The pioneer of HD-DoE® (High-Dimensional Design-of-Experiments) Technology
Biology. Controlled.
Trailhead Biosystems is the pioneer of High-Dimensional Design-of-Experiment (HD-DoE®), a powerful platform that differentiates human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into virtually any desired cell type with unparalleled precision and efficiency. HD-DoE® leverages the intricate signaling networks that govern natural developmental biology. In other words, “biology controlled.”
Our team of dedicated scientists and engineers have developed an approach that enhances our ability to test and understand these complex biological systems. Through advanced computational models and precision control systems, we direct human iPSC differentiation with unprecedented reproducibility and accuracy.
Human biology comprises unique, stable cell states essential for proper organ function. These states emerge through complex, controlled processes during development, but recreating them outside the body has remained a formidable challenge—until now.
Building on Dr. Yamanaka’s Nobel Prize-winning iPSC technology, we unlock the potential of human iPSC lines with remarkable precision and fidelity. While we haven’t yet charted the path for every human cells, Trailhead’s platform is uniquely engineered to systematically tackle this challenge.
Meet Trailhead Biosystems Leaders
At the forefront of Trailhead’s groundbreaking work is a team of visionary leaders and renowned experts, united by an unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of regenerative medicine. Their exceptional leadership, deep scientific expertise, and relentless pursuit of excellence have been instrumental in propelling Trailhead to the cutting edge of stem cell engineering.
Leadership Team
David Llewellyn is Trailhead’s President and Chief Executive Officer. David was most recently Chief Strategy Officer of STEMCELL Technologies Inc., where he also held several top executive roles, including Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer.
Prior to that, Dr. Llewellyn served as a Medical Chemist at MethylGene Inc. and later at Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, where he was involved in a variety of capacities, including business development, financing and operations.
David holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Northern British Columbia, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from McGill University and an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of British Columbia.
Jan is an internationally renowned molecular developmental biologist and bioinformatician. He held the Eddie J. Brandon endowed professorship at Cleveland Clinic in Diabetes research. Jan is the founder of Trailhead Biosystems, and has led numerous technology advances related to control of many types of stem cells. He is cited among the top 1% globally for his scientific contributions.
In addition to his work on our HD-DOE platform and our analytical technologies applied to mapping cellular fate spaces, Jan’s discoveries include the identification of the fourth major autoantigen in diabetes, ZnT8; and the discovery of the mechanism of how insulin producing cells develop in the organism. His broad interest in the fundamental principles in cellular differentiation has provided him a basis for his integrative approaches to complex living systems.
Jan covers multiple biological specialties through this work, such as precision medicine in cancer combinatorial drug development, anti-viral combinatorial drug development, stem cell differentiation of human cells, and methods development for regenerative medicine and cell-based therapy. Jan has leadership experience within multinational research collaboratives, and more than 25 years of experience in research coordination.
In his approach to his work, Jan constantly challenges the limitations of the scientific process as it is currently applied believing that system-level interrogations emerge as vastly superior to human-centered hypothesis-driven exploration.
Div oversees all operations and finances for Trailhead Biosystems. He also works on development and execution of long-term as well as short-term strategies for the growth and sustainability of Trailhead.
Div graduated as an Electrical Engineer and gained experience in engineering and manufacturing prior to joining Case Western Reserve University for an M.Sc. in Operations Research. He has also earned Six Sigma Certification and broad knowledge of Process Improvement across various industries.
Div also oversees development and continual optimization of Trailhead’s core analytic engine.
Josh Snow is Trailhead’s Chief Commercial Officer. Josh was most recently Executive Director of Therapeutics Commercial Operations at Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics (FCDI), where he oversaw commercial partnerships and growth strategies for FCDI’s stem cell therapy CDMO business.
Prior to that, Josh served as Director of Business Development and Marketing Strategy at Mirus Bio, now part of MilliporeSigma. At Mirus, he helped spearhead the strategic launch of products for entry into the GMP viral vector manufacturing market, paving the way for its acquisition by Gamma Biosciences in 2021.
Josh holds a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Board of Directors
Michael Kaufman is the founder and CEO of MAK Capital, an investment advisory firm he established in 2002. With a career spanning decades, Michael has been instrumental in steering companies toward innovation and growth. He serves as Chairman of the Board at Agilysys, Inc., and holds directorships at Trailhead Biosystems, Yatra Online, Inc., MARABio and Noveome Biotherapeutics. Michael’s academic credentials include a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, as well as a law degree from Yale University. His leadership and strategic acumen have made him a driving force in the investment world.
