Transforming Human
Health & Aging
Using worms.

We develop novel therapeutics derived from symbiotic organisms that modulate inflammation, metabolism, and tissue regeneration- core pathways that underlie chronic disease, resilience, and aging.

Read moreabout our work
 

Overview

Our mission is to restore missing components of the human molecular legacy.

Our mission is to restore what has been lost. The removal of intestinal worm- longtime partners in our evolution- has disrupted our gut biome and contributed to modern immune-related diseases.

We aim to return their beneficial components, without reintroducing live worms, to bring relief to millions. The name Holoclara comes from the Greek holokleros, meaning "complete."

Discover Engine

We develop drugs from organisms that rely on tuning multiple networks simultaneously.

This is the longest running drug development program in human history.

Learn more

Our Team

 

Our Team

ANDREA CHOE

ANDREA CHOE

CEO / CO-FOUNDER

ANDREA CHOE

CEO / CO-FOUNDER

LinkedIn
Andrea is the CEO and co-Founder of Holoclara. She received her MD at USC Keck School of Medicine and her PhD at Caltech. Her doctoral work on the evolution of symbiont chemistry laid the foundation for the technology at Holoclara.
ANDREA CHOE
BRIAN VARNUM

BRIAN VARNUM

HEAD OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

BRIAN VARNUM

HEAD OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

LinkedIn
Brian brings over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry and has served as the CEO and Chief Development Officer of Armata Pharmaceuticals, Chief Development Officer of C3 Jian, Chief Scientific Officer of Tarrot, and Executive Director of Inflammation at Amgen.
BRIAN VARNUM
HUNG NGUYEN

HUNG NGUYEN

VP PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT

HUNG NGUYEN

VP PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT

LinkedIn

Hung is the VP of Preclinical Development at Holoclara. He brings more than 28 years of drug development expertise from research to clinic, including 18 years at Amgen. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

HUNG NGUYEN
OLIVER LOSÓN

OLIVER LOSÓN

VP BUSINESS OPERATIONS

OLIVER LOSÓN

VP BUSINESS OPERATIONS

LinkedIn

Oliver brings a diverse range of leadership skills to Holoclara, having previously overseen IP, licensing, and entrepreneurship at Caltech’s Office of Technology Transfer. He also managed R&D and business operations at 1200 Pharma, where he was part of the founding team.

OLIVER LOSÓN
MARIANA UCHOA

MARIANA UCHOA

DIRECTOR OF IMMUNOLOGY

MARIANA UCHOA

DIRECTOR OF IMMUNOLOGY

LinkedIn

Mariana received her PhD at USC, where her doctoral work focused on innate immune tolerance. Mari brings her immunology leadership expertise to Holoclara, with previous experience building and leading an R&D team in autoimmune therapy.

MARIANA UCHOA
NICK EVERETTS

NICK EVERETTS

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGIST

NICK EVERETTS

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGIST

LinkedIn

Nick is a Scientist at Holoclara with a focus on computational biology. He completed his postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley, using single cell transcriptomics to characterize novel interactions during organogenesis and tissue regeneration. He received his PhD at UC Berkeley.

NICK EVERETTS
Alice Kwon

Alice Kwon

PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST

Alice Kwon

PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST

LinkedIn
Alice’s doctoral work at NYU and Caltech centered on mucosal immunology, where she studied gut immune interactions and developed innovative mouse models. With over a decade of experience in host–microbe research, Alice now brings her expertise to Holoclara, translating our science into robust preclinical models.
Alice Kwon
WINNIE TAI-FERRER

WINNIE TAI-FERRER

SR. RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

WINNIE TAI-FERRER

SR. RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

LinkedIn

Winnie is a Senior Research Associate at Holoclara, with a focus on in vivo and in vitro immunology assay development. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry. She received her BS at UCLA.

WINNIE TAI-FERRER
BIOLA FATUSIN

BIOLA FATUSIN

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

BIOLA FATUSIN

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

LinkedIn

Biola is a Research Associate at Holoclara. She received her Bachelors of Science from Chapman University, where her laboratory research focused on microbiology and immunology. Following her graduation, she worked at Zymo Research.

