William Thelin

Created a culture of innovation by driving the development of novel human stem cell-based platforms to improve and accelerate preclinical drug development. Applied state-of-the-art advances in biomedical engineering, cell biology, and new technologies (RNAseq, CRISPR, etc.) to build a portfolio of experimental paradigms to assess drug pharmacology, toxicology, and ADME. Authored and managed six funded NIH small business grants, raising $7.7 million total, fully funding Altis R&D and representing >66% of the company’s total revenue in 2023. Actively collaborated with key opinion leaders in academia, pharmaceutical companies and regulatory authorities to understand industry needs and guide policy creation related to the use of microphysiologic systems in drug development. Built an internal culture of creativity and idea sharing through mentorship, lab meetings, and data/journal clubs.

• Developed the research strategy, budget and timelines for the internal R&D team leading to the successfully creation of novel human cell-based models of drug safety, pharmacology, and oral drug absorption/metabolism.
• Utilized non-dilutive grant funding mechanisms to build and support internal R&D team and drive diverse external collaborations.
• Served as the internal scientific expert for external corporate presentations, partnerships, and key clients across the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and agriculture industries.
• Established GLP-like Quality Assurance/Quality Control metrics for human primary cell manufacturing and assay performance.
• Led a research collaboration with CN Bio, leading to the joint launch of a next-generation human Gut/Liver in vitro model for advanced ADME studies.
• Devised strategic research plans and budget forecasts and presented to CEO and board of directors.
• Actively worked to promote diversity, mentorship, and scientific growth across the company.

Developed multiplexed cell-based qRT-PCR high-throughput drug screening assay to detect hTERT mRNA and reference gene expression in normal human somatic cells down to 0.005 mRNA copies/cell, utilizing magnetic oligo(dT) beads in 96-well format RNA isolations, and CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability assays of lysate aliquots in tandem. This robust assay served as driving force for redesigning drug discovery operations to screen 10,000+ compounds per week with established quality control practices.

• Managed 20+ employees on multi-disciplinary team to screen 300,000+ small-molecules, identifying >1700 novel telomerase activating small-molecules covering 30 unique structure classes leading to discovery of TAM-818 and IsaGenesis® months ahead of schedule using Biomek FX, LightCycler 480, and Envision hardware.
• Trained 3-6 employees per week in all areas of drug discovery (sample process tracking, liquid handling, reagent management, and lab instrument operation).
• Built data management files/templates to streamline analytics.
• Facilitated communication by conducting weekly meetings with team members; providing weekly screening reports for internal/external stakeholders.
• Guided IT department to reinforce documentation of scientific processes.
• Boosted drug efficacy by providing valuable data to design 400 custom small molecules based on structure activity relationships of lead compounds.
• Fostered partnership with collaborating scientist as co-inventor on patent for nutritional activation of telomerase.

Executed 3 research projects over 3 years in molecular biology, protein chemistry, and assay development to discover transcription factor(s) responsible for repressing hTERT gene expression in normal human somatic cells.

• Mapped hundreds of mutations in telomerase promoter using site-directed mutagenesis, DNA sequencing analysis, and plasmid reporter assays to identify novel repressor binding sites.
• Discovered transcription factor LSF binding to putative repressor DNA binding site in hTERT promoter using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC), Electro-Mobility Shift Assays (EMSAs), and GC-MS.
• Implemented RNAi (siRNA, lentiviral shRNA vectors) to knock-down expression of candidate hTERT repressor proteins in-vitro.
• Co-invented drug-screening assay using mutant RNA component of telomerase.
• Organized research data to create representative graphs to highlight results for presentations.

Recognized by leadership as best employee in molecular biology with unparalleled efficiency, completing complex plasmid construction projects while generating 3,000+ plasmids to characterize the hTERT minimal promoter months ahead of schedule.

• Established skillsets (site-directed mutagenesis, RNA/DNA extractions, plasmid construction, plasmid purification, gel electrophoresis, and assay development).