Our team of scientists is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of research and innovation.
Yan Lavrovsky, CEO and CSO
Previously, Yan held executive positions at several companies in San Diego, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and Geneva, Switzerland. Yan is a trained physician with a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. He completed his post-doctoral training at the Rockefeller University in New York and was a faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center for six years. Yan is the author of more than 60 original research articles, reviews, and patents.
Gabriela Stevens, HR and Finance Specialist
For the past 25 years, Gabriela Stevens has held various roles in Human Resources and Finance, specializing in fund management. She takes pride in fostering a thriving workplace culture with a people-first mindset and is committed to enhancing organizational performance through strategic financial planning.
Scott Eberhardy, Principal Scientist
Scott has 20 years of experience in cell and molecular biology in the pharmaceutical industry developing and optimizing mammalian cell lines that produce recombinant proteins.
Scott previously worked at biotech and pharmaceutical companies (Merck, Amgen, Kerry) where his primary duties were to work with mammalian cell lines such as CHO and HEK293 to produce recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies for research and clinical applications. In addition, he had worked at the CROs Aragen Bioscience and Goodwin Biotechnology, where he collaborated with clients to improve processes for maximized protein production in stable mammalian cell lines.
Scott received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Benjamin Saylor, Senior Scientist
Originally from Northern California, Benjamin Saylor came to San Diego to study biochemistry and molecular biology at San Diego State University and UC San Diego. As a PhD candidate, he studied protein science and enzymology. As a postdoctoral scholar at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, he investigated protein structure-function relationships in human inflammatory pathways, identifying the structural basis for a protein-protein interaction implicated in anti-inflammatory lipid metabolism. He has been working in the biopharmaceutical sector for four years, developing purification processes for IgG and IgG-like therapeutics. He specializes in protein purification and analytics.
Rafaela Ruiz-Gerhold, Senior Scientist
Rafaela has over five years of industry experience in biologics, cell therapy, gene therapy, virus research, and production, with a focus on molecular biology, cell line development, and viral vector technologies.
Rafaela previously worked at biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including National Resilience, Fate Therapeutics, Microbiologics, Merck, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Her work has included CHO and HEK293T cell line development, antibody and CAR-related research, viral vector design and production, CRISPR-based genome engineering, and qPCR/ddPCR and cell-based assay development.
Rafaela received a Ph.D. in Biological Science and Molecular Biology from Purdue University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania.