Martin Taylor

Senior Associate

2019 - Current

Venture capital investing and company building in the biotechnology and life sciences sector. Deal team / portfolio support -- Adaptimmune Aerium Therapeutics ARTBIO AviadoBio Caribou Biosciences CHARM Therapeutics Curie.Bio Genomics PLC Leyden Labs NodThera Peptone Sana Biotechnology Stealth CV disease company SubIntro (acquired by RIGImmune) Tenpoint Therapeutics Xaira Therapeutics

Board Observer

2021

Member of the founding team (Founding COO)

2021 - 2022

- Led pipeline and drug discovery strategy through nomination of two programs - Evaluated several BD opportunities - Initiation of generator platform development with multidisciplinary team - Helped with clinical trial initiation / manufacturing operations - Team and advisory board build efforts, organised inaugural SAB meeting - Supported fundraising

Member of founding team

2021

- Supported early hiring efforts - Supported target selection / evaluation - Supported structural biology strategy

Board Observer

2021

Board Observer

2021

Board Observer

2020

Member of the founding team

2020 - 2021

- Supported pipeline build strategy - Supported BD opportunity evaluation - Supported fundraising efforts

Board Observer

2021 - 2022

Acquired by RIGImmune Stealth stage antivirals and drug delivery company

Research Scientist (Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow)

2016 - 2019

Biochemical reconstitution of human and yeast DNA replication with purified proteins and DNA templates, including those with site specific DNA damage

Research Scientist

2015 - 2016

Investigation of responses to DNA replication stress in mammalian cell culture

Research Scientist (Scientific Officer)

2015 - 2015

Continuation of my PhD work at Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (see below), which became part of the Francis Crick Institute in April 2015

Research Scientist (Graduate student / Scientific Officer)

2010 - 2015

My PhD work used genetic, biochemical and biophysical experimental approaches to define the biochemical mechanism of action of an important family of tumour suppressor proteins, Rad51 paralogs, in DNA repair by homologous recombination, using nematodes as a model system. Major achievements: • I demonstrated an orphan protein from nematodes, RIP-1, is a highly divergent Rad51 paralog through genetic approaches and by characterizing functionally important cryptic enzymatic motifs. • I purified the first example of a complete and non-aggregated recombinant Rad51 paralog complex in milligram quantities, nematode RFS-1/RIP-1, from yeast cells. • I performed in depth biochemical and biophysical analysis of the mechanism of action by which RFS-1/RIP-1 stimulates homologous recombination. Using a combination of approaches, I discovered a critical function for RFS-1/RIP-1 in structurally remodeling RAD-51-ssDNA pre-synaptic filaments to a more stable, ‘open’ and flexible conformation, more competent to undergo strand exchange. This remodeling activity defines a new paradigm of recombination mediator activity, and this work was published in Cell in July 2015. In the course of this work, I attended collaborations in the labs of Lumir Krejci (Brno) and David Rueda (London) to perform biophysical experiments. • I further characterized the mechanism of action of RFS-1/RIP-1 in RAD-51-ssDNA filament remodeling, and found this was mediated by an ATP-cofactor-dependent binding of RFS-1/RIP-1 at one end of the filament, which propagated a filament stabilizing effect with 5'-3' polarity. This work was published in Molecular Cell in December 2016.