Right Team. Right Science. Right Mission.

Aaron Bogle

Protein Sciences

What made you want to join BAKX?

The approach BAKX is taking is intriguing and exciting. Being able to influence the apoptosis pathway really caught my eye since that can be applied to treat a wide variety of cancers and diseases. The team brings years of experience in this area as well as a drive to make a difference. This showed me how much of an impact this target can have on patients’ lives. Also, the size of the team allows us to be closely-knit, collaborative, and gives us the ability to share valuable insights which helps us all scientifically grow.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX strong protein expression and purification skills as I have successfully purified a wide variety of proteins using different expression systems and tags. I also bring biochemical assay development skills including designing, running, and analyzing assays to observe how compounds interact with our target.

Experience: Cedilla Therapeutics, Clark University

Education: MS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology – Clark University 2019, BA in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology – Clark University 2018

Interests: I enjoy exploring novel places, weightlifting, paddle boarding, and overall being by the water

Marguerite Butler

Research & Lab Operations

What made you want to join BAKX?

I was excited to join an early-stage start-up with a lot of potential for both company and individual professional growth. While interviewing, I was struck by how knowledgeable but yet modest and kind everyone was. These first impressions were true!

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I am a passionate and organized person that loves to bring order and efficiency to complex systems. I thrive in an environment where I get to do something different daily, contributing to a wide breadth of departments and projects, including safety, project managing our lead drug program, or onboarding new hires. Here, I have an outsize role in building the lab as well as shaping the culture, which is a phenomenal opportunity that gets me eager to work every day.

Experience: Compass Therapeutics Inc., Physical Sciences Inc., Simplicity Engineering NE

Education: Northeastern University, BSc – Biochemistry, minor Marine Biology (Three Seas)

Jiming Chen

Computational Chemist

What made you want to join BAKX?

I wanted to join BAKX because I was excited for the opportunity to work closely with a highly experienced team of scientists from various fields and backgrounds on the front lines of drug discovery.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring enhanced simulation and analysis techniques that can be used to characterize our targets and their interactions with compounds computationally.

Experience: Shukla Group at University of Illinois, Clementi Group at Rice University

Education: PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BS, Chemical Engineering, Rice University

Roland E. Dolle, PhD

Medicinal Chemistry

What made you want to join BAKX?

BAKX appealed to me because it is rare to find such a promising pathway for small molecule drug design, with its foundation of academic research, that is ripe for opportunity but is yet untapped. Additionally, BAKX has a team of talented experts who are uniquely positioned to solve this problem.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

As an accomplished drug discovery executive, I bring to BAKX a record of innovation and success in drug design, team leadership, candidate selection, preclinical development, and registration. I invented over 15 new chemical entities through various roles in pharma and biotech.

Experience: Washington University School of Medicine, Medicine Inventions, Mirata Pharmaceuticals, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Adolor Corporation, Parmacopeia, Sterling Winthrop, SmithKline Beecham

Education: PhD – Organic Chemistry – University of Pennsylvania

Kaifu Gao

Computational Drug Design

What made you want to join BAKX?

BAKX is attractive to me for several reasons. First, BAKX provides me an excellent opportunity to work together with scientists from different backgrounds and motivate new ideas for drug discovery. Second, as a start-up with a bright future, I am very proud to be a part of its rapid growth. Third, BAKX has well-validated targets and leading programs, sharing a vision to develop drugs that reach the clinic and benefit human welfare.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX profound solutions from data science, machine learning, and deep learning to help drug discovery and ADMET screening. Additionally, my experience in molecular dynamics simulations and docking can contribute to understanding drug-target interactions .

Experience: Michigan State University Guowei Wei Lab, University of California San Diego Michael Gilson Lab

Education: PhD – Physical Chemistry – Chinese Academy of Sciences; BS – Physics – Central China Normal University

Ning Gao, PhD

Protein Sciences

What made you want to join BAKX?

I joined BAKX because of the science behind the BAX and BAK targets and my respect for the scientific co-founders, as well as the nimble and collaborative environment. We have one goal to move the project forward, and everybody helps each other to achieve this goal. Cancer has affected my family, as it affects millions of others. I have a deep personal motivation to develop therapeutics that will help people who are impacted by cancer.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring 30 years in protein biochemistry and molecular biology to BAKX. I have led protein science and protein engineering teams, and I have extensive hands-on experience in protein biochemistry and biophysics and mass spectrometry.

Experience: Roivant Sciences, Silicon Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Hybridon, Scriptgen, Boston University Medical Center

Education: MSc – Biochemistry – Nanjing University, BS – Biochemistry – Nanjing University

Gwyneth Hannagan

Administration

What made you want to join BAKX?

I joined BAKX because of its positive work environment and the comradery among the team, as well as the shared drive to help improve patient outcomes for those with cancer.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring more than 25 years of administrative experience leading in corporate organization and operations to BAKX. Prior to joining the BAKX team, I served as the executive assistant to the president of a hospitality company in New York City, where I oversaw corporate structure and procedures and managed the corporate office.

