Blake builds and invests in companies that move atoms and bits. His recent investments include Neuralink, Vial, Benchling and Freenome. Blake was most recently a General Partner at GV for a decade where he led investments in tech and healthcare companies. Some of his biotech investments include Forty Seven (Nasdaq: FTSV), Arcus (Nasdaq: RCUS), Denali (Nasdaq: DNLI), and Grail (acquired by Illumina). Blake’s incubations include Pact Pharma, a neoantigen T cell therapy company.
Blake received a PhD and MS in bioengineering from Stanford University and holds a BS in biomedical engineering and BS in economics from Duke University.
Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, having grown it from inception to public company with thousands of employees and billions of dollars in revenue.
He is deeply passionate about accelerating science and improving human healthspan. He brings experience in software, machine learning, organization design, fundraising, leadership, and team building.
He holds a master’s degree in computer science and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rice University.
Cathy leads NewLimit’s operations, leveraging her technical training, operational expertise, and passion for company culture to build, support, and inspire top-performing teams to deliver value in complex, unknown territory.
Cathy is a proven leader in healthcare, with broad experience and deep expertise developing medicines, diagnostics, and digital health solutions. Prior to NewLimit, Cathy was a VP and Global Development Lead at GSK. Before that, she led US Operations and Pharma partnering for a Diagnostics company developing and commercializing novel imaging biomarkers and technologies. Cathy is passionate about inspiring and developing employees, so they can thrive in their careers.
Cathy received a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California San Francisco and completed postdoctoral fellowships in Neuroscience at both the University of Cambridge and UC Berkeley.
Jacob uses genomics and machine learning methods to identify and manipulate the genetic programs that define cell identity.
Prior to NewLimit, Jacob led a research laboratory focused on epigenetic reprogramming as a Principal Investigator and Computational Fellow at Calico. His program developed methods to infer and perturb cell identity programs and leveraged these tools to discover reprogramming strategies that restore youthful features in aged cells.
Jacob received a Ph.D. in stem cell biology from the University of California San Francisco.
Alex Marson is a professor at UCSF, scientific director of human health at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), and head of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology. Dr. Marson’s research goal is to understand the genetic circuits that control human immune cell function, and his team has pioneered new CRISPR gene editing technologies that offer more precise ways to rewrite DNA programs in human immune cells.
Dr. Marson received an AB and an MD from Harvard, a PhD from MIT, and completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an infectious diseases fellowship at UCSF.
Dr. E. John Wherry is the Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. John also serves as the Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics and the Director of the Institute for Immunology at the Perelman School of Medicine.
John’s work has pioneered the field of T cell exhaustion and revealed the molecular mechanisms of diverse T cell identity programs. Among other contributions, his group has defined the transcriptional program of T cell exhaustion, revealed the functional characteristics of exhausted T cells, and discovered the role of inhibitory receptors such as PD-1 in the exhaustion program. The Wherry lab has demonstrated that exhaustion programs play an important role in limiting the effectiveness of adaptive immune responses to both chronic infection and cancer and explored checkpoint blockade mechanisms to re-invigorate exhausted cells. To enable these discoveries, the Wherry lab has employed emerging epigenetic profiling technologies to define T cell identity programs, identify the molecular drivers of these transcriptional programs, and delineate distinct T cell fates.
Dr. Wherry holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the Thomas Jefferson University and a B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University.
Hao is a Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern where he holds the The Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Distinguished Chair in Therapeutic Oncology Research. In addition to running a prolific research laboratory, Hao cares for hepatocellular carcinoma patients at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Using the liver as a model system, the Zhu laboratory is trying to elucidate how injury, regeneration, and wound healing influence organ function and cancer formation. They believe that understanding somatic mosaicism will be a key genetic strategy to deconvolute the complexity of wound healing and are using human genomic approaches, in vivo genetic screening, and lineage tracing to understand the functional implications of somatic mosaicism in chronic liver disease and liver cancer.
