Management Team
Dr. Ali Tehrani Ph.D.President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Tehrani is one of Zymeworks' co-founders and currently serves as President and CEO of the company. He has been an integral part of many of the Company's corporate achievements including raising seed and angel financing and overseeing the Company's technical operations and patent filings. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. While completing his PhD degree he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network, for which he received the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002. Dr. Tehrani also serves on the MITACS Industrial Advisory Board, and BIOTECanada's Industrial and Environmental Committee.
Mr. Neil Klompas CAChief Financial & Operating Officer
Mr. Neil Klompas is Zymeworks' Chief Financial & Operating Officer, and brings over 15 years of healthcare and biotechnology experience to Zymeworks' management team. Additionally, in conjunction with the CEO, he manages Zymeworks' corporate growth initiatives including corporate alliances, licensing and partnerships. Prior to joining Zymeworks he worked with KPMG LLP in Canada and the US, most recently with KPMG's Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Medical Device M&A Transaction Services practice in Princeton NJ, where he advised on numerous transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and strategic alliances. Prior to that, Mr. Klompas worked with KPMG's Canadian Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals practice in the fields of assurance, valuations and taxation. Mr. Klompas is a Chartered Accountant and is a member of the institute of CA's of British Columbia. Mr. Klompas also holds a degree in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of British Columbia and serves on the faculty advisory board for Biotechnology and Chemistry for Camosun College.
Dr. Surjit Dixit Ph.D.Molecular Simulations Lead
Dr. Dixit is Zymeworks' senior molecular simulation scientist, responsible for the implementation of novel algorithms and advancement of the ZymeCAD™ platform. Prior to joining Zymeworks, Dr. Dixit was the coordinator of Computational Molecular Biophysics at Weselyan University, Connecticut, USA, where he was instrumental in the development of novel methods for management and mining of high throughput molecular dynamics simulation data. Dr. Dixit obtained his PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi researching methods for computing the binding and interaction energies in protein DNA complexes. Subsequently he was a post doctoral research associate at the Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France, working on the development and implementation of highly accurate methods for the prediction of binding energies in drug discovery research.
Dr. Johannes Müllegger Enzyme Engineering Lead
Dr. Müllegger is Zymeworks' senior enzyme engineer, responsible for in silico analysis and mutagenesis of industrial enzymes and protein therapeutics. Dr. Müllegger and his team bring a wide variety of scientific expertise to the Company, including protein biochemistry, enzyme kinetics, crystallography, molecular biology and NMR. Dr. Müllegger received his doctoral degree in molecular biology from the University of Salzburg and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia in Dr. Steve Withers' laboratory, internationally recognized for its expertise in engineering carbohydrate synthesis enzymes. Dr. Müllegger has published numerous peer reviewed articles and two book chapters, and is actively involved with the North Shore Search and Rescue Team in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mr. Siddharth Srinivasan M.A.Sc.Software Development & Engineering Lead
Mr. Srinivasan is Zymeworks' senior software developer, responsible for the expansion and maintenance of the ZymeCAD™ software suite, and the management of the software development team's quality control processes. Mr. Srinivasan brings significant experience leading software development teams in molecular simulations and embedded systems and contributes extensive experience in software and algorithm development and Monte Carlo simulations. Prior to joining Zymeworks Mr. Srinivasan worked with IBM Global Services Pvt. Ltd and Codito Technologies India (now Celunite Inc) where he served as DSP Division Lead. Mr. Srinivasan holds a Masters degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelors of Engineering in Electronic and Telecommunications from the Government College of Engineering in Pune, India.
Mr. Luke CycaSystems Architecture Lead
Mr. Cyca is Zymeworks' senior systems architect, overseeing development and operations of the high performance computational infrastructure as well as the integration of our proprietary software platform. Mr. Cyca and his team bring significant experience in the design and management of information technology and software systems. Prior to joining Zymeworks in 2004, Mr. Cyca was founder of NuTok Interactive, a consulting firm focussed on developing new media technologies. Mr. Cyca holds a Bachelors degree in Computing Science from Simon Fraser University.