Experience: Merchants Hospitality, Lingua Professionale, Istituto D’Istruzione Superiore Nicolo Machiavelli, Rennert International, American Institute of Foreign Study

Education: Post Graduate Diploma – Librarianship –The University of Sheffield, BA – History – Rutgers University

Sree Kant

Founder, CEO

What motivated you to found BAKX?

My vision is a world where cancer and other diseases are curable, and I believe we can do this by bringing together the right science, and the right team to create a platform that delivers transformative drugs. I founded BAKX because I strongly believe in the potential of our science and our team to deliver significant gains in the fight against cancer.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX 20 years leading high functioning teams across pharma, biotech, strategy, investing, and company building. I see in the BAKX team a unique set of capabilities for maximizing the therapeutic potential of the apoptosis pathway, and I am honored to be a part of this mission and to lead this incredible group.

Experience: Pfizer, Life Biosciences, Boston Consulting Group, Ranbaxy Labs, Multiple startups

Education: MPH – Harvard School of Public Health, MBA – IIM Bangalore

Interests: Cycling, and all things Bass

Cheryl Koh, PhD

Discovery Biology

What made you want to join BAKX?

I joined BAKX to be part of a cross-functional drug discovery team of passionate scientists who are collaborating to target a well-validated pathway – apoptosis. Building on the expertise of our scientific co-founders, the BAKX team is working towards our shared goal of developing disease-modifying therapies for patients.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I have broad early drug discovery experience from target ID to IND, encompassing various target classes, in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology. I have contributed to more than 20 peer-reviewed publications, including a co-first authorship in Nature.

Interests: Hiking with my mini-Australian Shepherd, Bucatini.

Meghana Kulkarni, PhD

Discovery Biology

What made you want to join BAKX?

The two things that attracted me to BAKX were the science and the people. The science is based on a pathway that has been clinically validated with an approved drug, but where there is room for significant improvement, and it is supported by research into the pathway established by our scientific cofounders. The people at BAKX are each experts in their fields and together comprise a highly effective team.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to that team expertise in basic and translational cancer research, cancer genomics and targeted oncology and immuno-oncology therapeutics. I am an accomplished leader and passionate scientist who is experienced in all parts of the drug discovery process from target identification and validation to the clinic.

Experience: Silicon Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science, Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship – Harvard Medical School, PhD – Genetics – Michigan State University, MSc – Biotechnology – University of Mumbai, BSc – Life Sciences – St. Xavier’s College

Michael Malamas, PhD

Medicinal Chemistry

What made you want to join BAKX?

I joined BAKX for three primary reasons: (a) focused teamwork on breakthrough science and first-in-class medicines to treat cancer; (b) unparalleled people talent in diverse scientific areas with commitment to first class science to find solutions to new medicines; (c) organizational culture fostering work and life in ways to discover best science, build strong collaborative teams and care of the people.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX seasoned broad knowledge of drug discovery and development, strong medicinal chemistry expertise, Team Leadership and Professional Management. My unwavering commitment to best practices, innovative approaches, continuous engagement with scientific teams, managing interdisciplinary activities, setting ambitious goals and milestones have led to numerous development candidate nominations and clinical candidates. I also bring deep knowledge of integrating rational drug design and molecular analysis concepts stemming from protein analysis, biological function, computer-aided techniques to find best solutions and to bridge medicinal chemistry and biological sciences in breakthrough discoveries.

Experience: Wyeth/Pfizer, Northeastern University

Education: PhD – Organic Chemistry – University of Pennsylvania; Post-Doctoral – Organic Chemistry – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Project Management Professional (PMP) Certified – Project Management Institute

Jennifer Miller

Finance & Operations

What made you want to join BAKX?

I was drawn to BAKX by the mutual respect that each member of the team clearly has for one another, and the productive result of the team’s collaborative work.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring over 20 years of experience to BAKX leading finance and business operations within pharmaceutical and life sciences, and I strive for continuous improvement and change management in all business aspects. I have led global cross-functional business process improvement programs for Pfizer R&D, including labeling, transitions from discovery to commercialization, and a novel investment paradigm to move drug candidates forward at risk.

Experience: Pfizer, KPMG, US Army

Education: MBA – Rutgers Business School, BS – Zoology – North Carolina State University

Wendy Rieder, JD

Acting General Counsel

What made you want to join BAKX?

What attracted me to BAKX is the well-thought-out approach to develop and commercialize a drug that can activate the pathway to induce cancer cell death.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

As a business-oriented life sciences attorney, I bring more than 20 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, medical device, and other life science-related industries to BAKX. I have been responsible for intellectual property, corporate legal, compliance, regulatory affairs, human resources, quality assurance and business development activities in companies from virtual start-ups to large commercial entities.

