Lori Yang, Ph.D.
CEO, CSO, & Co-Founder
Shengcheng “Sean” Wu, Ph.D.
Director of Operations, Athens
Management
Lori Yang, Ph.D.
CEO, CSO, & Co-Founder
Shengcheng “Sean” Wu, Ph.D.
Director of Operations, Athens
Dr. Yang received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia. She obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and was co-leader of Women in Science at Yale. Dr. Yang completed her post-doctoral research at the La Jolla Bioengineering Institute in California and was subsequently promoted to Research Scientist. She was also a Research Fellow at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Dr. Yang’s expertise is in protein engineering, molecular evolution, and flow cytometry. As CSO, she leads the development of Lectenz® Bio’s platform technologies, corporate partnerships, and non-dilutive funding. Then known as Glycosensors and Diagnostics, she established satellite operations at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS San Diego in 2013. The company is now an alumnus and based at the San Diego Science Center. Dr. Yang received the Amelia Earhart Innovator Award at the 2015 Business Women’s Mega Mixer. She is Past Treasurer of the Board of Association for Women in Science, San Diego chapter (AWIS-SD).
Dr. Wu brings extensive experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, glycobiology, and project management. During his tenure at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at University of Georgia he contributed to research management, technology development, and staff mentorship. His contributions to the field of glycoscience include the development of the Glycoenzyme Repository, a key resource for the scientific community. His current responsibilities include scientific and project leadership overseeing the development and validation of the sialic acid Lectenz® reagents. Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. from the University of Szeged in Hungary, followed by post-doctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. The breadth of his impact as a scientist is reflected not only in his contribution to scientific research but also in the training of new scientists as evidenced by his recognition by the University of Georgia for undergraduate research mentorship.
Dr. Samli brings a blend of scientific and business experience to leverage his core expertise in strategy, technology, and organizational development. He leads initiatives in product commercialization, strategic partnership development, and investor relations. He has co-founded startups, provided business leadership to technology startups, and received additional training in technology entrepreneurship at Singularity University located at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Dr. Samli co-developed aspects of the Lectenz® technology and has unique expertise in high-throughput screening, molecular evolution, protein engineering, and molecular modeling. In 2016, Georgia Bio named him Emerging Leader of the Year. He served as the CEO of Lectenz Bio from May 2014 through August 2017.
Prof. Woods holds joint faculty appointments in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Dept. of Chemistry, the Dept. of Infectious Diseases, and the CCRC at the University of Georgia. From 2008 to 2014, he was also Chair of Computational Glycosciences at the School of Chemistry at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His academic expertise is in biophysical carbohydrate chemistry. He is creator of the GLYCAM force field for modeling carbohydrates, a developer of the AMBER molecular modeling package, and integrates experimental and theoretical methods in his research. Prof. Woods guides the productization, commercialization strategy, and research.
Prof. Hart is the Paul and Christine Englund Professor and Director of Biological Chemistry in the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology in 1977 from Kansas State University. He served as a post-doctoral research associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1977 to 1979 when he joined the JHU faculty. His expertise is in dynamic O-glycosylation of nuclear and cytosolic proteins of relevance to cancer and diabetes. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the 2006 Karl Meyer Award from Society for Glycobiology. He has served as President of the Society and as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Glycobiology.
Prof. Nolan joined the Scintillon Institute for Biomedical and Bioenergy Research in July 2014. He received his Ph.D. in 1992 in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University. He then took a post-doc position in the Life Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory and served as Director, National Flow Cytometry Resource, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory from 2001-2004. From 2003-2014 he served on the faculty at the La Jolla Bioengineering Institute. His expertise is in the development of multiplexed and high throughput analysis approaches for the characterization of ligand-protein interactions. He has served as Chair for the Standards Committee of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry. He is on the editorial board of the journal Cytometry.
Prof. Pierce is Director of the UGA Cancer Center and Distinguished Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the CCRC at UGA. He received his Ph.D. in biology in 1980 from the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the CCRC in April 1991, Dr. Pierce was assistant then associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Staff Investigator of the Papanicolau Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1988 he was the recipient of a five-year Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society. His expertise is in the regulation of intercellular recognition and adhesion involving protein-oligosaccharide interactions.
Dr. Cooper specializes in selecting novel Lectenz® candidates from directed evolution library screens and optimizing candidate protein expression and purification. In addition, he focuses on product validation for specific applications including glycan array screening, Western blot, and immunohistochemisty. Previously, he worked as part of a Sponsored Research Agreement team at the University of Georgia characterizing novel CRISPR systems for product development. His dissertation and post-doctoral work involved studying protein phosphorylation and epigenetic regulation of oncogenic B and T cell signaling pathways, as well as age-related changes in T cell development. Dr. Cooper received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He volunteers as the Georgia Bio Emerging Leaders Network UGA Liaison and was president of the UGA Postdoctoral Association. He loves spending time with his family, whether it’s hanging out in Athens or traveling.
Ms. Paul assists in the validation of Lectenz® products in customer applications including affinity chromatography, Western blot, and kinetic measurements. In addition, she manages laboratory operations and related internal process development. Her prior industry experience at Merial, an animal health company, focused on manufacturing of equine, canine, and feline vaccines in a cGMP environment. Specifically, she worked to produce a variety of antigens using mammalian and avian tissue culture techniques and developed and optimized manufacturing records and SOPs. Mallory completed her B.S. in biochemistry from Auburn University. In her free time, Mallory serves as a brand ambassador for theSkimm, plays in a local community band and offers her time as a volunteer at various Humane Societies.