CEO & Co-Founder

Naren started Tessel to stop chronic disease. Over a decade ago, while an undergrad at MIT studying Electrical Engineering & Physics, Naren watched his mom succumb to small bowel cancer after a lifetime with Crohn’s. That experience led Naren to pick up a pipette for the first time and pursue a PhD in Systems Biology at Harvard. Motivated by one question – “Why don’t we all get cancer all the time?” – Naren studied organ regeneration and repair, with a focus on watching stem cells in tissues carry out this complex dance. In the process, he pioneered methods to reverse-engineer disease in a dish through organoid culture, imaging, and single-cell sequencing. Now, Naren is excited to build on this foundation – discovering and developing new drugs with the whole team at Tessel.

CTO & Co-Founder

Arvind started off as an experimentalist working to understand and design control systems in prokaryotes, ultimately building a sugar-powered battery enabled by engineered bacteria. He has since spent a decade working across the stack of machine learning in drug discovery, at D.E. Shaw Research, BenevolentAI, and Verily. Arvind’s interests lie in sample-efficient modeling of biology, and his goal is to make drug discovery rapid and systematic, with a short and predictable turnaround time from the first sighting of a disease to an approved treatment.

Outside of work, Arvind enjoys biking, badminton, history, getting nerd-sniped, and spending time with his 1 year old son.

Founding Senior Scientist

Sam became passionate about airway biology during his time as a PhD student at MIT. Shortly after graduating, Sam joined Tessel as its Founding Senior Scientist in order to discover drugs for chronic lung diseases like COPD. At Tessel, Sam leads wet lab operations, keeps the team on the cutting edge of respiratory research, and mentors early-career scientists.

Outside of his work, he enjoys exploring the Greater Boston area by BlueBike.

Senior Scientist

Evan got started in data science after completing his PhD at UCLA where he built models to study how gene expression influences a phenotype. At Tessel, he leads research and development for the target discovery platform.

Outside of work, he enjoys painting landscapes and scenes inspired by fluorescence microscopy.

Computational Chemist

Kostya Yatsenko's background in math, chemistry, and molecular biology allowed him to start his career at D E Shaw Research, where he worked on long time-scale simulations of protein-protein interactions. He comes to Tessel with a breadth of ML experience, having spent some of his time at Google, working on natural language processing and LLMs.

Outside of work, he enjoys artistic expression of physical nature, such as dance and ice skating.

Research Associate

Jenna studied Behavioral Neuroscience and History at Northeastern University. During her time at Northeastern, she completed her 6-month co-op experience as a research intern at Tessel, solidifying her interest in biomedical research. She is especially interested in exploring the intersections between inflammation, barrier function, and neuroendocrinology.

Outside of work, she enjoys playing the piano, trying new sports, looking at tidepools.

Research Associate

Jaya’s fascination with human biology began in high school, when she became intrigued by the remarkable ways cells communicate, repair, and regenerate. This curiosity guided her to pursue Genetic Engineering at SRM IST, India, where she studied lung cancer biomarkers, followed by an exchange at UTHSC in Memphis, focusing on stem cells and tissue regeneration. She later earned a master’s in Biological Sciences at the UB (SUNY), studying neurodegenerative disorders.

After graduating, Jaya joined the Gene Editing & Innovation Center at Sarepta Therapeutics, working on CRISPR-based strategies for DMD and exploring crosstalk between skeletal and cardiovascular systems in the disease. These experiences reinforced her passion for developing 3D multicellular and stem-cell-driven models as powerful tools to understand human diseases.

Outside of work, Jaya is an avid collector of rare houseplants and enjoys playing badminton.

Research Associate

Haley studied Cell & Molecular Biology at Northeastern University. As an undergraduate, she completed co-op experiences in cell & gene therapy process development labs and pharmaceutical market access consulting. Haley is especially interested in immunology, disease modeling, and improving patient outcomes through better drug development processes.

Outside of work, she enjoys running, playing the guitar, and spending time with family at the Jersey Shore.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. José Ordovas-Montañes, PhD is a principal investigator at Boston Children’s Hospital, co-Director of the Cell Discovery Network, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, associate member at the Broad Institute, associate member at the Ragon Institute, and principal faculty at Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is a Robertson Investigator of the New York Stem Cell Foundation and a Pew Scholar. Jose started his group in 2019 at Boston Children's Hospital, where his group seeks to understand the principles of how inflammation drives memory formation in human barrier tissues.

CMO (Chief Morale Officer)

Walter is both the life of the party and the true brain power behind Tessel. His passion for faster, better drug discovery is unparalleled.

Outside of work, he enjoys time with his family, treats, and copious belly rubs.