We believe that creating the future the world wants, requires changing how the world grows.

Scroll Down

ABOUT
ENKO

OUR
MISSION

We're on a mission to help farmers provide for the planet, without harming the earth.

We believe that creating the future the world wants requires changing how the world grows. That’s why Enko® discovers and develops novel products for farmers to protect their crops from pests and disease. Our discovery platform, ENKOMPASS™, uses DNA-encoded libraries, AI, Structure-Based Design, and Machine Learning to find and select the right treatments for the right targets faster and more effectively than traditional R&D methods. By providing farmers with new tools to grow their crops successfully and sustainably, we hope to open the door for increased adoption of other data-driven and emerging technologies in agriculture.

Led by a team of proven scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry veterans, Enko’s innovative science, agile design, and discovery of new modes of action is producing next-generation crop protection solutions that will overcome critical challenges facing the industry.

OUR
Team

To reach any Enko team member please email info@enko.ag or call +1-857-301-7619.

Enko discovers and develops novel products for farmers to protect their crops from pests and disease. All that we do is inspired by the belief that we can improve the agricultural industry and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable system that can increase crop yields and improve access to food around the world.  

We believe that in order to create the future the world wants, we need to change the way the world grows. Our goal is not just to create something better, but to play a part in something bigger.   

Please meet our talented team and board members below:

Neville Anthony, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, Chemistry
Neville Anthony, Ph.D.
Kumar Ashtekar, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Chemistry
Kumar Ashtekar, Ph.D.
Katrin Ayer, Ph.D.
Scientist, Fungicide Discovery
Katrin Ayer, Ph.D.
Brittany Baisch, Ph.D., DABT
Regulatory Toxicology Lead
Brittany Baisch, Ph.D., DABT
Allegra Bargnesi
Research Assistant, Entomology
Allegra Bargnesi
Stephen Boushell, MS
Scientist, Fungicide Discovery
Stephen Boushell, MS
Lisa Butler, MS
Lab and Data Management Coordinator
Lisa Butler, MS
Paolo Castiglioni
Field Biology Lead
Paolo Castiglioni
Heather Coffey, MA
Scientist, Biochemistry
Heather Coffey, MA
Tim Colussi, Ph.D.
Data Scientist
Tim Colussi, Ph.D.
Raymond Gasper, Ph.D.
Senior Software Engineer
Raymond Gasper, Ph.D.
Mirek Gorski
Facilities Manager
Mirek Gorski
Sarah Grieco
Office Manager
Sarah Grieco
Nancy Houmard, MA
Research Associate
Nancy Houmard, MA
Johnson Jutson, Ph.D.
Bioanalytical Lead
Johnson Jutson, Ph.D.
Jeremy Kroemer, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Entomology
Jeremy Kroemer, Ph.D.
Tyasning Kroemer, Ph.D.
Scientist, Entomology
Tyasning Kroemer, Ph.D.
David Lauffer, MS
Research Fellow, Chemistry
David Lauffer, MS
Michael Luethy, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Michael Luethy, Ph.D.
Jennifer Lynch
Horticulture Associate
Jennifer Lynch
Michaela Motta
Office Manager
Michaela Motta
Nicole Nevarez
Research Assistant
Nicole Nevarez
Brendan Noons, MS
Scientist, Advanced Characterization Biology
Brendan Noons, MS
Balaji Pandian, Ph.D.
Scientist, Herbicide Discovery
Balaji Pandian, Ph.D.
Tim Panosian, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Discovery Sciences
Tim Panosian, Ph.D.
Daniel Pearson, Ph.D.
IP Manager
Daniel Pearson, Ph.D.
Karthik Putta, MA
Senior Scientist, Herbicide Discovery
Karthik Putta, MA
Francis Rajamohan, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Protein Biochemistry
Francis Rajamohan, Ph.D.
Ashgar Razavi, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Computational Chemistry
Ashgar Razavi, Ph.D.
Lynne Reuber, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Fungicide Discovery
Lynne Reuber, Ph.D.
Sonny Smith
Director of Finance
Sonny Smith
Peter Stchur Jr.
Intern
Peter Stchur Jr.
Saverio Varca
Controller
Saverio Varca
Cristina Veranian
Accounting & Operations Associate
Cristina Veranian
David Vierra, Ph.D.
Scientist, Biochemistry
David Vierra, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Vuono, Ph.D.
Scientist, Protein Biochemistry
Elizabeth Vuono, Ph.D.
Dimitri Wallace
Research Assistant
Dimitri Wallace
Samuel Watson, MA
Software Engineer
Samuel Watson, MA
Frederick Weaver
Desktop Support Engineer
Frederick Weaver
Karin Whiting Burgess
Communications
Karin Whiting Burgess
Talia Zeidner
Greenhouse Technician
Talia Zeidner
Jacqueline Heard, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CEO
Enko Founder and CEO
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

Jacqueline Heard, Ph.D., MBA is founder and CEO of Enko Chem, Inc. Her career in agriculture has centered around the support of innovation in the Agriculture sector by identifying and commercializing new technology, both as an entrepreneur, a leader of global R&D and as a venture investor at Monsanto, Flagship Pioneering, and Anterra Capital.

