Dr. Timothy Lu is the co-founder and CEO of Senti Biosciences (NASDAQ: SNTI) and an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at MIT. Dr. Lu has been a co-founder of 12 biotech and synthetic biology companies, including Synlogic (NASDAQ :SYBX), Tango Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TNGX), BiomX (NASDAQ:PHGE), Engine Biosciences, Bota Biosciences, Eligo Bioscience, Openprotein.ai., and Raina Biosciences. Dr. Lu earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NIH New Innovator Award, MIT Technology Review’s TR35, and the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize.

Dr. Jicong Cao is the co-founder and CEO of Raina Biosciences, where he leads the company’s mission to transform RNA therapeutics through synthetic biology and AI-driven design. A seasoned scientist-entrepreneur, Dr. Cao combines deep technical expertise with proven business leadership. Prior to founding Raina, he served as Principal Scientist of Platform Technology at Generation Bio and co-founded Bota Biosciences. Dr. Cao completed his postdoctoral training at the MIT Synthetic Biology Center under Prof. Timothy Lu and earned his Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research has been published in leading journals including Science, Nature Communications, Nucleic Acids Research, and Angewandte Chemie. His career spans company building, technology innovation, and translating cutting-edge science into commercial impact.

Dr. He Zhang is the Co-founder and CTO of Raina Biosciences. A computational scientist with deep expertise in algorithms and AI for RNA biology and therapeutics, Dr. Zhang previously served as Senior Staff Research Scientist and Technical Lead at Baidu Research USA. He is the lead developer of linear-time RNA secondary structure prediction algorithms that significantly improve both computational efficiency and predictive accuracy. His research has been published in top scientific venues including PNAS, Nucleic Acids Research, and ISMB. Dr. Zhang is also the first author of the LinearDesign algorithm, published in Nature, which marked a major advancement in AI-driven mRNA design by improving vaccine stability and immunogenicity. Dr. Zhang’s contributions have earned numerous honors, including the “AI for Good” Award of AIconics 2020, Baidu’s Best Employee Award, Technical Elite Award, Technology Pioneer Award, and multiple team accolades under his leadership, notably Baidu’s Highest Award in both 2020 and 2022.

Joel Edwards is the fractional Chief Corporate Development Officer at Raina Biosciences, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience across biopharma and biotech in corporate strategy, business development, alliance management, and operations. He currently serves as a senior strategic advisor to several private biotech companies and has held executive roles at Abilita Therapeutics, Biosion, and Ionis Pharmaceuticals. At Ionis, Joel most recently served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Operations. He helped drive over $3.5 billion in partnering revenue, managed collaborations that led to three FDA approvals, and played a leadership role in Ionis’ launch of Tegsedi. His experience spans diverse therapeutic areas, including cardiometabolic disease, oncology, neurology, and rare diseases, and modalities such as RNA therapeutics, antibodies, ADCs, and generative AI platforms. Joel began his career in scientific and business roles at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. He earned his M.B.A. from Colorado State University, an M.S. in Psychology from New Mexico Highlands University, and a B.S. in Psychology from Ball State University.

Jeff Coller holds the esteemed position of Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of RNA Biology and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University. With over three decades dedicated to RNA and mRNA biology, his research has been pioneering, focusing notably on messenger RNA stability and translation. Dr. Coller earned his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin and conducted postdoctoral research at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Arizona.
Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Coller directed the RNA Center at Case Western Reserve University, where he also held the Henry Willson Payne Distinguished Professorship. His research delves into the core of life itself—the translation of the genetic code. His groundbreaking discoveries have reshaped understanding of gene expression, revealing that the genetic code profoundly influences mRNA fate. Notably, his lab's findings played a role in the development of COVID-19 vaccines, including development of SPIKEVAX, where his graduate student contributed significantly to its design based on his thesis work.
Beyond academia, Dr. Coller is a Co-founder of Tevard Biosciences, recognized in 2018 with Pfizer’s Golden Ticket award for its promising neuroscience innovations. Moreover he is a founding member of the Alliance for mRNA Medicines and serves on their Board of Directors. Lastly he sits on multiple Scientific Advisory Boards, including the Society for RNA Therapeutics and the SYNGAP Research Fund. His contributions extend to over 6000 citations in scientific literature and multiple patents in the realm of RNA-based therapeutic applications.