Multiomics tools for epigenomic discovery

As the leader of Alida Biosciences, Gudrun brings over a decade of genomics product development experience, from pioneering genomic analysis of tumor tissue at Affymetrix, to leading technical teams at Illumina for the NovaSeq™ platform, which is the highest output and quality DNA sequencer on the global market. Equipped with an in-depth understanding of the product development process, Gudrun ventured out into the VC-backed startup world. She joined Encodia, a proteomics company that uses DNA barcoding to reverse translate primary amino acid sequence into DNA sequence, where she developed fundamental technology to secure series B funding. Before Gudrun founded Alida Biosciences in fall 2021, she developed clustering and SBS reagents for Element Bio’s AVITI™ sequencing platform at Element Biosciences.

Gudrun was a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Research Institute and the University of Colorado Boulder. Gudrun received her Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Throughout her academic career she published more than 20 articles in peer-reviewed journal.

As co-founder of Alida Biosciences, Byron manages chemistry projects and plays a key role in creating the patent portfolio and securing federal startup funding, which has translated into three NIH Small Business Innovation Awards.

Byron is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at San Diego State University, where he leads an NSF-funded research team focused on chemical biology of nucleic acids. Byron has over 35 publications in top-ranked chemistry journals and as a project leader in academia has raised several million dollars in federal research funding. Byron received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute.

Andrew brings 10 years’ experience scaling and successfully developing commercial solutions at biotech startups having directed R&D teams at all phases of product development. At previous innovative genomics companies including 10X Genomics and Element Biosciences, he has contributed to the launch of ground-breaking products such as Chromium WGS, Chromium 3’ Single Cell Gene Expression and the AVITI™ sequencing platform.

He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado – Boulder with continuing postdoctoral training in nanoscience and macromolecular chemistry at The University of Melbourne and Sandia National Laboratories.

Zach leads the Protein Engineering Department at Alida Bio with extensive experience translating protein and enzyme design concepts into next-generation biological components for diverse industries. He previously worked at BASF Enzymes in San Diego, engineering enzymes as additives for various industrial and commercial purposes, such as personal care chemicals and biofuel production. Prior to his current role, he led the Protein Engineering group at Encodia where he was responsible for development of the biological binding reagents in their single-molecule protein sequencing technology.

Zach completed his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona where his doctoral work focused on the discovery and biochemical characterization of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of a ubiquitous tRNA modification.

The Head of Software and Bioinformatics at Alida Biosciences since June 2024, Eric Davis brings a wealth of experience in software engineering and bioinformatics. Previously, he was the Associate Director of Software Engineering at PacBio, overseeing analytical software projects. His career includes roles at Omniome as Manager of Analytical Software Engineering, and as a Bioinformatics Scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. With a solid background in both software development and bioinformatics, Eric has driven advancements in genomic technologies and analytical software solutions across various institutions.

Natasha Moshirian Wagner is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Alida Biosciences, where she has served since June 2024. She previously held senior roles at Encodia and PacBio, managing product development and marketing for next-generation sequencing genomics and proteomics technologies. With over a decade of experience, including leadership positions at Omniome, TriLink BioTechnologies, Maravai Lifesciences and Invivoscribe, Natasha has a proven track record in strategic marketing, product launches, and corporate expansion within the biotechnology sector.

Richard I. Gregory is Professor in the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Principal Investigator in The Stem Cell Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is also Principal faculty member of The Harvard Stem Cell Institute,  and a 2008 Pew Scholar.

He received a PhD from Cambridge University, UK in 2001, studying genomic imprinting at the Babraham Institute. Gregory performed his postdoctoral work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia. His postdoctoral research focused on mechanisms of miRNA biogenesis and function, and was supported by a Jane Coffin Childs Research Fellowship.

Following graduation with a B.A. in Chemistry from St. Olaf College in 1979, Pete Dedon obtained an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Rochester in 1987. He then pursued postdoctoral research in chromatin biology at the University of Rochester and the chemical biology of DNA-cleaving anticancer drugs at Harvard Medical School. In 1991, Dedon joined the MIT faculty and helped create the Department of Biological Engineering in 1998. As an Underwood Prescott Professor in Biological Engineering, he is currently the Lead PI in the SMART Antimicrobial Resistance group and a member of the MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences.

Ralph Kleiner was born in Syracuse, NY and attended Princeton University, where he received an A.B. in Chemistry and performed research on the de novo design of 4-helix bundle proteins in the laboratory of Michael Hecht. He then completed his Ph. D. in Chemistry at Harvard University under the direction of David Liu, where he used DNA-templated chemistry to identify novel macrocyclic inhibitors of Src kinase and Insulin-Degrading Enyzme (IDE). He went on to conduct his postdoctoral studies as a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow and Revson Foundation Fellow with Tarun Kapoor at The Rockefeller University. His postdoctoral work used chemical proteomics to study phosphorylation-dependent protein-protein interactions in the DNA damage response. In September 2016, Ralph began his appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Princeton University. His research lies on the interface of chemistry and biology, focusing on the development and application of novel chemical approaches to study the post-transcriptional regulation of RNA by epitranscriptomic modifications and RNA-binding proteins.

He is a recipient of the Damon Runyon Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation Scholar Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the ICBS Young Chemical Biologist Award.