’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Dilan Chudasma
Engineer, Process
Dilan Chudasma
Process Engineer
Dilan Chudasma is Process Engineer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Chudasma joins Kriya from bluebird bio where he was Manufacturing Associate II. He was part of the initial team that was involved in the development of bluebird bio’s first internal GMP manufacturing facility.
Mr. Chudasma is working on his master’s degree in engineering manager from John Hopkins and received his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Nick Butterbaugh
Process Engineer
Nick Butterbaugh
Process Engineer
Nick Butterbaugh is a Process Engineer at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Butterbaugh joins Kriya from Novartis Gene Therapies (formerly AveXis) where he was a BioProcess Engineer III. He supported the construction, startup, and operations of the North Carolina gene therapy manufacturing facility. Prior to this, Mr. Butterbaugh worked as a consultant with clients such as Genentech, BioMarin, and Merck. In these roles, he provided project management and technical services for automation and CQV capital projects.
Mr. Butterbaugh received his undergraduate degree in bioprocessing science from North Carolina State University.
Megan Walz
Engineer, Bioprocess
Megan Walz
Engineer, Bioprocess
Megan Walz is the Process Engineer at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Walz joins Kriya from bluebird bio, where she was a Manufacturing Associate and then Engineer. Ms. Walz was part of the team involved in the construction and start-up of bluebird bio’s first internal manufacturing facility and was responsible for preparing the facility for GMP manufacturing. Prior to bluebird bio, Ms. Walz was a Research Associate in a microbial fermentation process development group at Novozymes and spent time as a Research Assistant at bioMASON.
Ms. Walz received her master’s degree in biological systems engineering from the University of Kentucky and her undergraduate degree in biology from North Carolina State University.
Amit Weiss
Senior Research Associate & Lab Manager
Amit Weiss
Senior Research Associate & Lab Manager
Amit is the Senior Research Associate & Lab Manager at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Weiss joins Kriya from Neucyte, where he worked as a Research Associate in the manufacturing team to produce materials for Neucyte’s induced pluripotent stem cell technology program. Prior to Neucyte, Mr. Weiss was a Lab Technician at Koniku, responsible for executing and optimizing cell-based assays for compound screening. Prior to Koniku, he gained experience in a wide range of academic labs focusing on the cell biology of HIV, early mouse development, and cell cycle in yeast, among others.
Mr. Weiss received his undergraduate degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Maria Alvarez
Research Associate
Maria Alvarez
Research Associate
Maria Alvarez is a Research Associate at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Alvarez joins Kriya from Mako Medical, where she was a Molecular Scientist in the Genomics division. Prior to joining Mako, Ms. Alvarez worked as a Research Assistant in the Epidemiology and Environmental Epigenetics Lab at North Carolina State University.
Ms. Alvarez received her undergraduate degree in biology from North Carolina State University.
Mike McCoy
Research Associate
Mike McCoy
Research Associate
Mike McCoy is a Research Associate at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. McCoy joins Kriya from Tergus Pharma where he was an Associate Scientist in the Analytical Research and Development department, working on the development of topical pharmaceuticals. Prior to Tergus Pharma, Mr. McCoy worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Oklahoma studying M13-Bacteriophage for therapeutic applications.
Mr. McCoy received his graduate degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma and his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Omar Quraishi
Manufacturing Associate
Omar Quraishi
Manufacturing Associate III
Omar Quraishi is a Manufacturing Associate III at Kriya Therapeutics. Mr. Quraishi joins Kriya from AveXis where he was a downstream manufacturing associate. Prior to this role Mr. Quraishi was at Biogen, where he worked in small scale, large scale, and single use facilities in manufacturing.
Mr. Quraishi received his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Samantha Gall
Associate Engineer
Samantha Gall
Associate Engineer
Samantha Gall is an Associate Engineer at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Gall initially joined Kriya Therapeutics as an intern in the manufacturing group before transitioning to her current full-time role. Prior to this, Ms. Gall was a Manufacturing Associate Intern with the Flexible Volume Manufacturing team at Biogen. She also participated in undergraduate research while at North Carolina State University with a primary focus in cell line development.
Ms. Gall received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Diana Fortner
Office Manager & Executive Administrator
Diana Fortner
Office Manager & Executive Administrator
Diana Fortner is an Office Manager & Executive Administrator at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Fortner joins Kriya from Enzyvant, a company focused on breakthrough biotechnologies and transformative therapies for people with suffering from rare diseases, where she was an Executive Assistant. Previously, she served at Roivant Sciences as office administrator and senior administrative assistant to the Vice Presidents of CMC, Regulatory, and Clinical Development teams. Ms. Fortner’s background also includes experience with the United States Department of Defense and cybersecurity companies.
Dorothee Grall
Office Manager & Executive Administrator
Dorothee Grall
Office Manager & Executive Administrator
Dorothee Grall is an Office Manager & Executive Administrator at Kriya Therapeutics. Ms. Grall joins Kriya from Intel Corporation, where she worked as a Project Manager and was responsible for customer experiences in the Executive Briefing Center. Ms. Grall was also a Lead Administrator in the Sales and Marketing Organization and co-created the Field Sales Business Continuity Program for remote field employees in the US and Canada.
Ms. Grall received her undergraduate degree in Spanish, foreign languages and international marketing from San Jose State University.