We are Mantra Bio

Conor Callahan

Lead Site Reliability Engineer

Conor has extensive experience in cloud computing infrastructure, scalable systems design, containers, and security in complex environments. At Mantra he maintains and develops internal infrastructure, ensures technical compliance with data regulations, and provides company wide support with their computing needs. Prior to Mantra, Conor worked at Zoosk for 5 years where he led the migration to containers and cloud infrastructure. During this time, he earned the SANS Institute's 2019 Difference Maker Award for leading a cross-team effort fighting fraud on the platform. Prior to his career in tech, Conor's interest in the biotech field was solidified with two internships studying an assay for the prediction of autoimmune diabetes in Mike Lenardo's lab at NIAID. Outside of work Conor can be found cooking, baking, traveling, and doing photography.

Pranali Deshpande, Ph.D.

Scientist

As part of the Preclinical R&D team, Pranali leads the efforts behind payload packaging strategies and analytical characterization methods. Her wide range of experiences include working as a research scientist in R&D groups at large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the Bay Area. After completing a Bachelor’s of Pharmacy in India, Pranali earned a Master’s degree followed by a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Delivery from Northeastern University in Boston.

Maria Fuentes

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Fuentes is a seasoned drug discovery executive with a track record of advancing multiple assets into the clinic. Maria has led preclinical teams to advance programs across multiple therapeutic areas, including respiratory, autoimmune, fibrosis and others. Combined with the significant progress Mantra Bio has made over the past 4 years in refining and validating its Targeted Exosome delivery platform (REVEAL), Maria’s deep experience in translational development will accelerate Mantra’s unique platform towards clinical success.   

Most recently, Maria led Blade Therapeutics biology and translational activities to advance programs to clinical development, as Blade’s Executive Vice President of Research. Maria developed pre-clinical and biomarker strategy and provided key data for advancement of three cysteine protease inhibitors in fibrotic and neurodegenerative diseases.

Prior to Blade, she was Group Director, Fibrosis Discovery Biology at Bristol-Myers Squibb. In this position her focus was to advance into the clinic small molecules and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of fibrotic diseases, including interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). 

Dr. Fuentes has previously held leadership positions at Roche (Palo Alto) and Hoffmann-La Roche (Nutley, NJ), including as Research Director and Head of the Respiratory Drug Discovery Group. During her tenure, she was responsible for progressing several projects to clinical trials and collaborated closely with the company’s Early Development Groups to establish translational approaches, including biomarker discovery and proof of mechanism studies.

Dr. Fuentes received her PhD degree from the Catholic University of Chile and was a Fogarty post-doctoral fellow in the Pharmacology Department, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, Biochemist from University of Chile.

Terry Gaige, M.S.

VP of Automation & Co-founder

Terry is in charge of building Mantra Bio’s internal technological capabilities to engineer and evaluate exosomes as a therapeutic modality. Through his career, he has consistently worked at the intersection of instrumentation and biology with the overarching goal of enabling and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of biology research. In past experience, as design lead, Terry brought multiple products to market which went on to win innovation awards including R&D 100, The Scientist New Product Award, and the Lab Automation New Product Award. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (and a minor in Music) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied the field of magnetic resonance imaging to visualize complex tissue architecture. Outside of work Terry can be found sailing, hiking, or playing chamber music with his friends (an event his his two year old son calls “hoedowns”).

Daniel Goodman, M.S.

Research Associate

Daniel is part of Mantra’s process sciences team working on upstream bioprocess development. He brings experience in fermentation sciences from his time at Perfect Day Foods and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit. Daniel holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from UC Davis and UC Los Angeles respectively. Daniel is an active promoter for STEM education and plays in a softball league in San Francisco.

Mitch Gordon

Business Ops. Manager

At Mantra, Mitch handles all things operational. From ordering to recruiting, facilities management, and business strategy projects, Mitch ensures all the trains run on time. His past experiences include working as a researcher for the SF Veterans Affairs Hospital, and instructing microscopy classes at Merritt Community College. He earned his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from UC Santa Cruz with a minor in Bioinformatics. Outside of work you’ll find Mitch biking, baking, and backpacking- or racing sailboats on the Bay.

Colin Gottlieb, Ph.D.

