Stephanie Culler, PhD

Stephanie Culler, Ph.D., is the co-founder and CEO of Persephone Biosciences, a business taking a novel approach to improving the efficacy of current cancer therapies and vaccines, leveraging the systemic impact of the gut microbiome on the human immune system.

Persephone’s technology platform is based on collecting and analyzing gut microbiota samples from thousands of healthy and diseased patients, then using machine learning in conjunction with systems biology tools to understand the impact of gut microbes on patient prognosis. The results are used to design novel immunotherapies and companion diagnostics for diseases of unmet needs.

Dr. Culler is a graduate of the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator and has spoken at TEDx San Diego.

Prior to establishing Persephone Biosciences, she was a senior scientist at Genomatica, where she developed and applied synthetic biology tools toward the engineering of microorganisms as biocatalysts for the commercial production of sustainable chemicals. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Prof. Christina Smolke and has over sixteen publications and patents on synthetic biology and microbial-based technologies.