Experience: TriUnity Law Group, Suffolk University Law School, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies, Synta Pharmaceuticals, Microbiotix, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Fish & Neave

Education: JD – Fordham University, MS– Organic Chemistry– Columbia University, BS – Chemistry – Barnard College

Yibing Shan, PhD

Chief Computational Scientist

What made you want to join BAKX?

What drew me to BAKX is its unique approach to drugging the apoptosis pathway. Many companies have focused on targeting pro-survival proteins, which has been effective, but has limitations. BAKX instead is successfully activating pro-apoptotic proteins using a combination of unsurpassed target and pathway knowledge, deep expertise in conformationally dynamic protein interactions and highly innovative computational drug discovery.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

As a pioneer of computational drug discovery at D. E. Shaw Research, where I developed the Gaussian Split Ewald algorithm as a part of the Anton Specialized Supercomputer and the “swimming” simulations of biomolecular association, I bring a deep understanding of innovative computational methodologies for identifying cryptic sites and simulating protein interactions to the team at BAKX.

Experience: D. E. Shaw Research, AB Magnitude Ventures, Antidote Health Foundation for Cancer Cure, eLife Journal, Structural GenomiX

Education: PhD – Physics – Drexel University, MS – Computer Science – Drexel University, AB – Engineering Physics – Shanghai University

Dazhi Tan, PhD

Computational Drug Discovery

What made you want to join BAKX?

I was attracted to BAKX for a few reasons. First, I like to work in small start-ups and be a part of their growth. Second, BAKX is attractive because its targets and leading program are very well validated. Through decades of hard work by the scientific cofounders, we have a clear path towards the clinic. Third, the team shares a motivation and vision for the company to develop a drug that reaches the clinic and helps people.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX a deep understanding of structure-based and computer-aided drug design. My background encompasses biology and chemistry, in addition to computational drug discovery, and so I contribute to structural biology, protein science, and small molecule design as well at BAKX.

Experience: Reverie Labs, Silicon Therapeutics, D. E. Shaw Research, Columbia University Long Tong Lab, Tsinghua University Junmin Pan Lab

Education: PhD – Structural Biology – Columbia University, BS – Biological Sciences – Tsinghua University

Fangrui Wu

Protein Sciences

What made you want to join BAKX?

As a scientist, BAKX’s science attracted me a lot. As a fast growing startup company, it has serious science underlying BAX and BAK as targets of cancer. At BAKX, I have the opportunity to work with world class scientists towards the same goal, to cure cancer and disease globally. I am very proud to be a member of the BAKX family.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

As a curious drug hunter driven by passion, I have rich experience in applying biochemical and biophysical research tools on protein science research and supporting early-stage drug discovery campaigns. My expertise and experience will strengthen the ability of BAKX in clinical candidates’ evaluation campaigns, in both in vitro and in vivo models.

Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship – Baylor College of Medicine, PhD – Pharmaceutical Chemistry – Zhejiang University, BS Biochemistry – Zhejiang University

Experience: Valo Health, Baylor College of Medicine, European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Theresa Zhang, PhD

Translational Sciences & Bioinformatics

What made you want to join BAKX?

Three things attracted me to BAKX: the science, the uniqueness of its approach, and the talent of the people. These factors have helped the team to develop solutions to computationally handle complex molecular dynamics, and this ability really sets BAKX apart.

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I bring to BAKX experience in leading teams to deliver biomarker strategy and implementation in oncology, and I am adept in utilizing innovative technology and big data analytics to inform drug development.

Experience: BioInsight, Repare Therapeutics, Genocea Biosciences, Personal Genome Diagnostics, Merck

Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship – Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, PhD – Computational Biology – University of Virginia, Peking University

Eureka Zhao

Discovery Biology

What made you want to join BAKX?

BAKX is an early phase startup that I’m attracted to, both from the cultural perspective and from the scientific aspects. Personally, I enjoy working with people in a close yet diverse team setting, and I love the fast pace of biotech. It is rewarding to see that my work matters to the project and to the rest of the team. BAKX has many leading scientists in the apoptosis field as advisors, and it recruited seasoned drug hunters on the leadership team. Everyone on the team truly believes in making a difference in patients’ lives by bringing the first in class in BAX activators

What do you bring to the BAKX team?

I can contribute to BAKX with my experience in phenotypic assay design and development, HTS and MOA, preclinical drug discovery and SAR testing. My expertise is building cellular assay funnel for pipeline projects and delivering key results in a timely manner. I enjoy mentoring junior team members and have a ‘lead-from-the-bench’, hands-on mentality that helps drive rigorous scientific culture. I also have experience managing and coordinating the activities of scientists at CROs. Being involved in company culture, I often organize social events to promote team building.

Education: PhD – Molecular and Cell Biology – University of Connecticut, BA – Biomedical Engineering – Beihang University

Interests: hiking, skiing, stand-up paddleboarding, whitewater kayaking, painting