David Schaffer is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley, where he also serves as the Director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center. In addition, he is Co-Founder, Acting CSO, and Co-Chairman of 4D Molecular Therapeutics.
At UC Berkeley, Dr. Schaffer applies engineering principles to enhance stem cell and gene therapy approaches for neuroregeneration, work that includes novel approaches for molecular engineering and evolution of new viral vectors as well as new technologies to investigate and control stem cell fate decisions.
Professor Schaffer served as Dr. Yousef’s co-thesis advisor (2008-2013).
Irina Conboy is a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Bioengineering. Her discovery of the rejuvenating effects of young blood through parabiosis in a seminal paper published in Nature in 2005 paved the way for a thriving field of rejuvenation biology. The Conboy lab currently focuses on broad rejuvenation of tissue maintenance and repair, stem cell niche engineering, elucidating the mechanisms underlying muscle stem cell aging, directed organogenesis, and making CRISPR a therapeutic reality.
Professor Conboy served as Dr. Yousef’s co-thesis advisor (2008-2013).
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD, is Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Simon H. Stertzer Endowed Professor in the Departments of Medicine (Cardiology) and Radiology at Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Wu received his medical degree from Yale. He completed his medicine internship, residency, and cardiology fellowship (STAR program) at UCLA. He obtained his PhD in the Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology with Dr. Sam Sanjiv Gambhir. His clinical interests include adult congenital heart disease and cardiovascular imaging.
His lab works on biological mechanisms of patient-specific and disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with a focus on cardiovascular disease mechanisms and the implementation of precision medicine for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular patients. His lab uses a combination of genomics, stem cells, cellular & molecular biology, physiological testing, and molecular imaging technologies. Dr. Wu has published >400 manuscripts with H-index of 101 on Google scholar and recognition as top 1% of highly cited researchers in Web of Science (2018, 2019 & 2020). Among his trainees, >30 of them are principal investigators in the US or abroad.
Dr. Wu has received numerous awards, including National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH Roadmap Transformative Award, American Heart Association (AHA) Innovative Research Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) given out by President Obama, AHA Established Investigator Award, Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Innovation in Regulatory Science Award, AHA Merit Award, and AHA Distinguished Scientist Award. Dr. Wu serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Keystone Symposia, FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee, AHA National Board of Directors, and Chair of the AHA National Research Committee.
Dr. Wu is an elected member of American Society of Clinical Investigators (ASCI), Association of University Cardiologists (AUC), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association of Physicians (AAP), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
In addition, he has been scientific co-founder of several startups.
Sarah joined Juvena Therapeutics as a Senior Research Associate to contribute to Dr. Fengling Liu’s research on protein expression and purification. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Before joining Juvena Therapeutics, Sarah worked as a Research Associate in the antibody discovery field, where she attained hybridoma sequences, antibody transient expression, and hit identification. Prior to transitioning to research, Sarah worked in the clinical diagnostics field as a Lab Administrative Manager. She managed lab operations while staying active on the bench.
In Sarah’s free time, she enjoys creating content for her cat’s social media, gaming with friends, and attending ballet performances.
Mark Leslie is a Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he teaches courses in Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Sales Organization. He is also the managing director of Leslie Ventures, a private investment company, and serves on the boards of public, private and nonprofit organizations.
Mark Leslie was Co-Founder and Chairman and CEO of Veritas Software. During his tenure as CEO, the company went from 12 employees to 6,000 employees, and from a revenue base of $95,000 per year to $1,500,000,000 per year. In 2000, Veritas was the 10th largest independent software company by revenue, third largest by market capitalization, and achieved the distinction of becoming a Fortune 1000 company.
From 1980 until 1990 he served as president and chief executive officer of two Silicon Valley high-tech start-up companies. His prior experience included sales management, sales executive, systems engineer, and software engineer focused on operating systems.
Mark currently serves on the boards of, or is an advisor to. a number of high-tech and biotech companies. Mark is also on the boards of Stanford Health Care, New York University and the Leslie Family Foundation.
Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics and mathematics from New York University in 1966 and completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development (PMD)in 1980.
Annie joined Juvena Therapeutics as a research associate II working on preclinical in vivo and in vitro disease modeling and drug discovery.
She received her master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California. During her time as a graduate student, Annie participated as a research volunteer in an immunology group. Her project focused on investigating the influence of the coronavirus envelope protein on CD1d expression. This experience provided her with valuable training in fundamental molecular techniques, such as genotyping, flow cytometry, western blotting, and conducting in vivo experiments.
Before joining Juvena, Annie worked as a Research Associate in the field of toxicology at Sorrento Therapeutics for one year. In this position, she played a crucial role in supporting the toxicity team, particularly in the tissue cross-reactivity assay. Her responsibilities included performing histological procedures such as embedding and sectioning both paraffin and frozen tissues, conducting H&E staining, IHC, IF, and acquiring images.
During her free time, Annie finds joy in activities such as jogging, hiking, and gaming with her friends.
Dr. Louis Aronne is a leading authority on obesity and its treatment. He is the Sanford I. Weill Professor of Metabolic Research and the director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center in the division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Aronne is a founder and past chairman of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and a past president of The Obesity Society. He is a founder and Executive Chairman of Intellihealth, a cloud-based weight management system for healthcare providers.
He completed his internship and residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Jacobi Medical Center, followed by a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Fellowship in General Internal Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Dr Lingvay is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, where she has served over the years on several committees, including the Organizing Committee for the Annual Scientific Sessions, Focus on Fellows Advisory Board, WIN-ADA Advisory Board, Grant Review Committee, and the Professional Practice Committee. She is on the Editorial Board of several journals, including Diabetes Care. She participated in nearly 100 clinical trials and has a special interest in cardiovascular outcome trials and obesity trials. She authored over 160 publications in major medical journals and authored chapters in several popular diabetes textbooks.
Dr. Ildiko Lingvay is a Tenured Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Professor in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Lingvay is the Medical Director of the Office of Clinical Trials Management, overseeing the institutional approval of all clinical trials at UT Southwestern. She is Board Certified both in Obesity Medicine as well as Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.
Dr Lingvay leads a program that focuses on clinical research in the field of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Her research interests span the spectrum from pathophysiology of the disease to treatment algorithms and comparative effectiveness of various therapeutic approaches. Dr Lingvay treats patients at the UT Southwestern clinics and hospitals as well as the Parkland Health & Hospital System.
Dr Lingvay is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, where she has served over the years on several committees, including the Organizing Committee for the Annual Scientific Sessions, Focus on Fellows Advisory Board, WIN-ADA Advisory Board, Grant Review Committee, and the Professional Practice Committee. She is on the Editorial Board of several journals, including Diabetes Care. She participated in nearly 100 clinical trials and has a special interest in cardiovascular outcome trials and obesity trials. She authored over 160 publications in major medical journals and authored chapters in several popular diabetes textbooks.
Natalie joined Juvena Therapeutics as a Lab Manager to support, implement and optimize laboratory operations to meet the needs of the growing R&D team.
Before joining Juvena, Natalie worked as a Senior Research Associate at GOOD Meat, where she supported cell line development efforts to identify lead cell lines for their cultivated meat projects. Throughout her tenure at GOOD Meat, Natalie focused her efforts on cell bank management, overseeing all operations related to Master and Master Working Cell Banks. This involved creation of large-scale banks, conducting release and stability testing, managing vial inventories, and overseeing transfers to manufacturing partners. In addition to cell bank management, Natalie managed her department’s controlled document system, working to build-out and standardize relevant quality documents. Through her work, Natalie played a key role in the company’s preparation for the recent FDA/USDA clearances for their cultivated chicken product.
Natalie obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Bioengineering from Santa Clara University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, amateur baking, playing board games with friends, and exploring new neighborhoods in the Bay Area.
