Leadership

Unparalleled Industry Leadership

With hundreds of combined years of industry experience, our leadership team is relentlessly focused on driving our mission of solving some of today's biggest challenges through protein design innovation.

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Executive Leadership

The team building the future of protein design

Alexandre Zanghellini

PhD — Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Alexandre co-founded Arzeda and leads the team as CEO. An internationally recognized protein design expert, he developed Arzeda's protein design software Archytas™ and metabolic pathway design software Scylax™. Before Arzeda, Alexandre led bioinformatics at Cellectis (NASDAQ: CLLS). He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Washington, an M.S. in Computer Science (AI) and B.S. in Applied Mathematics from University of Paris, and an M.Eng. from ENSTA/ParisTech.

Ken Barrett

MBA, MS — Chief Business Officer

Ken entered industrial biotech at Diversa in 2006, leading commercialization projects and partnerships in bioenergy, oilseed processing, animal feed, detergents, and oilfield services. After the BASF acquisition he led 3rd Party Business Management and Collaborations. Previously co-founded Trident Partners, LLC and served as a consultant at Bain & Company. He holds an M.S. in Applied Biosciences from the University of Arizona, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Paula Hicks

PhD — Chief Technology Officer

Paula is a proven technical leader with over 25 years of experience in biotechnology. She started her career at Cargill as lead R&D scientist developing natural high-intensity sweetener processes. She continued at Bend Research (now Lonza) and held senior leadership roles at Evolva, launching food ingredient products. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from North Carolina State University.

Sanjay Pal

MBA — Chief Financial Officer

Sanjay leads Finance & Administration at Arzeda with 20+ years of experience with venture-backed companies commercializing new technologies across wireless, biofuels, hydraulic fracturing, wastewater treatment, and phosphoric acid production. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from UC Berkeley.

Alex Patist

PhD — Chief Operating Officer

Alex is a seasoned industrial bioprocess development and manufacturing executive with 25+ years of experience. Previously COO at Geltor, SVP at Bolt Threads, with earlier leadership roles at Genomatica and Cargill. He has led end-to-end scale-up — fermentation, downstream recovery, tech transfer, and global toll manufacturing. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida.

Scott Fabro

Senior Vice President of Business Development & Food Ingredients

Scott has three decades of experience in commercial strategy for specialty ingredients. Previously VP of Business Development at Geltor, Global Business Director for High Intensity Sweeteners at Cargill, and COO/CCO at Evolva Group. He has extensive experience with Rebaudiosides and represented Cargill as a board member of the International Stevia Council.

Board of Directors

Supported by individuals with rich experience in public and private company governance

Bill Baum

Chairman of the Board, Independent Director

Bill brings more than three decades of leadership in industrial biotechnology. Chairman of the Board of Gevo Inc (NASDAQ: GEVO), previously Chief Business Development Officer at Genomatica, and spent 13 years at Diversa (later Verenium) in roles up to EVP, Business Development.

Tjerk de Ruiter

Independent Board Director

Mr. de Ruiter's experience includes twelve years at Danisco A/S, including his last five years with the company as the CEO of Genencor, a leading industrial biotechnology company.

Doug Cameron

PhD — Independent Board Director

Doug is an advisor, investor and board director focused on sustainable technologies. Co-president of Monolith Holdings, elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2025. Previously Senior Managing Director at the U.S.–China Green Fund, Chief Scientific Officer at Khosla Ventures, and Director of Biotechnology at Cargill. Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT.

Larry Page

PhD — Board Director

Larry is a Managing Director at Lewis & Clark AgriFood, responsible for fund management and leading investments at the intersection of biology, food and agriculture. Previously built PierianDx and served as CTO at Terra Biologics. Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis.

Yanniv Dorone

PhD — Board Director

Yanniv is a Senior Vice President at Fall Line Capital. He completed his Ph.D. in Biology at Stanford, earning the Charles Yanofsky Prize and recognition in Forbes 30 Under 30. Previously at AgFunder leading deal sourcing in AgTech and FoodTech. U.S. Patent Agent.

Brian Loeb

B.S. — Board Director

Brian co-leads Conti Ventures, the early-stage investing arm of Continental Grain Company focused on food, agriculture and restaurant technologies. Previously an investment banker in J.P. Morgan's Financial Institutions Group. B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University.

Co-founder and Scientific Advisor. Director of the Institute for Protein Design.

David Baker is a globally recognized pioneer in protein design and a co-founder of Arzeda. In 2024, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his revolutionary work in computational protein design. As the Director of the Institute for Protein Design, David has spearheaded innovations reshaping industries from medicine to sustainable manufacturing. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. With over 600 publications, 100+ patents, and the co-founding of more than a dozen biotech companies, David's groundbreaking work laid the foundation for Arzeda's mission.

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