GREENLAB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Founder, Director of Research and Development
Dr. Elizabeth Hood has worked in plant biology for more than 40 years, generating 80+ publications and patents. Her groundbreaking work developed the agrobacterial strain EHA101, which is now used globally for gene transfer into plants for crop improvement. In her work at Pioneer Hi-Bred International and ProdiGene, she developed the first commercialized product from a plant production system, and led an internationally recognized transgenic plant research group. Later, she served as a cell biology program director at the National Science Foundation.
In a Washington University laboratory, on a project headed by a legendary female biotech pioneer who would eventually wind up in the National Academy of Sciences, Elizabeth Hood found herself among ten über-eager, highly competitive graduate students and post-doc candidates - each with something to prove.
Dr. John A. Howard has spent his career developing technology for plant transformation and expression systems. Before joining GreenLab as CSO, he led biotechnology programs in two Fortune 500 companies-Stauffer, Inc. and Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Dr. Howard has founded two biotechnology companies of his own, and has generated 200 publications and patents.
Job Titles:
- Director of Manufacturing
Jeff served as a crew chief in the United States Air Force's 34th Fighter Squadron before becoming the director of operations at Armor Seed, LLC. He was part of the management team responsible for the company's success, leading to a Land O'Lakes acquisition in 2017. Over his 10+ years in operations, Jeff has gained extensive experience with research and development, production, manufacturing and distribution.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Co - Founder
Karen has founded multiple start-ups and served in senior executive roles at Fortune 500 companies in the technology, media, and healthcare sectors. In the course of her work, she has generated over $300MM in strategic partnerships and alliances with companies such as Pearson Publishing and Compaq. As a start-up founder in Silicon Valley, she successfully raised $50M in private equity from seed financing through Series C.
Job Titles:
- Director of Corporate Development
Stephen has spent the past 21 years in the public sector, building public-private partnerships. He has worked most of his career at the Narragansett Bay Commission - a quasi-public agency that is tasked with running the 11th largest wastewater system in the country. More recently, Stephen has managed senior client issues for Inno360/Swarm Intelligence.