Hao holds a B.S. in biology from Duke University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and MIT. He underwent clinical training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Zhu completed postdoctoral research in George Q. Daley’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Mark M. Davis is the Director of the Stanford Institute for Immunology, Transplantation and Infection, a professor of microbiology and immunology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
Dr. Davis is well known for identifying many of the T-cell receptor genes, which are responsible for the ability of these cells to recognize a diverse repertoire of antigens. His current research focuses on obtaining a “systems level” understanding of the human immune system, including the steady state and vaccine responses of old and young subjects.
Dr. Davis received a BA from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Grompe is a Professor at Oregon Health and Sciences University, the director of the Oregon Stem Cell Center, and the holder of the Ray Hickey Chair and the Director of the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute. The Grompe lab is focused on developing cell and gene therapies for genetic disorders, especially metabolic disorders of the liver. Among other accomplishments, the Grompe lab developed the first mouse models that allow for competitive repopulation of hepatocytes and further developed the first humanized liver models.
Dr. Grompe has also served as the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Ambys Medicines and the founder of Yecuris.
Dr. Grompe received his M.D. in 1982 at the University of Ulm Medical School in Germany. He completed training at OHSU and Baylor College of Medicine focused on gene therapy for inherited diseases, particularly liver diseases.
Shea designs, builds, and maintains software solutions with a focus on bioinformatics pipelines and cloud infrastructure.
Prior to NewLimit, Shea worked as a Computational Biologist at Inscripta, Inc., where he contributed broadly to data science, machine learning, and bioinformatics efforts; supporting the development of a benchtop genome engineering instrument for microbes and mammalian cell biology program.
Shea holds a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona and is an alumni of the Insight Data Science post-doctoral fellowship.
Adam develops and applies laboratory automation and robotics to enhance the efficiency, speed, and scale of NewLimit's scientific workflows.
Prior to NewLimit, Adam held a variety of roles in Automation at Ginkgo Bioworks, where he led engineering teams, automated synthetic biology processes, and developed software for integrated robotic workcells.
Adam was also part of the early team at Lasergen, developing a DNA sequencing platform that was acquired by Agilent Technologies.Adam received a BS in Bioengineering from Rice University.
Alex oversees NewLimit's talent and people function by working to ensure that top talent enters and stays at the company.
Prior to NewLimit Alex was the Head of Talent at Dave Inc where he built the recruiting function from the ground up. During his time at Uber he led talent teams across the company's new business lines.
Alex is a former CPA and received his BA in Business Economics and Accounting from UC Santa Barbara.
Ben works with the read team at NewLimit, helping to develop and perform assays to screen epigenetic reprogramming.
Before joining NewLimit, Ben studied leukemia at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, using high throughput omics assays to characterize aberrant cellular development.
Ben received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Bryan contributes to the Metabolism team developing in vivo mouse models for liver epigenetic reprogramming and downstream assay optimization.
Prior to NewLimit, Bryan worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida optimizing protocols for whole brain and skeletal muscle tissue clearing and lightsheet imaging. During his graduate work, Bryan studied changes in skeletal muscle structure and force production in various preclinical neurodegenerative tauopathy models, and interned at Denali Therapeutics characterizing preclinical transgenic murine models for Parkinson's disease risk.
Bryan earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences and BS in Biochemistry from the University of Florida.
Bryan is a scientist on the Immunology team where he develops in vivo models to test preclinical epigenetic reprogramming interventions.
Prior to NewLimit, Bryan worked with Susan Kaech at the Salk Institute where he studied epigenetic regulation of CD8+ effector and memory T cell formation.
Bryan received a PhD in Biomedical Science and a BS in Human Biology from UC San Diego.
Burak develops and uses single cell technologies and functional genomic techniques that enable large scale screens of epigenetic reprogramming at NewLimit.
Prior to NewLimit, Burak led a cross-functional team at Inscripta and contributed to the development of the first bench-top genome engineering instrument as well as single cell genomic assays for characterizing gene editing outcomes.
Burak received a PhD degree from MIT, a MS degree from Stanford, and a BS degree from METU, all in electrical engineering.
Conner is a Data Scientist on the Predict team at NewLimit working on Building pipelines & computational infrastructure for single-cell genomics data and developing models to predict cell function.
Prior to NewLimit, Conner completed his PhD in Computational and Systems Biology at MIT, working in the Shalek Lab. Outside of work, Conner enjoys rock climbing, cooking, and taking ice baths.
