Team
Pioneers of computation-driven drug discovery

Our leadership team has been instrumental in many of the most impactful developments in computational drug discovery:

  • The most widely used software for predicting protein-ligand affinities (FEP+)
  • The fastest molecular dynamics simulation software (Desmond)
  • A proprietary toolkit for rational design of degraders and molecular glues
  • A computational molecular design platform that produced drug molecules advanced into clinic (STING agonist)

Huafeng Xu, PhD

Founder and CEO

Chief Technology Officer of Silicon Therapeutics and Roivant Discovery

Led platform development at D. E. Shaw Research as the founding developer of the fastest molecular dynamics simulation code, DESMOND, and the most widely used binding free energy prediction software, FEP+. Ph.D. from Columbia University

Jesus Izaguirre, PhD

Co-founder and Chief Computational Scientist

VP of advanced simulations in Silicon Therapeutics and Roivant Discovery leading platform development of targeted protein degradation

Scientist at D. E. Shaw Research. Former professor of CS and Engineering and co-director of Computer-Aided Drug Design Core at the University of Notre Dame. Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Yujie Wu, PhD

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer

Director of Free Energy Methods at Roivant Discovery

15 years at Schrodinger where he led FEP+ development and engineering teams, and contributed to other molecule dynamics based products. Ph.D. from University of Utah

Cheryl Koh, PhD

Head of Discovery Biology

Scientific leader and key contributor in drug discovery programs at AstraZeneca and DeepCure

Core team member for development of first clinical candidate (systemic STING agonist) at Silicon Therapeutics. Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Mandana Honu, PhD

Head of Business Development

Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Business Development of Kaleidoscope

Spent 16 years in cancer research before shifting focus to company building, including key roles in therapeutics and platform investing, new company creation, and corporate BD at Resilience. Led product development and sales at Kaleidoscope. Ph.D. from Duke University

Arie Zask, PhD

Head of Chemistry

Medicinal chemistry team leader at Wyeth and Pfizer

Over 30 years developing novel therapeutics in the pharmaceutical industry and academia with multiple clinical compounds in oncology, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disease. Ph.D. from Princeton University