Jacqueline has prioritized listening to farmers and translating their experiences into practical innovations throughout her career. As Monsanto’s global R&D lead, she gathered direct input from farmers to develop products for drought-tolerant crops. As a venture capitalist investing in agtech startups, she observed a common disconnect between the solutions founders pitched and farmers’ actual needs. Jacqueline currently leads Enko in its work to design safe and sustainable solutions to agricultural problems, from pest resistance to new diseases, by applying the latest drug discovery and development approaches from pharma to agriculture.  

She has authored 64 peer reviewed publications and patents/patent applications, which includes 41 issued U.S. patents. She received a Ph.D. in Biology from Boston College and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.



 

Jacqueline Heard, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CEO
Stephanie Liva, Ph.D., JD
General Counsel
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

Stephanie M. Liva, Ph.D., JD,  joined Enko Chem, Inc. as general counsel in August 2022. She has been advising biotechnology companies of all sizes for over 15 years including Monsanto (now Bayer) from 2005-2013. Since then, she has held roles at start-ups and small biotechnology companies in agriculture and human therapeutics.

Stephanie received her BS and Ph.D. from UCLA and her JD from Boston University.

Stephanie Liva, Ph.D., JD
Tom Meade, Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

Tom Meade, Ph.D. joined Enko Chem, Inc. as Chief Science Officer soon after its founding in 2017. He has over 30 years of experience working in the agriculture industry with a focus on the discovery of novel crop protection chemistries and traits.  Tom began his career at Mycogen discovering insect resistance traits and broadened his scientific and leadership responsibilities to include insecticide discovery when Mycogen was acquired by Dow.

Through leadership positions in both crop protection chemistry and traits Tom has broad experience in the discovery and development process.  Prior to Enko he was the global leader for Traits Discovery at Dow AgroSciences. 

Tom is an author on 14 peer reviewed papers and 1 book chapter.  He is an inventor on 27 granted, U.S. patents.  He received a B.S. in Entomology from U.C. Davis and an MS andPh.D. in Entomology from U.C. Riverside.

Tom Meade, Ph.D.
Gary Schaefer
Vice President, Corporate Development
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

Gary Schaefer, is Vice President Corporate at Enko Chem, Inc. which he joined in 2021. Previously, he was the director of business development for Valent U.S.A., LLC., and served on Sumitomo Chemical Corporation’s global business development team.  Prior to this, he was the director of marketing for row crops and led the non-crop business unit at Valent.  Starting his career as a sales representative, Gary developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities faced by farmers. This experience laid the foundation for a farmer-centric approach and a genuine passion for helping agricultural businesses thrive.

He received his BS degree and Masters of Agribusiness from the University of Florida.

Gary Schaefer
Peter Stchur, Ph.D.
Vice President, Operations
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

Peter Stchur, Ph.D., is Vice President of Operations at Enko Chem, Inc. Peter joined Enko in 2019. Previously he was director of chemistry for a leading contract research organization for over two years.  From 2003-2016, Peter served in several R&D leadership roles with the DuPont Company's Crop Protection and Specialty Chemicals businesses. 

He received his BS degree from Wilkes University and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.

Peter Stchur, Ph.D.
David M. Wurzer, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
small arrow - click for more information on this individual

David M. Wurzer, CPA has served as CFO of Enko Chem, Inc. since July 2022. From 2009-2022, David was employed by Connecticut Innovations, the State of Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm, where he served in various positions including chief investment officer and senior managing director. From 1997-2008, he was executive vice president and CFO at CuraGen Corporation in New Haven, Connecticut.

He received his BBA from the University of Notre Dame, and started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

David M. Wurzer, CPA
Phil Austin
Managing Partner, Anterra Capital and Enko Board Director
Phil Austin
Marijn Dekkers, Ph.D.
Chairman, Novalis LifeSciences LLC and Enko Board Director
Marijn Dekkers, Ph.D.
Shahram Ebadollahi, Ph.D.
Independent Director
Shahram Ebadollahi, Ph.D.
Jacqueline Heard, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CEO
Enko Founder and CEO
Jacqueline Heard, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CEO
David Jones, Ph.D.
Independent Director, Board Chair
David Jones, Ph.D.
Spencer Maughan, Ph.D., MBA
Managing Partner, Finistere Ventures, and Enko Board Director
Spencer Maughan, Ph.D., MBA
Noor Shaker, Ph.D., MBA
SVP X-Chem, Enko Board Director
Noor Shaker, Ph.D., MBA
Pat Confalone, Ph.D.
retired VP Global R&D, DuPont Health Nutrition and Crop Protection
Pat Confalone, Ph.D.
Artem Evdokimov, Ph.D.
Head of Protein Target Pipeline, Animol Discovery, Inc.
Artem Evdokimov, Ph.D.
Timothy Pastoor, Ph.D., DABT
retired Principal Scientist, Syngenta, and board certified Toxicologist
Timothy Pastoor, Ph.D., DABT
Andrew Plant, Ph.D.
former Head of Research Chemistry, Syngenta
Andrew Plant, Ph.D.
Stephen Powles, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, University of Western Australia
Stephen Powles, Ph.D.
Terence Walsh, Ph.D.
retired Research Fellow, Corteva AgriScience
Terence Walsh, Ph.D.
W. Patrick Walters, Ph.D.
Chief Data Officer, Relay Therapeutics
W. Patrick Walters, Ph.D.

Follow us on Social Media

Linkedin

Follow us on Social Media

Twitter

Follow us on Social Media

Instagram

Follow us on Social Media

Linkedin

Follow us on Social Media

Twitter

Follow us on Social Media

Instagram