About Us

Our Team

matthew meyer
Matthew Meyer, JD

Business Development

Attorney with over two decades of industry experience at both large pharma (Pfizer and Novartis) and building and financing biotech companies, including establishing operational structures, and obtaining licenses and partnerships to support the success of such start-ups.

Navin Varadarajan, PhD

Lead Scientist

Co-founder of AuraVax and Professor at the University of Houston. Navin has an MS in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a PhD in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from The University of Texas at Austin. Navin completed his post-doc at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts.

laurence cooper
Laurence Cooper, MD, PhD

Senior Member

Scientist, physician, educator, innovator, C-suite executive, and entrepreneur, with over 20 years of leadership and experience in innovating and leading teams to help solve complex and noteworthy problems in cancer, gene therapy, and immunotherapy. 

Eden Cooper, CFA

Finance

Venture consultant, entrepreneur, and investor who has helped raise multiple oversubscribed rounds of funding in fintech, biotech, and sustainable energy. He has a BA in Economics from SDSU and is a CFA Charterholder.

Manu Sebastian, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Current Associate Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Dr. Manu Sebastian is a board-certified pathologist and toxicologist.

michael chambers
Michael Chambers

Strategic Advisor

Co-founder and CEO of Fargo-based Aldevron that specializes in the contract production of nucleic acids (e.g., plasmids, mRNA), recombinant proteins, and antibodies generated via genetic immunization.

 

Scientific Advisory Board

mei wu
Mei Wu, MD, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Mei Wu works at Wellman Center for Photomedicine within Massachusetts General Hospital/HMS and studies the molecular mechanisms in association with immune responses.

george church
George Church, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Stephen Johnston is currently the director for the Center for Innovations in Medicine (CIM) at The Biodesign Institute and a professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.