Evan is a chemical engineer who has utilized timed light to control and then engineer microbes to produce new, valuable chemicals without the need for fossil fuel-based precursors. During his PhD at Princeton University, Evan used light sensitive proteins, also known as optogenetics, to engineer better microbial cell factories.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, he pivoted to work on RNA sensing in cells for medical applications at the Collins research group. Evan aimed to utilize a cell’s ability to sense its environment to develop a sensor that could control the production of therapeutic proteins within the cell, tailoring treatment to a patient’s specific needs.
He is now Chief Science Officer at Oddity.
Evan became interested in therapeutic development during the end of his PhD when he applied optogenetics to therapeutic protein activity control. He noticed that there was a lack of control mechanisms for RNA and protein therapeutics that contributed to the adverse effects of drugs and limited use of certain treatments.