Mr. Nemiroff has been an analyst at MAK Capital, the New York-based investment advisory firm, since 2016 and serves as a director for Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc. and MARAbio Systems, Inc. He has been in the investments business since 2008. Previously, Mr. Nemiroff was a Director of Business Development at student lender MRU Holdings and a Manager of Corporate Development at Capital One Financial. Mr. Nemiroff was a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and practiced corporate law at the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. Mr. Nemiroff graduated from Yale Law School and from Princeton University with a degree in economics.
Dr. Wolfgang Hofmann is a distinguished leader in the healthcare and biotech industries, with over 30 years of experience spanning medicine, corporate strategy, and innovation. Formerly with Fresenius Group, Wolfgang held executive roles in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and technology management. He began his career at Harvard Medical School, contributing to groundbreaking research in gene therapy. Wolfgang holds a medical doctorate from the University of Heidelberg and an executive management degree from Harvard Business School. As a board member at Trailhead Biosystems, he leverages his extensive expertise to guide the company’s mission of advancing cell-based therapies.
Dr. Houman David Hemmati is a renowned ophthalmologist, scientist, and entrepreneur with a career dedicated to advancing medical innovation. He has held leadership roles at Allergan and Capricor Therapeutics, contributing to groundbreaking therapies in ophthalmology and regenerative medicine. A co-founder of Optigo Biotherapeutics and Levation Pharma, Houman has also made significant scientific discoveries, including identifying cancer stem cells in the brain and developing novel drug delivery systems for the eye. He earned his B.S. from Stanford, where he worked in the laboratory of stem cell pioneer Dr. Irv Weissman, his M.D. from UCLA, a Ph.D. in Biology from Caltech, and completed postdoctoral training at MIT and Harvard Medical School. At Trailhead Biosystems, Houman’s expertise in stem cell research and therapeutic development is invaluable.
Scientific Advisory Board
José Oberholzer is the Director of the Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center at the University of Virginia. He is also the Founder and President of CellTrans, a faculty start-up company launched out of Dr. José’s scientific research group at the University of Illinois.
José has led the Islet Transplant Program at the University of Illinois since August of 2003 and his team has completed over 600 islet isolations as well as successful Phase I, II, and III clinical trials for islet transplantation. CellTrans aims to bring cell-based therapies including isolated islets, encapsulated islets, and human derived stem-cells to clinical application to combat the global epidemic of diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
José has performed over 1,000 transplant-related surgeries and is an expert in liver, kidney, pancreas and small bowel transplants, as well as organ transplants in patients with diabetes. In addition to his clinical practice, José specializes in islet transplantation and parathyroid transplantation, as well as vascular access for hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis catheter placements. Additionally, he practices minimal invasive, robotic assisted surgery, including robotic kidney and pancreas transplantation, living donor nephrectomy, adrenalectomy, liver and pancreas surgery and hernia surgery.
Jose holds a Masters in Science degree in Health Care Management from Harvard University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Zurich Medical School.
Junhyong is the Patricia M. Williams Term Endowed Professor of Biology and the Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Junhyong is a Quantitative Biologist and Genomicist, who works at the interface of mathematical and computational biology, genomics, and evolutionary biology with a focus on Single Cell Biology. He uses quantitative models, statistical analyses, and collect genome-scale data to ask questions about mechanisms of cell function and their evolution. A key technological expertise in his lab is single cell analysis, including RNA sequencing from single cells and bio-photonic techniques.
Junhyong holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University.
Niels is Vice President of Research and Development Operations at Zymergen, a publicly traded biofacturing company headquartered in Emersyville, CA. Niels has extensive experience in leading biotech/pharmaceutical/medical device organizations in the USA, China, and Europe. He has served in managerial roles at Novo Nordisk, Xellia Pharmaceutical, and Zymergen, including as General Manager (USA), Head of Operation, Finished Product Director (China), Business Support Director responsible for Finance, Logistic, Sourcing and Planning, Director of Strategy & Project Execution, and Project Lead of a major new drug-delivering system.
Niels holds a Masters of Science degree in Engineering/Industrial Management from Aalborg University and completed Executive Education in Leadership and Strategy in Pharma and Biotech at Harvard Business School.
Bo Porse is a Professor in Molecular Oncology and the director at the Finsen Laboratory at the Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet in Denmark. Bo is a molecular biologist, stem cell scientist and an expert in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. His research is centered on understanding how stem cell behavior shapes the properties of our blood system during steady state and in disease, with the specific aim of identifying novel way to treat aggressive blood cancers. For this he uses the wide arsenal of methodologies available in the field of experimental hematology including long-term culturing of primary hematopoietic and leukemic stem cells, CRISPR editing of primary cells as well as advanced models of human pre-malignant and malignant conditions. Technology-wise his lab has strong expertise in single cell technologies and has invested heavily in the development of the emerging field of single cell proteomics.
Bo holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Copenhagen.
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