Johannes Fruehauf (MD PhD) (Founder and President)
Dr. Fruehauf has a long track record innovative research and successful research organization. Before starting Cambridge Biolabs, he helped build Cequent Pharmaceuticals in 2006 and served as Cequent’s Head of R&D until 2009. He did his postdoc with Dr. Chiang Li at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and invented the bacterial RNAi technology transkingdom RNA interference, the only RNAi therapeutic targeting the gastrointestinal tract. He serves as a consultant to a number of biotechnology companies, including Cequent Pharmaceuticals and Aura Biosciences. Dr. Fruehauf is the author of over 20 peer reviewed publications and named inventor on 9 patents related to RNA interference and bacterial therapeutics.
Anthony Baldor (BSc) (Director, Business Development)
Mr. Baldor has collected broad experience developing novel therapies in both academia and industry. He has worked for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Harvard Skin Disease Research Center, Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and The Broad Institute. While developing a thorough scientific skill set, Mr. Baldor took on many additional responsibilities and served as a Laboratory and Project Manager at BWH, HSDRC and DFCI. He comes to Cambridge Biolabs from the Cequent Pharmaceuticals team and most recently worked as Project Manager organizing collaborations between DFCI, Harvard Medical School and The Broad and between the Cooperative Centers for Human Immunology.
F.Stephen Laroux (PhD) (Director, Inflammatory Diseases)
Dr. Laroux is Director, Inflammatory Diseases and Immunology at Cambridge Biolabs. In this position, Dr. Laroux provides expert advice to our clients for screening and efficacy studies, with a specific emphasis on preclinical models for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Most recently, Dr. Laroux was Director of Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases at Cequent Pharmaceuticals, where he directed the preclinical discovery efforts and large-pharma collaborations based on the tkRNAi platform.Dr. Laroux completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School where he conducted research focused on innate immune responses to bacteria as well as the role of the immune system in chronic disease. Prior to his tenure at BIDMC, Dr. Laroux conducted research into the immunology of diseases such as IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, ischemia-reperfusion and myocardial infarction, co-authoring over 40 publications in peer reviewed journals. Dr. Laroux received his Master’s degree in Human Physiology in 2000 and his PhD (Chancellor’s Award) in Molecular and Cellular Physiology in 2003 both from Louisiana State University.
Katherine Turner (PhD) (Senior Consultant)
Dr Turner is a biologist with over thirty years experience in biopharmaceutical research and development in small and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. She developed a strong track record in delivering therapeutic biological candidates into preclinical and clinical development in a number of therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, neurobiology and fibrosis. Dr Turner has held positions of VP of Protein Discovery Research at Genetics Institute Inc., VP Immunology at Wyeth, VP Validation Biology at Biogen Idec, and VP Research and Development at NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Inc. She currently consults on biologics research and development for a number of small biotech companies.
Noel Sauer (PhD) (Senior Scientist)
Dr. Sauer is a decorated microbiologist, specializing in invasive pathogens and the interaction of bacteria with mammalian cells. Dr. Sauer earned her undergraduate degree from University of Southern California-LA (Honors) and a doctoral degree in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University; for her postdoc, Dr. Sauer joined Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, studying Shigella pathogenesis. She is the former Head of Platform Development at Cequent Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the development of novel therapeutic bacterial candidates for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
Xuelin Cui (MD, PhD) (Principal Scientist)
Dr. Cui is a dedicated Pharmacologist with twelve years of industry experience in Oncology, Immunology and biotherapeutics development. Before joining Cambridge Biolabs, he focused on biomarker assay development to predict the response to anticancer treatment in breast cancer and NSCLC at OnQity. Before that, he managed and performed in vitro and in vivo studies to develop RNAi therapeutics in the in vivo Biology group at Cequent Pharmaceuticals and developed small molecule drugs for cancer and inflammatory diseases at Inotek. For his postdoc, he investigated the mechanism of intestinal sugar transportation at the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, New Jersey Medical School. He received his PhD in Immunopharmacology from Kochi University Medical School, Japan and his MD from China Medical School, China. He has been a Research Fellow focused on Oncology at Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan and practiced clinical medicine in China.
Laura Holberger (PhD) (Scientist)
Laura Holberger is responsible for the engineering of novel therapeutic strains and platform development for the EnLact(TM) technology. Laura has extensive experience in the molecular genetics of gram-positive bacteria. She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and International studies from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. Laura has a strong industry background beginning with her employment at Capsule Technologies and later at Idexx Laboratories. She recently completed her doctoral studies at University of California Santa Barbara where she performed groundbreaking research concerning cytotoxic RNAses produced by gram-positive bacteria in response to starvation. While working toward her PhD, Ms. Holberger also earned a certificate degree in Technology Management Practice.
Eri Inoue (MD, MS) (Program Manager)
Dr. Inoue is a specialist in nutritional medicine, and her research interests focus on the interplay of nutrition and health. She obtained her M.S. in Nutritional Sciences at Giessen, University, and an MD from University of Heidelberg, Germany. Before joining Cambridge Biolabs, Dr. Inoue worked at the University Hospital Heidelberg, doing her residency in Internal Medicine with a focus on oncology and nutritional medicine. During her postdoc at the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston, Dr. Inoue researched nutritional causes of gastrointestinal and hepatic cancer, with an emphasis on the role of micronutrients and alcohol.
Thierry Leclerc (MSc) (Associate scientist)
Thierry Leclerc comes to Cambridge Biolabs from his Master in Biotechnology program at Sup’Biotech Paris (France). Thierry was part of an innovative student team that participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He gained experience in gene delivery at Gustave Roussy Institute in France and experience in DNA vaccination at Nokad Technology.
Kara West (BSc) (Associate scientist)
Kara West comes to Cambridge Biolabs from Pervasis Therapeutics, a clinical stage cell based therapy company in the Cambridge area. At Pervasis Therapeutics Kara was part of a team researching cell based therapies for the treatment of cancer and orthopedic diseases. Kara received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine where she focused her research on tissue engineering and also studied the effects of microgravity on cell function under a NASA space grant.
Katy Esher (BSBA) (Office Manager)
Katy Escher also comes to Cambridge Biolabs from the Pervasis Therapeutics team. At Pervasis, Katy was the office manager and executive assistant to the CEO. Katy received her undergraduate degree from Suffolk University where she studied business management.
