Company

At the heart of our innovation are our people.

SiVEC brings together scientists, engineers, operators, and advisors with a shared focus: advancing targeted intracellular delivery and the therapeutic possibilities it can unlock.

Who we are

Rigorous science, built to move.

SiVEC’s mission is to harness the BactPac™ drug-delivery platform to create advanced biologics, with a primary focus on oncology and gene editing.

SiVEC advances internal pipeline assets while partnering with companies seeking a tissue-targeted intracellular delivery approach for nucleic acid and gene therapies. These partnerships may include platform collaborations and out-licensing of BactPac-enabled therapeutic programs.

Our team combines experience across bacterial engineering, molecular and cell biology, drug delivery, oncology, translational research, manufacturing, and company development.

SiVEC was recognized as the 2022 Top Emerging Company at BIO International and won both the 2022 Women In Bio Innovation Showcase and the 2022 BIO International Start-Up Stadium. The company has received more than $4 million in non-dilutive funding from the National Institutes of Health and the State of Colorado.

Our people

The SiVEC team

Leadership

Lyndsey Linke, PhD, ME

CEO, Co-founder, and Chairman of the Board of Directors

Dr. Linke, CEO and co-founder of SiVEC Biotechnologies, has secured $8 million in financing and non-dilutive funding and brings more than 15 years of R&D experience in biotherapeutics and drug delivery. She is a first-named inventor on 35 patents related to SiVEC’s technology. Dr. Linke holds a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Colorado State University. She has been recognized as an Inspiring Female Founder, is a former U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials qualifier, and is a nine-time U.S. Masters National Swimming Champion. In addition to chairing SiVEC’s board, she serves on the board of the Colorado BioScience Association. Under her leadership, SiVEC was named the 2022 Top Emerging Company at BIO International.

Darcy Mora, MS

VP of Operations and Co-founder

Ms. Mora is co-founder and Vice President of Operations at SiVEC Biotechnologies, where she leads company operations and helps advance SiVEC’s proprietary platform technologies. She brings more than 14 years of experience spanning infectious disease research, vaccine development, and translational R&D, and is an inventor on 35 patents related to SiVEC’s technology. Before SiVEC, she led the development of more than ten wildlife vaccines for the United States Department of Agriculture. At SiVEC, she oversees operational strategy, team development, grant funding, and coordination of preclinical studies. Her expertise spans molecular and cellular biology, assay development, vaccine formulation, and in vivo research models. She holds a master’s degree in veterinary epidemiology and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado State University.

Ash B. Williams, PhD

Director of Research & Development

As Director of R&D at SiVEC, Dr. Williams leads scientific strategy and research execution across the company’s platform and pipeline. He brings more than 15 years of experience in molecular biology and Escherichia coli genetics, with additional expertise in molecular genetics, eukaryotic cell biology, host-pathogen interactions, inflammatory biology, and oncology. He is a named inventor on patent applications expanding the SiVEC delivery platform for targeted delivery of nucleic acid therapies, gene-editing systems, polypeptides and antibodies, cancer therapeutics, and vaccines. Outcomes from this work have been published in Engineering in Life Sciences and featured in the June 2025 edition of Nature BioPharma Dealmakers. Before joining SiVEC, Dr. Williams studied aging and age-related disease at the CECAD Research Center at the University of Cologne. He holds degrees from Indiana University, including a PhD in microbiology, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Southern California.

Team

Tom Groseclose, PhD

Scientist

Dr. Groseclose’s expertise spans synthetic biology, bacterial engineering, protein engineering, biochemistry, and high-throughput screen development. He brings more than nine years of experience across academic, government, and corporate R&D laboratories. He earned his PhD in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and was a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory before joining SiVEC.

Sara Hammerstrom, PhD

Scientist

Dr. Hammerstrom earned her PhD in medical microbiology and immunology from Creighton University, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Colorado State University. Her background spans protein misfolding diseases, neuroinflammatory pathways, preclinical animal models, and disease pathogenesis, with additional expertise in protein biochemistry, protein engineering, and high-throughput assay development. At SiVEC, she helps advance next-generation therapeutic delivery through the BactPac platform, translating complex biology into impactful therapies.

