95. Gene writing, Dr. Jake Rubens, Co-Founder & CIO, Hari Pujar, COO, Tessera Therapeutics

Jacob(Jake)Rubens, Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer Jake is Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Tessera Therapeutics, as well as a Principal at Flagship Pioneering. Jake joined Flagship Pioneering in 2015 and works as part of a venture-creation team, founding and growing companies based on new biotechnology. At Flagship, Jake launched Kaleido Biosciences and co-founded Sana Biotechnology. Jake was the Head of Innovation at Cobalt Biomedicine, where he invented and developed the company’s Fusosome platform prior to its merger with Sana Biotechnology. Before joining Flagship, Jake received his Ph.D. in microbiology from MIT, working in the Synthetic Biology Center with Professor Tim Lu with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. At MIT Jacob invented gene circuits that allow engineered cells to do novel analog, digital, and hybrid computations, enabling the emerging field of “intelligent” cell therapies. Jake’s work has resulted in multiple pending patents and publications, including articles in Nature and Nature Communications. Jake was honored in 2017 in Forbes' 30 under 30 list in science. Hari Pujar, Chief Operating Officer Hari is Chief Operating Officer of Tessera, as well as Operating Partner at Flagship Pioneering. At Tessera, his responsibilities span across research, manufacturing, program strategy and management and IP. Hari is a global Biopharmaceutical executive with 20+ years of value creation in the biologics and vaccine industry. Before Flagship, Hari served as Chief Technology Officer of Spark Therapeutics, leading the technical operations, process and technology development and quality assurance organizations. At Spark, Hari was responsible for growing and scaling the company’s cutting-edge technology capabilities for an expanding development pipeline. Prior to Spark, Hari was head of Technical Development & Manufacturing at Moderna Therapeutics. At Moderna, he built and led the technology and early manufacturing organizations that delivered on supply for more than a dozen clinical programs in a brand-new technology area. Previously, Hari held a variety of scientific and cross-functional leadership positions during 18+ years at Merck & Co in the company’s commercial, R&D and manufacturing divisions, culminating in the franchise leadership of pediatric and adult vaccines representing over $2B in revenue. Hari has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers.