Esya Labs
Our Team
Prof. Dr. Yamuna Krishnan
Co-founder & Chief Science Officer
Co-founder & Chief Science Officer
Yamuna is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago where she has pioneered the application of DNA nanotechnology to live cell imaging. She is also the youngest woman in history to win India’s highest scientific recognition, originated multiple patents, and published across numerous peer-reviewed journals.
Dhivya Venkat
Co-founder & CEO
Co-founder & CEO
Dhivya is a passionate entrepreneur with 15+ years experience in defining winning strategies and building high-performance teams. Her consulting experience stretches 50+ countries and ranges from startup to corporate. She worked alongside Accenture, Deloitte, and other world-leading financial firms.
Markus Zejermann
COO & CFO
COO & CFO
Markus is a seasoned finance professional and technology-driven company builder. He brings 15 years of experience across Private Equity and business consulting and has focused on helping companies scale.
Esya Labs
Our Team
Prof. Yamuna Krishnan, PhD
Co-founder & Chief Science Officer
Dr. Krishnan is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago where she has pioneered the application of DNA nanotechnology to live cell imaging. She is also the youngest woman in history to win India’s highest scientific recognition, originated multiple patents and published across numerous peer-reviewed journals.
Dhivya Venkat
Co-founder & CEO
Dhivya is a passionate Entrepreneur with 15+ years experience in defining winning strategies and building high performance teams. Her consulting experience stretches 50+ countries and the range from startup to corporate. She worked alongside Accenture, Deloitte and world leading Financial firms.
Souvik Modi, PhD
Lead Scientist
Dr. Modi comes with a Ph.D. in Chemistry and 15+ years experience in biotech R&D during which he co-invented some of Esya’s IP and pioneered its intracellular targeting. He received some of Europe’s most prestigious fellowships and published in high-impact journals.
Dr. Souvik Modi
Lead Scientist
Souvik comes with a Ph.D. in Chemistry and 15+ years experience in biotech R&D during which he co-invented some of Esya’s IP and pioneered its intracellular targeting. He received some of Europe’s most prestigious fellowships and published in high-impact journals.
Owen Connolly
Cell Biologist
Owen holds an MSc in neuroscience and, during his PhD, has obtained experience in biomarker discovery for neurodegenerative diseases.
Kenneth Watters, M.B.
Medical Director
Dr. Watters has over 40 years of international pharmaceutical and healthcare industry experience, including major pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic companies, CROs, and start-ups. Dr. Watters has extensive experience in taking diagnostics through clinical trials and regulatory approvals to market. He is now a Staff Grade Physician at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and will help structure and oversee our trials at Esya.
Robert Loewer, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Robert has over 20 years of global financial, legal and operational executive experience as an owner, CFO, General Counsel, and strategic and financial consultant to early-stage, middle-market, and Fortune 500 companies. He has an excellent track-record of scaling and building the infrastructure of start-up and growth companies, facilitating the growth of businesses of all sizes.
Patricia Lobo
Clinical Trial Manager
Owen Connolly
Cell Biologist
Owen holds an MSc in neuroscience and, during his PhD, has obtained experience in biomarker discovery for neurodegenerative diseases.
Malak Wahdan
Cell Biologist
Malak completed her MSc in translational neuroscience, and her research in the past has pertained to learning and memory, Alzheimer’s disease, and biomarker discovery. Her experience ranges from animal models and molecular biology to computational neuroimaging in Alzheimer’s patients.
Senthilkumar Deivasigamani, PhD
Cell Biologist
Dr. Deivasigamani has several years of experience in animal models of neurodegeneration and has authored multiple research publications. At Esya, he is involved in developing quantitative cellular assays to profile Alzheimer’s Disease.
Esya Labs
Our Advisors
Prof. Jack Szostak, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Szostak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on the structure of the DNA of chromosomal telomeres, and the role of the enzyme telomerase in telomere maintenance and senescence. He has made significant strides in the field of genetics, including techniques for gene manipulation and the evolution of RNA sequences. Dr. Szostak completed his PhD in biochemistry at Cornell University before moving to Harvard Medical School to start his own lab at the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute. He is now a tenured full Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, and the Alexander Rich Distinguished Investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Prof. Orrin Devinsky, M.D.
Advisor
Dr. Devinsky holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and is a Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry at NYU. His speciality areas include translational therapies, epilepsy, cognitive and behavioural disorders, surgical therapy, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), devices to deliver drugs directly to the brain, and molecular biology. His experience spans diagnostic studies, clinical pharmacologic trials, and therapeutic interventions. He has authored more than 20 books and monographs and published more than 500 articles.
Brian Coe
Advisor
A serial diagnostics entrepreneur, Brian has started, commercialised, and successfully exited numerous diagnostic companies, with his last diagnostic company being recently IPO-ed. He is Entrepreneur-in-Residence for healthcare at the Polsky Centre at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His knowledge spans commercialisation of diagnostic devices, micro-fludic platforms, quantitative molecular and measurement assays in research and clinical laboratories, clinical decision support systems and CLIA laboratories.
Jamie Dananberg, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Dananberg is currently the CMO at UNITY Biotechnology. Before joining UNITY, Dananberg served in several roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals as Executive Vice President, including Head, Cardiovascular and Metabolism Therapeutic Area, and as the Head of both the Therapeutic Areas Group and Experimental/Translational Medicine. He has brought more than 70 programs from Discovery to Development, leading and supporting efforts through all phases, including the launches of 8 commercial products.
Fouzia Laghrissi, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Laghrissi is the CEO of DalCor Pharmaceuticals and has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry leadership experience, including roles at AstraZeneca, Roche, HBA and WPIC. She brings a wealth of experience in US and Europe through working in clinical development, global strategic marketing, business development, licensing and M&A.
Prof. David Kupfer, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Kupfer is the ex-Head of the DSM-5 plan committee, and has expert knowledge of the current principal manual for psychiatric & neurocognitive diagnosis, as recommended by the American Psychiatric Association. For more than 35 years, Dr. Kupfer’s work has focused on the conceptualization, diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders.
Vincent Linder, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Linder is the CEO at Calciscon AG, biomedical consultant, entrepreneur & senior biotech executive with track record of success for biomedical devices. Dr. Linder advises medical device companies and helps them turn their technical innovation into approved medical devices. He is the inventor of over 300 patents on microfluidics and point-of-care diagnostics with over 175 granted.
Esya Labs
Our Collaborators
Péter Körtvélyessy, M.D. PhD
Collaborator
Dr. Körtvélyessy is a fellow for Neurology and Neurodegeneration at Charité Berlin and a research consultant at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Madgeburg. Dr. Körtvélyessy has special expertise in fluid biomarkers and has led several clinical trials, specifically in the Alzheimer’s disease space. He is now leading one of Esya’s ongoing studies with the Charité.
If you crave challenges, there's no better place to be
Esya is a dynamic company operating at the intersection of biochemistry, technology and medicine. If you crave challenges and the chance to see your work impact the millions of lives touched by Alzheimer’s disease, there’s no better place to be.
