Our Team
We have a diverse and passionate team ready to tackle the challenges of sustainable biomanufacturing.
Leadership Team
DR. AJIKUMAR PARAYIL
Chief Executive Officer
DR. CHRISTINE SANTOS
Chief Technology Officer
JEFF ANDERSON
Chief Operating Officer
BRENDAN NAULTY
President, Sweeteners and Natural Ingredients, NutraSweet
HSIEN CHUNG TSENG, PHD
VP Operations
AJIKUMAR PARAYIL, PHD
Chief Executive Officer
CHRISTINE SANTOS, PHD
Chief Technology Officer
JEFF ANDERSON
Chief Operating Officer
BRENDAN NAULTY
President, Sweeteners and Natural Ingredients, NutraSweet
HSIEN CHUNG TSENG, PHD
VP Operations
AJIKUMAR PARAYIL
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Ajikumar (Aji) is an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in technological innovation and commercialization. He invented Manus Bio’s core technology platform at MIT and co-founded Manus Bio in 2011. Aji has more than 150 U.S. & international patents issued or filed in the area of biotechnology. Aji obtained his PhD from Mahatma Gandhi University in India and carried out his postdoctoral research through the Singapore-MIT Alliance in Singapore and at MIT.
CHRISTINE SANTOS
Chief Technology Officer
Christine has over 20 years of experience in biotechnology and metabolic engineering and has published her work in several elite journals, including Science, Nature, and PNAS. Christine has more than 50 U.S. and international patents issued or filed in the area of biotechnology. Christine obtained her BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT.
JEREMY HUX
Chief Financial Officer
Jeremy has over 20 years of finance and M&A experience in the Sustainability, Clean Technology and Technology sectors. Prior to joining Manus Bio, Jeremy led the Clean Technology and Sustainable and Energy Technology investment banking practices at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Marathon Capital. He was also a Partner at True North Venture Partners, a clean technology and sustainability-focused private equity and venture capital firm. Jeremy earned his BA in Economics and History from Vanderbilt University.
ZANNA MCFERSON
Chief Operating Officer
Zanna has over 30 years of management experience with global leadership positions in the bioeconomy sector. Prior to joining Manus Bio, Zanna was Managing Director for Renewable Chemistries at Avantium and Chief Business Officer at Amyris. She grew her career at Cargill notably as the founder of the Truvia sweetener business capturing leadership in stevia with both an ingredient and consumer products business. Zanna has a passion for sustainability leading the development of comprehensive ESG programs in her companies. She has a BA in Economics and a Masters of Business Administration.
JEFF ANDERSON
Chief Operating Officer
Jeff has over 20 years of experience in business development in Asia, North America and Europe. Prior to joining Manus Bio, Jeff worked in relationship management roles for the AP Moller Maersk Group. Jeff earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
BRENDAN NAULTY
President, Sweeteners and Natural Ingredients, NutraSweet
Brendan has over 30 years of experience in leadership and advisory positions in the Food & Food Ingredient Industries. At Pfizer, Mitsui & Co., most recently as SVP of Ajinomoto North America, he developed commercial teams which continually delivered double digit profit growth on products that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues. Brendan obtained his MBA in Marketing from DePaul University and a BS in Chemistry from Valparaiso University.
Hsien-Chung Tseng
VP Operations
Hsien-Chung has more than 15 years of academic and industrial experience in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, multi-omics strain characterization, process development, and manufacturing. His work has been published in peer-reviewed high-impact journals, including Nature Communications and PNAS. He obtained both his Ph.D. and BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and National Taiwan University (NTU, Taiwan), respectively.
What We Do
We use the Power of Nature to make Affordable and Sustainable Products.
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Our Story
Manus Bio was founded with the vision to disrupt traditional chemical manufacturing to grant sustainable and equitable access to Nature’s most precious products.
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