Scientific Advisory Board

Kristi S. Anseth, PhD​

Kristi Anseth is Distinguished Professor, Tisone Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Head of Academic Leadership of the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. ​Her research interests lie in the interface between biology and engineering for design of new biomaterials applied in drug delivery and regenerative medicine​. She is an elected member of the National Academies of Medicine, Engineering, and Science.

Laurie Goodrich, DVM, PhD​

Laurie Goodrich is professor of Orthopedics in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Director of the Orthopedic Research Center at Colorado State University’s C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute.​ Her research employs new approaches to bone and joint healing in equine athletes using both gene therapy and stem cell therapy. Ongoing studies include using adeno-associated viral vectors to deliver growth factors and anti-inflammatory molecules important in cartilage and bone healing.​

Jay Hesselberth, PhD​

Jay Hesselberth is professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and co-director of the CU School of Medicine RNA Bioscience Initiative (RBI). ​His research involves RNA damage and repair, technology development focused on single-cell and spatial transcriptomic measurements, and the collaborative development and application of RNA vaccines and therapies.​

Paul Rothman, MD​​

Paul Rothman is former dean of Medical Faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine. A rheumatologist and molecular immunologist, his research interest involves immune system molecules known as cytokines and the role they play in the normal development of blood cells, as well as the abnormal development of these blood cell that leads to leukemia. He is on the boards of Merck and Labcorp.

Rich Stoner, PhD​​

Dr. Stoner is a serial entrepreneur at the intersection of engineering and biology. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Exthymic, a venture-backed deeptech startup developing next-generation point-of-care manufacturing platforms to reduce costs and democratize access to autologous cell therapies. Previously, Dr. Stoner was the founding Chief Scientific Officer of Resilience, a biomanufacturing and CDMO startup focused on complex medicine manufacturing. There he created Resilience X, an innovation group advancing future biomanufacturing technologies for gene therapy vector production, cell-free protein synthesis, and cell therapy analytics. Before that, he served as CSO of Synthego, a CRISPR genome engineering company, where he led the development of guide RNA manufacturing systems, automated cell engineering platforms, and advanced CRISPR design software.

Dr. Stoner has launched and advised numerous biotech startups while pursuing academic research at the University of California, San Diego, where he studied early biomarkers for autism spectrum disorders. He holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh with an emphasis in neural engineering. He has been writing software for 30+ years and is always looking for ways to bring technologies from disparate fields together to solve seemingly impossible problems. 

Dan Welch, MBA​ 

Dan has over 40 years of experience developing medicines in entrepreneurial biotech and multinational pharmaceutical companies. He has had roles in bringing over a dozen breakthrough new medicines to patients with HIV, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, infectious disease and several rare diseases. The technologies behind these new medicines include adeno-associated virus vector-based gene therapies, monoclonal antibodies, mRNA and small molecules. Welch currently serves as the board chair or board director of several public and private companies that are developing medicines and gene therapies to treat various forms of cancer, pediatric and adult rare diseases and cardiovascular disease and diabetes/obesity.