MEET THE TEAM
Charlie Silver
CEO and co-founder
CEO/co-founder Charlie Silver is a multi-time entrepreneur with broad experience across industries. Most recently, he co-founded Mission Bio and built the company to global scale and widespread adoption after raising >$120M for commercialization and growth. Earlier he led product and technology at Novelx (A:NYSE), Agilent, and Glimmerglass Networks, as well as Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and NASA/Goddard. Charlie received a joint MBA from UC Berkeley and Columbia University, an MS in physics from UW-Madison, and a joint BA in astrophysics and philosophy from Columbia University.
In his spare time you’ll find him reading history or fly fishing for striped bass on the Sacramento delta.
Pavan Kambam, PhD
CTO and co-founder
Pavan has led biosynthesis development & scale-up at 6 different start-ups in specialty chemicals, biofuels, and foods, including Greenlight (NASDAQ: GRNA), Clara Foods, and Eat Just. Pavan built and launched Just’s cultured chicken production technology, resulting in the first worldwide regulatory approval in the category. Pavan holds an MBA from UMass-Amherst, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UMass-Amherst, and a Bachelors in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology at Madras.
In his spare time you’ll find him playing guitar or hiking.
Mark Horan
SVP Business Development
Mark brings three decades of commercial leadership experience in the raw material supply sector serving the global Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) market. His deep understanding of both technical and market dynamics has shaped his success in sales and marketing leadership roles at Henkel, Henkel-Emery Oleochemicals, Cognis, BASF, and TRI-K (a member of the Galaxy Group), where he most recently served as Vice President of Global Sales. With a Bachelor’s in Biology from Jersey City State University, Mark combines business acumen with sustainable innovation to deliver long-term customer value.
Outside of work, Mark enjoys reading, traveling, and deep sea fishing.
Ana Echaniz
Sr. Director of Bioprocessing
Ana is passionate about engineering solutions that support a more sustainable human existence. She has spent the majority of her career working at biotechnology companies like Solazyme and Bolt Threads exploring bio-derived alternatives for fuels, specialty chemicals, and materials. Ana specializes in process development and scale up and has seen half a dozen products go to market. Ana holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
When she's not working, she enjoys observing nature and practicing martial arts with her kids.
Harshal Kshirsagar
Head of Product and Applications
Harshal is a seasoned food and nutrition science leader with extensive experience in development and commercialization of novel food ingredients and finished consumer goods. As a part of the senior management at Tyson Foods and Clara Foods, Harshal helped deliver precision fermentation and alternative protein innovation with stringent regulatory and quality requirements. Prior to that, Harshal led snacks innovation at PepsiCo, and he was part of the early team behind popularizing pea protein as a novel protein source in North America for Roquette.
In his spare time, Harshal can be found watching documentaries on the Arts and History channel.
Colin S. Maxwell, PhD
Sr. Scientist, Strain Engineering
Colin is a biologist with a background spanning bioinformatics and synthetic biology. His last role was at Zymergen, where he developed methods for automated microbial genome editing, and improved strains producing bio-advantaged molecules using metabolic engineering. Colin holds a PhD in Biology from Duke University, and a BS in Mathematics and Environmental Science from the University of Oregon.
In his spare time Colin enjoys hiking and reading about biology.