PopVax is now 80+ passionate people across our computational design, machine learning, molecular & cell biology, immunology, mRNA delivery, analytical method development, GMP production, quality, and regulatory teams based at our RNA Foundry in Hyderabad, all of which are hiring.
Our fiercely-innovative globally-trained staff is composed of veterans of mRNA-LNP pioneers including NanoVation and the Pieter Cullis lab at the University of British Columbia; top Indian, American, and European research institutions such as the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Indian Institutes of Technology (Madras, Delhi, Bombay, and Kanpur), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, UC Davis, Washington University in St. Louis, Heidelberg University, and the University of Cologne; as well as leading Indian & global biotech companies including Biocon, the Serum Institute of India, Shantha Biotech, Biological E, Panacea Biotec, Immuneel Therapeutics, GSK, Sanofi, J&J, Bicara Therapeutics, and Ginkgo Bioworks.
Leadership
Soham Sankaran
· Founder & CEOBS in Computer Science (Yale), previously dropped out of the CS PhD program at Cornell to start a Y Combinator-backed startup building software for robotics & industrial automation.
Dr. Maunish Barvalia
· VP of Platform Technologies + Head of Immunology & Nucleic Acid DeliveryPhD Immunology (University of British Columbia) focusing on single-cell technologies to comprehensively characterize the immune system landscape and tumour microenvironment in models of cancer; previously worked with nucleic acid delivery pioneer Pieter Cullis on LNP delivery for immune cell targeting at UBC and NanoVation Therapeutics.
Dr. Darshit Mehta
· VP of Programs + Head of AutomationPhD in Biomedical Engineering (Washington University in St. Louis), where he worked on leveraging insects as biosensors using machine learning-enabled neural recording, and co-founded an ultra-low-power semiconductor startup; previously automated high-throughput biologics screening at Ginkgo Bioworks.
Syed Afsar Ali Bukhari
· VP of Legal & Intellectual PropertyMaster of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property Rights and Corporate Law (Osmania University), Registered Patent Agent (India); previously Patent Counsel at Sanofi Healthcare India, where he drafted and prosecuted US & global patents for Sanofi's vaccine programs.
Dr. Thirunavukkarasu Angappan
· VP of Manufacturing & OperationsPreviously Site Head for Vaccine Manufacturing at Panacea Biotec, and a trained veterinarian who managed the in vivo testing and animal house teams at Biological E and Shantha Biotech (now part of Sanofi); has played critical roles in the manufacturing of hundreds of millions of doses of DTP, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, Pneumonia, Dengue, Typhoid, and COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Praveen Kumar Vittala
· VP of Analytical Sciences & Quality ControlPreviously General Manager of Quality at Panacea Biotec, Assistant Director of Bioanalytical Sciences at Lupin, and a clinical pharmacologist at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad; has led analytical method development and QC for diverse vaccines and biologics for Indian, US, and global markets.
Samarth Jajoo
· Head of Special ProjectsBS in Computer Science (UC Berkeley), previously worked on microfluidics-based high-throughput functional assays with Aaron Streets at Berkeley, and on machine learning for protein dynamics with Sergey Ovchinnikov at MIT.