Dave contributes to the design and execution of single cell functional genomics screens at NewLimit to identify epigenetic reprogramming factors.
Prior to joining NewLimit, Dave worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Paul Khavari's lab at Stanford University using single cell functional genomics screening approaches to identify epigenetic regulators of epithelial homeostasis.
Dave received a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Georgia and a B.S. in biology from the University of Virginia.
Fatima aims to discover clinical rejuvenation therapies by testing preclinical epigenetic reprogramming interventions in rodent models of liver diseases.
Prior to NewLimit, Fatima was a Research Scientist at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University School of Medicine. There she explored mRNA-LNP-based therapeutic interventions aimed at leveraging the liver's intrinsic regenerative capacities to treat chronic liver diseases.
Fatima earned her PhD from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR) in India, where she studied oxidative mechanisms of liver toxicity.
Outside of work, she enjoys connecting with nature through long walks or scenic drives.
James contributes to the discovery engine at NewLimit by developing technology for functional genomic screens of epigenetic reprogramming factors with single cell readouts.
Prior to NewLimit, James was a Schmidt Science Fellow in Feng Zhang’s lab at the Broad Institute, where he developed massively-scalable pooled screens to discover novel TF combinations that program human embryonic cells into early blood progenitors. He completed graduate training with Allon Klein and Marc Kirschner at Harvard, where he generated one of the first single cell transcriptomic maps of vertebrate embryonic development.
James completed post-doctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard Medical School, and a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Queensland.
Jenna performs operational and administrative functions for NewLimit, including event management, HR, vendor management, talent acquisition, and leadership support.
Prior to NewLimit, Jenna worked as an Administrative Business Partner at Google Ventures, where she specialized in supporting women's health investments. She has also served in various operational capacities for international non-profit healthcare initiatives.
Jenna received a B.S. in Public Health from Brigham Young University with an emphasis in international development and epidemiology.
Jenny supports the Immunology Team at NewLimit in developing functional assays to assess immune populations.
Prior to NewLimit, Jenny worked at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, investigating the gut-brain immune axis in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Jenny received a BA in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in 2021.
John uses in vitro models to understand how T cells are impaired in aging and to quantify the impacts of epigenetic reprogramming on cell state and function.
Prior to joining NewLimit, John was an Associate Director at 3T Biosciences. There, he led in vitro immunology efforts supporting the discovery and early preclinical development of cell therapy and bispecific T cell engager drug candidates for the treatment of solid tumors.
John completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular and cellular immunology at the University of Chicago. He received a PhD in Biochemistry from UCSF and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin.
Jordan contributes to the functional genomics team in cargo and vehicle production and delivery.
Prior to NewLimit, Jordan first worked at Rejuvenation Technologies focusing on mRNA and LNP production for liver and lung indications. After, she worked at Turn Biotechnologies, reprogramming dermatology specific cells and operating in mouse models for skin.
Jordan received a Bachelor’s degree in bioengineering with a focus on biomolecular engineering at Santa Clara University in 2021.
Justin works as an Research Associate on the Immunology Team, assisting with the development of T cell functional assays.
Prior to joining NewLimit, Justin worked at Lyell Immunopharma, developing a next generation TIL therapy through genetic modifications and epigenetic reprogramming techniques.
Justin graduated with his Bachelors in Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2022. Outside of work, Justin enjoys traveling & playing video games.
Kate Franz is a Senior Scientist on the Immunology team where she is helping build technologies to screen and validate epigenetic reprogramming factors in vitro and in vivo.
Prior to NewLimit, Kate was a Senior Scientist at Verily where she used multi-omic maps of the immune system to identify targets in immune-mediated diseases and led target validation efforts.
Kate received her PhD in Virology from Harvard University. She also holds an MS in Chemistry from UC San Diego and a BS in Microbial Biology from UC Berkeley.
Leo is a research associate on the functional genomics team. He helps build chemistries that enable single cell perturbation screens in primary cells.
Previously, Leo was with Novome Biotechnologies as part of the strain engineering team, pursuing a living medicine for chronic diseases.
Leo received a Bachelors in Biomolecular Engineering with a minor in Bioinformatics from UCSC in 2020.