Sr. Scientist

As Mantra’s protein engineer, Colin leads the efforts behind cell line engineering, mass spectrometry, and other biochemistry projects. Through previous experiences, Colin has identified two zinc binding sites in the catalytic domain of DHHC palmitoyltransferases, as well as time-resolved changes in proteasome ubiquitylation in response to the unfolding of a single protein in live cells. Colin holds a B.A. in Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado, a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Cornell University, and completed a post doc at Stanford University. Outside of work Colin is passionate about public policy activism, getting outside, and spending time with animals of all kinds (particularly dogs).

Robert Halenbeck, M.S.

Principal Scientist, Protein Engineering

Robert is in charge of the Protein Engineering Team, responsible for developing novel targeting scaffolds for Mantra Bio’s exosome vehicles. Throughout his career, Robert has played a key role in the discovery, engineering, and development of many novel therapeutics, from secreted ligands such as Proleukin (IL-2) and Betaseron (IFN-B), to receptor-Fc fusions, and highly engineered antibodies. Robert received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of California, Santa Barbara in biochemistry before moving to the Bay Area where he worked for Cetus, Chiron (Novartis), FivePrime, and BioMarin. Robert is an author or co-author on 25 publications, and an inventor on 42 issued US patents. Outside of work he can be found truck camping at one of the lakes in Northern California with his family, where he loves to hike, fish, waterski, and sail.

Ginny Kang, Ph.D.

Sr. Scientist

At Mantra Bio, Ginny leads preclinical research study efforts. From in vitro potency assays to in vivo efficacy studies, Ginny leads study design, execution, and data analysis. An accomplished scientist in her field, Ginny holds multiple biomedical patents and awards. She has completed postdoctoral fellowships at UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences in Taiwan. Ginny earned her B.S. in Plant Pathology and Microbiology from National Taiwan University, and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan. In her free time Ginny enjoys attending the opera, symphony, and other musical performances.

Zebulon LaPoint

Sr. Research Associate

Zebulon joined Mantra Bio to help produce, purify, and characterize extracellular vesicles as part of the Process Science team. Previously a sergeant in the army, Zebulon turned to biology and then research after earning a B.S. in Zoology at San Francisco State University. Outside of work Zebulon likes to roast coffee and make cheese, when not hiking or pretending to garden.

Ming Lun Wu

Automation Engineer

Ming Lun Wu joins Mantra Bio’s Automation team as an Automation Engineer. Ming Lun is focused on making science easier and more efficient through the automation of experiments and data analysis, with an emphasis on Flow Cytometry workflows. Ming Lun holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida, and a Master’s of Science in Bioengineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Outside of work Ming Lun can be found performing Latin Dance or playing video games.

Bryan McKernon

Software Engineer

Bryan is Mantra Bio’s Front End Software Engineer, leading web app development, specializing in single page applications using React and RESTful APIs. With a B.S. in Information Systems from San Jose State University and previous experience developing a data glossary for Santa Clara County's Criminal Justice Information System, Bryan adds significant expertise to the Mantra Bio team. A true music lover, Bryan has played the electric guitar for most of his life, and can be found jamming out with friends outside of work.

Sidharth Menon

Data Engineer

Sidharth brings expertise in software development and data infrastructure, with previous experience working for health tech and clean energy startups. He earned his B.A. in Biology with minors in both Computer Science and Bioinformatics from the University of Southern California. Sidharth enjoys playing video and board games, along with basketball in his spare time.

Alaknanda Mishra, M.S., Ph.D.

In Vivo Scientist, Preclinical Sciences

As Mantra Bio's lead in vivo scientist on the Preclinical Team, Alaknanda manages therapeutic efficacy, safety, toxicity, and PK/PD studies, along with model development and characterization. Having published sixteen papers, Alaknanda brings a great depth of experience in developing gene and cell therapy interventions for ocular diseases, with previous postdoctoral fellow appointments at UC Davis and the National Eye Institute, NIH. Alaknanda earned her Ph.D. from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. Outside of work Alaknanda likes traveling to new places, backpacking, hiking, and painting.

Alex Mok

CEO & Co-founder

Alex is an entrepreneur with over a decade’s experience in building life science businesses. He was head of commercialization at CellASIC (acquired by Merck KgAA), a UC Berkeley microfluidic organ-on-chip technology spin-out, and has also held senior product management and strategy positions within multiple life science companies including Millipore Sigma and Fluidigm. Alex is proud to have worked with strong technical teams and led the development of platforms that have been awarded R&D100's New Product Award, the Laboratory Automation New Product Award, and The Scientist's Top 10 Innovations Award. Alex holds a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. As part of his morning routine, you'll find Alex practicing mindfulness in the Soto Zen Buddhism tradition and passing coffee up for a cold shower and a sparring session.

