David Schaffer is a Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, & Neuroscience @ University of California Berkeley, he also serves as the Director of QB3 - Berkeley.  At Berkeley, Schaffer applies engineering principles to enhance Stem Cell & Gene Therapy approaches for Neuro-Regeneration. This work includes mechanistic investigation of stem cell control, as well as molecular evolution & engineering of viral gene delivery vehicles.  He has Co-founded six companies including: 4D Molecular Therapeutics - which uses a novel technology platform to engineer optimized, proprietary adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors for gene therapy, Ignite Immunotherapies, which is developing novel oncolytic virus technologies as cancer therapies in partnership with Pfizer, Valitor - which is developing a novel protein-polymer conjugation technology to develop greatly enhanced protein biologics for a range of disease targets, Axent focused on stem cell therapies, & two others in stealth.  Schaffer graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1993. Afterward, he pursued a PhD @ MIT with Professor Doug Lauffenburger & conducted a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Fred Gage @ The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, before moving to UC Berkeley in 1999. Thank you for listening! BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health. Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license)