I’m a bioengineer and biotech builder.
When I was a kid, I watched The Matrix and was inspired by the brain–computer interface that enabled hyper-fast human learning (“[Zzzzt] ‘I know kung fu'”).
Since then, I’ve been focused on advancing the capabilities of the human species. I’m particularly interested in doing so by applying technology to modify humans as directly as possible, at the level of our own biology. This has led me to develop medicines.
I think that aesthetic preferences and evolution are the major upstream influences on the value systems that individuals and civilizations subconsciously adopt. Aesthetically, I prefer a future that is solarpunk — teeming with diverse carbon-based (human) intelligences and silicon-based machine intelligences. The vast majority of life will eventually be in machine form, but I do not think we should consider humanity finished in any sense. A beautiful future is one where humankind continues to evolve by defeating disease, living longer, and growing our innate capabilities. This seems to me an artistic and noble path for us, given the situation.
In 2020, I co-founded Retro alongside Joe Betts-LaCroix and Sheng Ding. We raised $180M from Sam Altman to advance a portfolio of bets on translating aging research into therapies. These bets centered on rejuvenated cell therapies and autophagy enhancement. Retro is now a clinical-stage company and has raised outside capital. In 2024, I left to launch a more focused yet still massively ambitious endeavor in the cell therapy space. More soon!
Further back I earned my PhD at Stanford in the Brunet Lab. I built single-cell and cell-type-specific transcriptomic aging biomarkers and used them to characterize various interventions, including partial epigenetic reprogramming and blood exchange. It is unfortunate that our blood becomes so inflamed as we age.
Sample my more science-oriented thoughts on Twitter.