Joshua Salafsky

Founder of Skylight Discovery, Inc. and Former Adjunct Professor at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).I'm the inventor of the second-harmonic generation (SHG) technique for measuring conformational changes - changes in shape - of biomolecules like proteins in real time. The SHG technique is used in drug discovery to identify and optimize drug candidates directed to protein targets. It's also used in basic research to understand how changes in molecular structure in real time gjve rise to biological function.I also founded and served as Chief Scientific Officer at two VC-backed companies in the SF Bay Area, Quanta Therapeutics and Biodesy.Biodesy developed high-throughput SHG instruments, comprising hardware, software and consumables, which were acquired by Pharma, biotech companies and universities.Quanta Therapeutics is using these instruments to discover and develop inhibitors of Ras, a protein that when mutated drives nearly 30% of human cancers. Quanta is in Phase I trials for pancreatic, colorectal and endometrial cancer indications.

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