Nanotein & Akron Bio Partner for cGMP production of NanoSpark® STEM-T Soluble T Cell Activator. Read More
We’re a small, core team of scientists and product developers, who are passionate about developing cutting-edge tools that make a real and tangible difference in the lives of sick patients. Beyond this though we’re also parents, former students, businesspeople, and we come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and life experiences.
We support and value each other. And management cultivates a company environment where professional development and a healthy work-life balance are nurtured.
Co-Founder, CEO
Co-Founder
A structural biologist, protein biochemist, and immunologist by training, Curtis invented Nanotein’s core platform technology and acts as Nanotein’s CEO, driving the company’s day-to-day operations.
Prior to Nanotein, Curtis was a postdoc in Greg’s lab at LBNL. It’s here where the earliest iterations of Nanotein’s technology were born; work that ultimately culminated in the formation of Nanotein as a company and subsequent selection as a Top Emerging Biotech by UC Berkeley and UCSF’s QB3.
A proud native of Alberta, Canada Curtis earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta. From here he moved to California for a postdoc in cancer immunology at UC Berkeley, then to LBNL and the rest is history.
Greg Hura is the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Science Deputy, Principal Investigator & Beamline Research Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Greg has a PhD in Biophysics from UC Berkeley and was a pioneering developer of high-throughput small-angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) internationally. He also created SAXS tools of wide spread use including the Vr similarity metric and HEAT map analyses for comprehensive characterizations of macromolecular conformational states in solution.
The technology and tools Greg developed and implemented at Berkeley lab were instrumental in the early development of Nanotein’s core technology.
A biomedical engineer, biophysicist, and lipid nanoparticle expert, Zach joined Nanotein Technologies in 2021 to leverage his previous experience to use Nanotein’s platform technology to develop a T cell activation and expansion reagent. Prior to Nanotein, Zach was a biophysical post-doctoral appointee at Sandia National Laboratories working for George Bachand, investigating the interactions between kinesin proteins and lipid vesicles to create lipid nanotube networks.
Zach earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin working for Jeanne Stachowiak developing lipid nanoparticles for cancer therapies. Zach is a proud native of Atlanta, Georgia who had a dream of moving West working on cutting edge technology.
Luke Haines is the lead scientist for NK cell projects at Nanotein. He was honored for his work on Nanotein’s novel NK cell activator, GROW-NK, at the ISCT North American Regional Conference where he received the Technologist Abstract Award for 2023.
Prior to Nanotein, Luke gained valuable experience at MD Anderson Cancer Center where he worked on cutting edge CAR-NK cell therapies, cell engineering, and synthetic biology constructs. After MD Anderson, he joined the SynMA Lab at Rice University where he further developed cell therapy manufacturing applications such as genetically encodable nanobubbles for buoyancy-based cell sorting and novel nanodrug delivery designs. Luke received his Master’s degree in Bioengineering from Rice University with a specialization in Cell and Gene Therapy.
Patrick is a former biopharma management consultant and mergers & aquisitions advisor. As part this work, he focused heavily on M&A transactions involving life sciences tool & reagents (plus biotech, pharma and CRO/CDMOs) companies, as well as developing commercial strategy for big pharma clients. Beyond this experience, Patrick has held multiple roles over the years across both large established pharmaceutical organizations and Bay Area biotech start-ups (with roles ranging from bench R&D to portfolio strategy, to business development & alliance managment).
Rounding out this professional experience, Patrick also holds a PhD from UC Berkeley, a master’s in managment degree from Harvard, a second master’s degree from USC’s Keck School of Medicine in Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, and supplementary finance training from Columbia University. Patrick uses the aggregate of all the above to help Nanotein chart its path forward.