Fernando Moreno

Business Ops. Associate

Sabrina Noritake, M.A.

Research Associate II

As Mantra Bio’s In Vivo Research Associate, Sabrina Noritake plays a major role in planning, execution, and data analysis for key in vivo studies. Prior to joining Mantra, Sabrina attended University of the Pacific and received her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biochemistry. She later attended Sacramento State to complete a Professional Science Master’s in Stem Cell Research. An active undergraduate researcher, in 2016 Sabrina was awarded with a summer research fellowship, and was named Outstanding Biochemistry Senior in 2017. While not at work, Sabrina enjoys hiking, eating good food, reading books, and saving the world with her Dungeons and Dragons group.

Ed O'Sullivan, M.B.A.

CFO

Ed is the founder and Managing Partner of CFO Connect®. CFO Connect® is a business management and financial services firm providing part-time CFO services to early stage, venture backed, life sciences and technology companies.

Prior to CFO Connect®, Ed served as CFO for Nextec Applications, Inc., a thin film polymer company. Prior to that he was CFO at Newpoint, Inc., a power products company. And prior to that, served as Director of Finance at Fluid Systems, Inc., a division of Allied Signal, Inc., now Honeywell, Inc., a thin film polymer company.

Ed currently serves on the Board of Directors for DCS, Inc., Let’s Go Robotics, Inc. and serves on the Advisory Board of Endeavor Bank, Inc..

Ed has a BA degree from the University of California, San Diego, Revelle College and an MBA degree from the University of San Diego. He has also completed executive education courses in Corporate Governance at Harvard Business School.

Ishai Padawer, M.S.

Director of Process Sciences

As Mantra Bio’s Director of Process Science, Ishai leads upstream and downstream process development and scale up efforts. Ishai brings an expertise in manufacturing of GLP Tox and Phase 1 Clinical material gained from 8 years of experience working at both Merck & Co and Stemcentrx/Abbvie. Ishai holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University. Ishai enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, and traveling.

Katie Planey, M.B.A., Ph.D.

CTO & Co-founder

As Mantra Bio’s CTO, Katie Planey leads indications selection, patent portfolio development, data science and infrastructure strategy. Prior to the founding of Mantra, Katie published a dissertation in the journal of Genome Medicine on robust network-based omics unsupervised learning methods highlighted as Editor's choice by Science Translational Medicine. She also led a winning team in an informatics healthcare business case study challenge sponsored by J&J with a $20,000 prize and is an alumnus of the Springboard Entrepreneurship Biotech Program. Katie earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Yale (where she played 4 years of Division I women's rugby), and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford. Outside of her leadership role at Mantra, Katie enjoys mentoring young graduates interested in data science or business careers, connecting people in her network to help them find fulfilling careers, high intensity exercise, and taking care of her cats.

Thiruganesh Ramasamy, M. Pharm, Ph.D.

Scientist

Thiruganesh is a drug delivery chemist working in the interdisciplinary field of nanomedicine and biomaterials. At Mantra, he works on the formulation and quality control testing of therapeutic exosome payloads. Thiruganesh brings extensive experience in design, engineering, optimization, and characterization of lipid and polymer-based nanoparticles for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In 2015 he received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery from the Yeungnam University (South Korea), and holds a Bachelor's in Pharmacy and a Master's in Pharmaceutical Sciences from India. A avid runner, Thiruganesh competes in half marathon races each year.

Natalia Santos, Ph.D.

Sr. Scientist

Natalia leads analytical development as part of the Process Sciences team at Mantra Bio. Her efforts drive the development and qualification of Mantra’s in-house exosome therapeutic characterization assays. Natalia’s previous experiences include the development of a cell-free protein expression platform at an early stage startup, and establishing an analytical lab to support drug discovery efforts at the Oligonucleotide Center of Excellence, part of Alios Biopharma (acquired by Johnson and Johnson). Natalia holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Biophysical Chemistry from Uppsala University, Sweden as well as two Master’s degrees in Molecular & Microbiology Biology and Environmental Biology from Sofia University, Bulgaria. Natalia’s passions outside of work include dance, traveling, hiking and martial arts.

Zachary Swinney

Research Associate II

Zachary is part of Mantra’s process sciences team working on downstream process development. He brings an intimate knowledge of process sciences from his time at Stemcentrx, and later AbbVie, where he developed antibody drug conjugate therapeutics that went on to clinical trials. Zachary earned B.S. degrees in both Microbiology and Molecular & Cellular biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His passions outside of work include eating food, exploring the mountains, and the Green Bay Packers.

