About ATUM
ATUM has been providing tools and solutions to Life Science researchers for over 20 years. Our products, services and most importantly our people enable scientists worldwide to achieve their goals.
ATUM founders from left to right:
Claes Gustafsson, Jeremy Minshull, Sridhar Govindarajan, and Jon Ness.
Management Team
Jeremy Minshull, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Jeremy Minshull has served as President/CEO of ATUM since co-founding the company in 2003. Previously, he was Vice President of Core Technology at Maxygen Inc. Jeremy earned his Ph.D. from Tim Hunt’s lab at the University of Cambridge, England, and his BA in Natural Sciences, also in Cambridge. His post-doctoral work with Andrew Murray at UC San Francisco is what first brought him to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Claes Gustafsson, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
As ATUM’s Co-Founder, Claes Gustafsson established ATUM’s sales and marketing functions. Prior to co-founding ATUM, Claes led, managed and collaborated with key strategic teams at Maxygen Inc. Before Maxygen, Claes worked as a scientist at Kosan Biosciences and held a number of research, teaching, and post-doctoral positions at UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, and the University of Umeå. He eaned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology/Biochemistry from the University of Umeå, Sweden.
Sridhar Govindarajan, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Sridhar Govindarajan leads Computational Biology, Protein Engineering and AI/Machine Learning efforts at ATUM. Prior to co-founding ATUM, Sridhar held positions at Maxygen and Eragen Biosciences. Sridhar earned his PhD in Computational Chemistry/Biophysics from the University of Michigan and holds an undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Elaina ten Bosch
Chief Operating Officer
Elaina joined ATUM in 2004. As Chief Operating Officer, she is responsible for optimizing production workflows to increase manufacturing efficiency and ensure the highest quality product. Before ATUM, Elaina worked for Operon Technologies, as the Oligo Synthesis Manager and later as Gene Synthesis Manager. Elaina holds a BS in Biology from St. Mary’s College and a Certificate in Business Administration from the UC Berkeley Extension.
Selena Larkin, Ph.D.
Chief Commercial Officer
Selena has over 20 years experience establishing and executing successful commercial and corporate strategies for life science tools and services organizations. She has served multinationals including Agilent, Danaher, and Waters, and held executive positions at several early-stage life science companies. Selena earned her Ph.D. in protein chemistry from the University of Melbourne, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Mark Welch, Ph.D.
VP, Research and Development
Mark has been with ATUM since 2006. At ATUM, Mark developed the GeneGPS machine-learning technology for experiment-driven gene expression optimization. He currently oversees gene, protein, vector and strain engineering contracts for customers as well as new technology development. Prior to ATUM, Mark held positions at Applied Biosystems and Maxygen, Inc. Mark earned his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Pedram Sattari
Vice President of Sales
As the Vice President of Sales, Pedram Sattari ensures the success of our clients by fostering a culture of collaborative problem-solving and innovation, and a commitment to nurturing long-term relationships. Prior to joining ATUM, Pedram held various commercial, technical, and leadership positions at GE Lifesciences (now Cytiva) and SpectrumLabs (now Repligen). Pedram earned his BS in Biology from UC Davis.
Tanya Wei, J.D.
Head of Legal
Tanya brings over 20 years of legal experience supporting the biotechnology industry. She joined ATUM from Exelixis, Inc., where she oversaw its R&D Legal department, and held similar roles at Genentech, Inc. and UC San Francisco. Her extensive legal experience includes intellectual property, business, transactional, litigation, compliance, privacy, and regulatory matters. Tanya earned a J.D. from Santa Clara University, and Masters degrees in Epidemiology and Biostatistics & Nutrition from Tufts University.
Frances Steingrimsson
Director, Finance and Culture
Frances has been dedicated to the improvement of corporate financial discipline and culture across multiple industries, including Biotech, SaaS, Consulting, and Industrial Manufacturing. Since joining ATUM in 2016, Frances has been responsible for maintaining the fiscal integrity of the company. She supports and grows ATUM’s culture through thoughtful hiring and continuous improvements to the employee experience. Frances received a BS in Accounting from San Jose State University.
Jeff Johnson
Senior Scientific Director of Cell Line Development and Biologics
With more than 30 years of multidisciplinary biotherapeutics R&D experience, Jeff is a leader in protein expression and CHO cell line development. Prior to ATUM, Jeff led the San Diego Department of Biotherapeutics (DBTx-SD) protein sciences team for BMS, and transformed Celgene’s protein expression platform to a best-in-class platform for transposase-mediated stable cell line development. Jeff has a proven track record of deploying disruptive technologies that enhance data systems for biotherapeutics.
Jon Ness, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, retired
Jon Ness is a co-founder of ATUM and coordinated ATUM’s technology development from our inception. Prior to his tenure at ATUM, Jon was one of the first employees at Maxygen Inc., where he led Maxygen’s DNA Shuffling Technology Development Group. Jon earned a Ph.D. in Bacterial Genetics and Physiology from UC Davis, and a BS in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota.
Ferenc Boldog, Ph.D.
Director Emeritus, Cell Line Development
Ferenc Boldog joined ATUM in 2016 and has brought his expertise and creativity to the company’s molecular biology, cell biology and protein therapeutics development processes. Prior to ATUM, he was the Head of Cell Line Development at Shire. Throughout his 35-year academic and industrial career, Ferenc’s passion has been science and innovation.
Our History
Founded in 2003 as DNA2.0, ATUM has built on its DNA design and synthesis expertise to develop an integrated pipeline of solutions for the research community.
With a reverence for the interplay between science, technology and nature, ATUM’s unique and proprietary engineering platform is based on Design of Experiment (DoE), empirical testing and machine learning. The result is the precise engineering of commercially relevant properties in genes, vectors, proteins and cell lines.
ATUM emphasizes customer service as a critical measure of success. We aim to be a resource and research partner for scientists, to enable accurate and innovative delivery of specific, immediately useful solutions. Customers value the individual scientist-to-scientist support they receive from ATUM’s technical sales and support staff, as well as the speed, accuracy, and flexibility with which products and services are delivered. ATUM’s software tool Gene Designer and the online DNA ATLAS, give you the DNA sequence manipulation and management tools that we use in-house.
ATUM is based in the United States, with a global customer base encompassing academia, government and the pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural and biotechnology industries. ATUM is by far the most published synthetic biology vendor (4100 publications and counting), providing expert support to and collaboration with scientists. The company is privately held and is headquartered in Newark, California.