Lucas builds machine learning models to predict the outcome of targeted perturbations in single-cell experiments.
Prior to NewLimit, Lucas participated in research projects to develop novel computational methods for analyzing single-cell data. Lucas developed interpretable deep generative models integrating prior biological information about gene programs to shed light on cellular identity and how it is affected by perturbations.
Lucas received a PhD in computational biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, and a MS and Biotech engineering degree from the Strasbourg Graduate School of Biotechnology in France.
Megan oversees lab operations, ensuring that every scientist has the resources essential for optimal performance.
Prior to joining NewLimit, Megan worked as a lab manager at MycoTechnology in Denver, Colorado and contributed to tuberculosis research at Colorado State University.
Megan holds a bachelors degree in Biological Science and a masters degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University.
Nader contributes to the design and execution of pooled perturbation screens to identify epigenetic reprogramming factors.
Before joining NewLimit, Nader worked as a scientist at Mammoth Biosciences, helping build pooled screening platforms for predicting the activity of novel nucleases. During his graduate work, Nader developed a high-throughput screen to systematically profile human transcriptional regulators and invented potent CRISPR-based epigenetic engineering tools.
Nader received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Toronto.
Nick is a Data Scientist on the Predict team helping build computational workflows and working with the Read and Write teams to design experiments to understand cell function.
He's worked across a wide range of biotechs prior to NewLimit such as at Invitae, Calico Labs, and TensixteenBio, where his primary scientific interest was helping improve drug development using novel lenses of biology.
Nick has a BA from Colorado College in Neuroscience.
In his spare time, he hangs out with his kids, trail runs, reads fantasy books and plays video games
Rowena is exploring the therapeutic potential of reprogramming factors for the functional restoration of aged and diseased hepatocytes.
Prior to New Limit, Rowena studied the GDF15/GFRAL metabolic pathway at NGM Bio, guiding the clinical development of NGM120. Most recently, she led IND-enabling in vivo pharmacology studies at Kinnate Biopharma to progress their precision oncology pipeline.
Rowena completed her postdoctoral training at Genentech studying diabetes and insulin secretion. She received her PhD at UCSF in Developmental Biology and BS at San Francisco State University.
Sophie contributes to the Epigenetic Editing team develop molecular tools for conducting large-scale reprogramming experiments and screens.
Prior to NewLimit, Sophie worked in the Yang Lab at UCSF building an in vitro model of brain microvascular endothelial cells through chemical and transcription factor induced differentiation.
Sophie graduated with degree in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley in 2022.
Tyler works with the read team to develop and optimize sequencing based assays to capture cell state information from screens.
Previously, Tyler worked on the single cell sequencing platform at Vevo Therapeutics in attempt to generate a large-scale small molecule perturbation cell atlas to fuel drug discovery efforts.
Tyler received his Master's in Food Science from UC Davis and his Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University.
Wes develops in vitro models of epigenetic aging and executes high throughput screens to identify factors that rejuvenate cellular function.
Prior to joining NewLimit, Wes was a stem cell biologist at Maze Therapeutics. During his academic career, Wes’ experience has spanned hiPSC disease modeling, functional genomics, small molecule optimization and synthetic biology.
Wes received a PhD in Biomedical Science from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and a BA in Biochemistry from the University of San Diego.
Yana facilitates discovery of aging interventions by optimizing high-throughput single cell screens.
Prior to NewLimit, Yana was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California San Francisco, working to elucidate mechanisms of aging from the perspective of epigenetic regulation of ribosomal DNA.
Yana received a PhD in genetics from the University of California Davis.
Yu-Hsuan contributes to the development of in vivo mouse models for functional genomics screens of liver to identify epigenetic reprogramming factors.
Prior to NewLimit, Yu-Hsuan worked as a scientist at Nkarta, focusing on selecting lead gene edits for CAR NK cells and developing CAR viral potency assays. During her graduate work, Yu-Hsuan studied hepatic polyploidy, liver zonation, and performed in vivo screens to identify secreted growth regulating factors in liver.
Yu-Hsuan received a Ph.D. in Genetics, Development and Disease from the University of Texas Southwestern.