Linda Szabo, M.S., Ph.D.

Lead Data Scientist

Linda brings a deep expertise in developing statistical models and algorithms that enable discoveries of novel human biology from large, noisy clinical and omics datasets. She works closely with every scientist at Mantra Bio to test, validate, and apply these models to generate hypotheses enabling the discovery of new exosome biology with a focus on applications for human health and disease. While starting her career as an Information Architect and Software Engineer, Linda briefly considered pursuing a career as a bench lab scientist early in graduate school before finding her niche as a data scientist. Linda holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems and Ph.D in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford where she received a predoctoral fellowship from Stanford’s Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics. She also holds an M.S. from SF State in Cell and Molecular Biology. Between making sure the dog gets enough exercise and the kids get enough sleep, Linda enjoys rock climbing, ice hockey, and running.

Alexis Toruño

Research Associate II

As a research associate on Mantra Bio’s TEV Platform team, Alexis Toruño is responsible for producing and characterizing exosome vehicles. Alexis holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from Dominican University.

Oliver Wueseke, Ph.D.

Chief of Staff

Oliver’s passion is building high performing R&D teams. At Mantra Bio he leads cultural and organizational development initiatives that make Mantra Bio a fun and exciting place to work, driving Mantra Bio’s exceptional level of innovation. Oliver, an HSFP Fellowship awardee, backs up his operational leadership with a Ph.D from the Max Planck Institute in Cell and Molecular Biology, and 12 years of research experience on organoid development and protein dynamics. Oliver previously worked as the R&D lead at System1 Biosciences, in charge of developing their “brain-in-a-dish” science. He is also the founder if Impulse Science Inc., a biotech start-up coaching firm. Outside of work, Oliver can be found windsurfing across the Bay, unleashing his creativity through photography and digital art, or traveling the world.

Vaishnavi Beena Valsan

Research Associate

Jamison Buendia

Sr. Animal Technician

D. Andrew Carr, Ph.D.

Data Scientist

Andrew Carr is a Data Scientist with expertise in algorithms, machine learning, and database design, and is responsible for advancing Mantra Bio’s targeted exosome technologies. In a previous position as Director of Bioinformatics at Accelerated Technology Laboratories Andrew developed high through-put GPGPU accelerated algorithms for parsing bioinformatics data to provide faster sequence comparison across multiple genomic targets. As adjunct faculty at UNCC Andrew explored Covid-19 mRNA molecular structure and propagation through a combination of machine learning and bioinformatics tools, for linkage in potential exogenistic molecular catalysis for genetic predisposed diseases.

Andrew holds a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from George Mason University and completed postdoctoral work at the University of North Carolina Charlotte where he managed the computational lab for micro-array biophysics research, while serving as DataFATE lead and project manager. Andrew also holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Mathematics and Ballet from Indiana University. Outside of work, Andrew coaches fitness and ballet, and also enjoys cooking and hiking.

Brendan Johnson

Research Associate

Anna Martinez, Ph.D.

Scientist

Liliana Maruri Avidal, Ph.D.

Senior Director of Preclinical Development

Dr. Maruri Avidal is Mantra Bio’s Senior Director of Preclinical Development, responsible for developing Mantra’s EV therapeutic candidates towards IND.

Dr. Maruri Avidal has more than 15 years of experience in virology, molecular, and cellular biology, with six years of experience developing oncolytic virotherapies and gene therapies. In her last position she was appointed Senior Director of R&D at Ignite Immunotherapy where she designed the lab, built, and lead the R&D team in development of preclinical candidates.

After graduating with honors in biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Dr. Maruri Avidal went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Biotechnology Institute UNAM. Her doctoral studies, which were awarded a fellowship from the Mexican National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT), focused on the discovery and characterization of novel mechanisms involved in the viral replicative cycle. Dr. Maruri Avidal completed her postdoctoral training at the prestigious laboratory of Dr. Bernard Moss at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where She received an NIH postdoctoral fellowship and was awarded in the Salzman abstract competition. Dr. Maruri Avidal has produced over 20 publications, presentations and patent applications.

Dr. Maruri Avidal enjoys traveling the world to lean about different cultures and food. Outside of work she can be found hiking, biking, cooking and gardening.

Christian Torres

Research Associate

Patricia Vera-Gonzalez

Bioinformatician