Darrian Newman, MS

Scientist

Darrian Newman is a Colorado native with bachelor’s and thesis master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, where he focused on biological engineering and minored in biomedical engineering. His background spans engineering, molecular biology, and computational biology, including work using CRISPR and metabolic modeling to engineer cyanobacteria for biofuel production and developing microalgae strains for sustainable aviation fuel at scale. At SiVEC, he integrates complex ideas into practical solutions supporting innovation at the forefront of science and medicine.

Board of Directors

Sibylle Hauser, MBA

Board Member

Ms. Hauser brings more than 25 years of experience in global pharmaceuticals, including nine years at Boehringer Mannheim and Roche. Her expertise includes corporate business development, fundraising, strategic planning, international commercialization, cell and gene therapy, and precision medicine. As former Executive Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at California Life Sciences, she focused on seed and Series A capital formation. She also initiated and chaired the Women In Bio Entrepreneur Center, connecting more than 90 female founders across the United States. She is a member of the Investment Committee of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

David Sherris, PhD

Board Member

Dr. Sherris brings more than 30 years of expertise in translational medicine, basic research, pharmaceutics, and diagnostics. A serial entrepreneur, he has built biotechnology companies, shaped strategy, implemented development programs, and navigated financing and acquisitions. His experience includes managing internal and external R&D for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, developing partnerships, raising capital, and working with venture capital firms, investment banks, and angel investors. He is also a published author, conference speaker, and inventor across multiple therapeutic areas.

Richard Freed, MBA

Board Member

Richard Freed provides strategic guidance on corporate development, partnerships, and the advancement of SiVEC’s platform and therapeutic programs. He brings experience in biotechnology innovation, venture creation, and strategic transactions. During more than a decade at DuPont, he led biotechnology venture launches, advised on healthcare strategy, and oversaw mergers and acquisitions. He served as Venture Manager for a $200 million-plus DuPont and BP partnership developing gene-edited yeast for isobutanol production. His expertise in CRISPR, cell and gene therapy, and translational biotechnology helps connect platform innovation with commercial execution.

Scientific Advisory Board

John Wyckoff, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Wyckoff is an immunologist with 33 years of research experience and prior R&D leadership roles at Merial, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Elanco. Most recently, he served as Director of BioMARC, a biopharmaceutical CDMO. He advises SiVEC on scale-up and production of biologics and biotherapeutics, process development, analytical evaluation, study design, licensing, regulatory readiness, and partnerships.

Hagen Richter, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Richter is an expert in microbial genetics, CRISPR/Cas technology, RNA biology, nucleic acid research, and biomanufacturing. As Head of Nucleic Acids Research at Wacker, he advances genetic and RNA-based technologies. He holds a PhD in molecular biology and a master’s degree in biotechnology, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier at the Max Planck Institute. He advises SiVEC on live biotherapeutic product manufacturing and microbial production of CRISPR/Cas systems, mRNA, and other macromolecules.

Zahra Kabiri, MD, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Kabiri is an expert in RAS biology and cancer signaling, with a track record in modeling RAS-dependent tumorigenesis and identifying regulators of oncogenic pathways. As Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pathology at Duke University School of Medicine and a member of the Duke Cancer Institute, she studies how signaling dynamics shape progression in KRAS-mutant tumors. She holds an MD from Isfahan University, an MS in pathology from the National University of Singapore, and a PhD in biochemistry from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. Her expertise in translational control and molecular oncology helps guide SiVEC’s oncology programs.

Company Advisors

Maileen Flores, CPA

Finance and Business Development

Advises SiVEC on finance and business development.

Jeff Wilusz, PhD

Scientific Strategy and RNA Therapeutics

Advises SiVEC on scientific strategy and RNA therapeutics.

Lynn Heasley, PhD

Research and Clinical Oncology

Advises SiVEC on research and clinical oncology.

Build carefully. Measure honestly. Move the platform forward.

SiVEC operates as a focused preclinical biotechnology company. Open roles are listed only while actively recruiting.

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