BIOLA FATUSIN
SARAH TORRES

SARAH TORRES

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

SARAH TORRES

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

LinkedIn

Sarah is the Executive Assistant to the CEO.  She has extensive experience in administration and lab management in the life science research space, which includes 17 years at Caltech and City of Hope.

SARAH TORRES
ALAN LEVY

ALAN LEVY

CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOD

ALAN LEVY

CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOD

LinkedIn

Alan Levy is an experienced serial entrepreneur, having served as the CEO of five life science companies, as senior advisor for Frazier Healthcare, and as senior executive at J&J. He currently serves on the BOD of multiple private and public companies.

ALAN LEVY
PETER B. HUTT

PETER B. HUTT

FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL FDA

PETER B. HUTT

FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL FDA

LinkedIn

Peter B Hutt is a senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, where he specializes in Food and Drug Law. Peter is among the top health care lawyers and FDA regulatory specialists in the US. He received his Bachelor of Laws at Harvard and his Master of Laws at NYU.

PETER B. HUTT
ANDREA CHOE

ANDREA CHOE

CEO, CO-FOUNDER HOLOCLARA

ANDREA CHOE

CEO, CO-FOUNDER HOLOCLARA

LinkedIn

Andrea Choe is the CEO and co-founder of Holoclara.

ANDREA CHOE
NEAL BHADKAMKAR

NEAL BHADKAMKAR

GENERAL PARTNER, BOLD CAPITAL

NEAL BHADKAMKAR

GENERAL PARTNER, BOLD CAPITAL

Neal Bhadkamkar is a General Partner at Bold Capital. He brings more than 30 years of investment and start-up experience. He has previously served as General Partner of Monitor Ventures and Head of Commercialization for the Paul Allen-backed incubator, Interval Research. He received his PhD from Stanford University and his MBA from Harvard.

NEAL BHADKAMKAR
PATRICK ZHANG

PATRICK ZHANG

INVESTOR, HORIZONS VENTURES

PATRICK ZHANG

INVESTOR, HORIZONS VENTURES

Patrick Zhang is an investor at Horizons Ventures, where he leads biotechnology and healthcare investments. He has previously served as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley. He received his BS in chemical engineering from UCLA and MBA from Columbia Business School.

PATRICK ZHANG
SEEMAY CHOU

SEEMAY CHOU

CEO, ARCADIA SCIENCES

SEEMAY CHOU

CEO, ARCADIA SCIENCES

LinkedIn

Seemay Chou is the CEO and co-founder of Arcadia Sciences. Seemay previously held a position as Assistant Professor in Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF. Seemay is also co-founder and CEO of Trove Biolabs. She received a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology from UC Berkeley.

SEEMAY CHOU
PAUL W STERNBERG

PAUL W STERNBERG

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, CALTECH

PAUL W STERNBERG

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, CALTECH

LinkedIn

Paul Sternberg is a co-founder of Holoclara and is a Professor at Caltech. He is an expert in the field of genetics, using computational biology on the model organism, C. elegans, as well as other roundworms, as a model for experimental biology. Paul serves as a primary investigator for online biological database, Wormbase, and for the Gene Ontology Consortium. He has had an academic background at UCSF and MIT.

PAUL W STERNBERG
FRANK C SCHROEDER

FRANK C SCHROEDER

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, CORNELL /BTI

FRANK C SCHROEDER

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, CORNELL /BTI

LinkedIn

Frank Schroeder is a co-founder of Holoclara and Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University. He is a leader in natural products chemistry and developed new strategies for the identification of bioactive small molecules via untargeted comparative metabolomics. He has characterized key biochemical pathways in the model organism, C. elegans, and diverse microbiota. He has had an academic background at the University of Hamburg and Harvard.

FRANK C SCHROEDER
DAVID J ANDERSON

DAVID J ANDERSON

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, CALTECH

DAVID J ANDERSON

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, CALTECH

LinkedIn

David Anderson is an HHMI Investigator and Professor of Biology at Caltech, where he serves as the Director of the Chen Institute. David is at the forefront of elucidating the neural circuitry of innate behaviors; his awards include the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award & Paul Allen Distinguished Investigator Award. He has had an academic background at Harvard, Rockefeller University and Columbia University.

DAVID J ANDERSON
RICK MAIZELS

RICK MAIZELS

PROFESSOR OF PARASITOLOGY, GLASGOW

RICK MAIZELS

PROFESSOR OF PARASITOLOGY, GLASGOW

Rick Maizels is an immunologist and Professor of Parasitology at the University of Glasgow. He is a leader in the field of helminthic immunomodulation, elucidating out how parasites modify host immunity. He has had an academic background at National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Imperial College of London, University of Edinburgh, UCLA, and Caltech.

RICK MAIZELS
BRIAN STOLTZ

BRIAN STOLTZ

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, CALTECH

BRIAN STOLTZ

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, CALTECH

LinkedIn

Brian Stoltz is an entrepreneur and Professor of Chemistry at Caltech. He is a leading expert In chemical synthesis and has a focus on innovating processes to synthesize unique molecules with novel structural, biological, and physical properties. He is the co-founder of 1200 Pharma and DnaTwo. He has had an academic background at Yale and Harvard.

BRIAN STOLTZ
STAN LAPIDUS

STAN LAPIDUS

CHAIRMAN, BINX HEALTH/MIRVIE

STAN LAPIDUS

CHAIRMAN, BINX HEALTH/MIRVIE

LinkedIn

 Stan Lapidus is an inventor and entrepreneur who currently serves on a number of healthcare and medical technology boards. He has been the founding CEO of three medical diagnostics companies, two of them being among the most successful diagnostic startups in biotech, Cytyc Corp and EXACT Sciences.

STAN LAPIDUS
COLLEEN CUTCLIFFE

COLLEEN CUTCLIFFE

CEO/CO-FOUNDER PENDULUM

COLLEEN CUTCLIFFE

CEO/CO-FOUNDER PENDULUM

LinkedIn

Colleen Cutcliffe is the CEO and co-founder of Pendulum Therapeutics, with several programs in the clinical phase. Colleen has over 20 years of experience leading teams in biotech, pharma, and academia. She also serves as the Chair of the BOD of the California Life Science Institute and serves on the leadership board of the American Diabetes Association.

COLLEEN CUTCLIFFE
JOE BETTS-LACROIX

JOE BETTS-LACROIX

FOUNDER/CEO RETRO BIO

JOE BETTS-LACROIX

FOUNDER/CEO RETRO BIO

LinkedIn

Joe is the CEO of Retro Biosciences, which uses high-throughput, high-dimensional approaches to develop therapies for diseases driven by the biology of aging. Joe has had an academic background at Harvard, MIT, and Caltech, over 100 patents and applications. He founded two prior companies and spent several years as a part-time partner at Y Combinator. He continues to invest in and advise numerous biotechs.

JOE BETTS-LACROIX
Carl LeBel

Carl LeBel

Advisor

Carl LeBel

Advisor

Carl is a seasoned biotech executive with decades of experience advancing therapies through clinical development, approval, and commercialization. He has held senior leadership roles at Amgen, Otonomy, and Frequency Therapeutics, where he led development programs and helped guide multiple IPOs and partnerships. Carl is currently CEO of pacDNA, where he is working to expand the reach of oligonucleotide therapeutics.
Carl LeBel
Craig Murphy

Craig Murphy

Advisor

Craig Murphy

Advisor

Craig is an immunologist with more than two decades of experience spanning discovery through clinical translation in gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases. He has held senior R&D leadership roles at Takeda, Janssen, XinThera, and Ferring, directing immunology strategy and translational development. Craig now serves as CSO of Khartis Therapeutics and advises Holoclara on advancing immune-based therapies.
Craig Murphy

The latest news & press releases