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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
Director of Sales, CoS
Product Specialist
Process Development Scientist
Executive Advisor
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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.
Bringing 15 years of technical research and business operations experience in startup, academic and multinational company settings, Jenna serves as a strategic leader and thought partner to the founders of Nanotein. As the Chief of Staff, she is responsible for day-to-day business operations, including the HR, finance, and project management functions. As the Director of Sales, she sets and executes against the commercial and marketing strategies, to drive revenue and establish the value of Nanotein products in cell therapy processes.
Jenna has a BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from Michigan State University and worked as a benchtop scientist for over a decade, specializing in gene engineering, analysis and synthesis. She received an MBA from the University of Michigan and transitioned to a leadership role at Ansa Biotechnologies, where she built 30k square feet of lab and office facilities, hired in over 80 new team members, and supported the raising of $73M in VC financing — leading to the commercialization of Ansa’s synthesis service in 2023.
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.
Donna is the lead scientist for Treg cell projects at Nanotein. She started at Nanotein as an intern in the summer of 2022 and returned full time the following summer after graduating with her bachelors in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Berkeley.
Previously to working at Nanotein, she worked for the USDA ARS performing genetic and molecular investigations into PHA producing bacteria, Method Products investigating new probiotic odor reducing technology, and Microchem Laboratory in their virology department performing GLP disinfectant efficacy testing for EPA claim eligibility. She is very excited about the Cell Therapy space and can’t wait to see where in the industry is in a few years!
Zach joined Nanotein in 2023 as a Product Specialist, bringing 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and tissue industries, spanning drug discovery, R&D, process development, analytical method development, commissioning & qualification, and clinical & commercial manufacturing. In addition to technical expertise for Nanotein’s cell activation and expansion platform, Zach works directly on the development of Nanotein’s commercial program, marketing strategy, and technical sales program to bring our products to more labs across the globe.
Zach graduated pre-med from University of Missouri-Columbia with an interdisciplinary BS in Medicinal Chemistry as well as a BA in Political Science. Currently, Zach resides in Providence, RI and is finishing a master’s degree in Cell Biology at Harvard University.
Utkarsha Ranade is the Process Development Scientist and will be optimizing T cell activation and engineering protocols for CAR-T & NK cells using NanoSpark products, as well as lead and design functional experiments to characterize and optimize their performance. Utkarsha has a Masters degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University at Buffalo, SUNY where she worked to reduce the generation of immune responses to a therapeutic antibody via delivery using Phosphatidyl Serine based lipid nanoparticles.
Prior to Nanotein, Utkarsha was at Intellia Therapeutics in Boston and has over 3.5 years of experience with Allogeneic T cell platform development, CAR-T cell engineering using CRISPR-Cas9 and in vitro / ex vivo cell based assay development for their functional characterization. In addition, she has experience with tumor processing, isolation of TILs, engineering and functional evaluation of TIL therapies for solid tumors.
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.
