MEET THE TEAM

CO-FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

Dr. Sozzani is a professor in the Synthetic and Systems Biology Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at NC State University. Dr. Sozzani serves as a STEPS co-Deputy Director and Director for the Plant Improvement Platform for the NC Plant Science Initiative. Dr. Sozzani is co-inventor of the platform for 3D bioprinting plant cells and has developed models for predicting genome features that control gene expression.

Dr. Sozzani received her Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology, and her M.S. and B.S. in biological sciences from the University of Pavia, Italy. Dr. Sozzani has authored more than 60 scholarly works.

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

Prior to joining Raleigh Biosciences, Dr. Rogers was a senior scientist at Hi Fidelity Technologies, where he was a manager of the team that designed and deployed root sensors to quantify root growth and plant responsiveness to external stimuli. Dr. Rogers has a wealth of knowledge in the subjects of plant molecular biology, single-cell genomics, agriculture biotechnology, and developing business partnerships.

Dr. Rogers received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Illinois-Chicago, and his B.S. in Biology from Purdue University.

(1953 - 2023)

CO-FOUNDER

Dr. Benfey was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at Duke University. Previously, Dr. Benfey founded and led Grassroots Biotechnology, a computational biology company, that was sold to Monsanto in 2013. Prior to joining Raleigh Biosciences, Dr. Benfey was a founder and chair of the scientific advisory board for Hi Fidelity Technologies, a technology company that used novel sensors and data science to inform crop decisions.

Dr. Benfey received his Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University and his B.S. in Biochemistry from University of Paris IV. Dr. Benfey has authored more than 200 scholarly works.

OPERATIONS CONSULTANT

Natale Clark is the operations consultant for Raleigh Biosciences. Prior to joining Raleigh Biosciences, Ms. Clark was the Director of Operations for Hi Fidelity Technologies, where she led operations and finance for the company.

Ms. Clark received her M.A. in Exhibition Design from the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and her previous experience includes Social Tables in DC, and MaterialWise, a proof of concept project by Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Dr. Nelissen is group leader at the VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology and professor at the Ghent University Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics in Ghent, Belgium. Hilde acts as the Plant Cell Atlas co-chair for the Spatial Omics Committee. Her research is focused on plant gene networks that govern organ development and is a pioneer in the field of spatial transcriptomics in plants.

Dr. Nelissen received her PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Ghent University, Belgium and authored more than 55 scholarly works.

Dr. Barrangou is the T. R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, leading the CRISPRlab. His research is focused on understanding genetic and molecular aspects of CRISPR to generate novel tools for biotechnology applications. Rodolphe spent 9 years at Danisco and DuPont, and has been at NC State since 2013. For his CRISPR work, Rodolphe received several international awards, notably the Canada Gairdner International Award, and was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Barrangou is a co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, Locus Biosciences, TreeCo, Ancilia Biosciences and CRISPR Biotechnologies, an advisor to Inari and the IGI, and Editor in Chief of the CRISPR Journal.

Dr. Barrangou earned a BS in Biological Sciences from Rene Descartes University in Paris, France, a MS in Biological Engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne, France, a MS in Food Science from NC State, a PhD in Genomics from NC State and a MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Copenhaver is the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Convergent Science at UNC Chapel Hill and the Director for the UNC Institute for Convergent Science. His research focuses on plant reproductive biology. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Previously he was co-founder of Chromatin Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company. Dr. Copenhaver received his Ph.D. in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis and his B.S. in Botany from the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Copenhaver has authored more than 120 scholarly works including research papers and patents.