Sher Butt, Jacob Vogan, and the CB Therapeutics team.

Sher Butt, MBA

Sher co-founded CB Therapeutics to build a yeast platform for molecules that are hard to source any other way. Deep expertise in psychedelics, cannabis, and alkaloid chemistry. Founded CB Labs and was CSO at Steep Hill, each a leading cannabis testing lab. Earlier: project management and FDA-approval work at Novartis. Y Combinator S18. BSc Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UC Davis. MBA, Rady School of Management, UC San Diego.

• Yeast biosynthesis
• Alkaloid chemistry
• Cannabis testing
• Biochemistry
• MBA

Jacob Vogan, PhD

Jacob co-founded CB Therapeutics to build a synthetic biology platform for longer, healthier lives. He runs the biological science, with two dozen peer-reviewed papers and patents across alkaloid biosynthesis, genetic engineering, tissue culture, and precision fermentation. His work connects complex biosynthetic pathways, biomanufacturing, and AI-guided design-build-test loops. BS Bioengineering and Molecular & Cell Biology, UC Davis. PhD/postdoc, UC Berkeley. UCSF. Y Combinator S18.

• Synthetic biology
• Biological science
• AI-guided biodesign
• Precision fermentation
• Alkaloid biosynthesis

Thanos Karavokiris, PhD

Thanos leads company operations at CBT, including finance, legal, HR, and IT. He brings 25 years of operating experience across startups, multinationals, and Fortune 500 technology companies, including senior operations roles at Dell. His background spans mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, and strategic management.

Erin Scott, PhD

Erin leads microbiology across CBT programs, with a focus on molecules for mental health. Before CBT, she was Scientist II at Verdezyne. PhD Biology, UC San Diego, with a Presidential Award for Green Chemistry. BA Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley.

Laura Peiffer, PhD

Laura led strain engineering at CBT, drawing on more than a decade designing yeasts and bacteria to make target compounds from low-cost feedstocks, including prior work at Genomatica. BS Biology and Chemistry, Duke. PhD Cell Biology, UC Irvine.

Diana Castillo

Diana ran the CBT lab day to day, keeping molecular biology, fermentation, strain engineering, and facility operations moving together. She brought more than a decade of industry lab experience, including R&D Lab Manager at Verdezyne. BS Biology, National University.

Jim Wade, PhD

Jim led analytical chemistry at CBT, connecting upstream process development with downstream purification and release analytics. Before CBT, he held senior analytical roles at Verdezyne, OPX, Sapphire Energy, and Gevo, and founded Kultevat. His career spans specialty chemicals, biofuels, and green chemistry.

Andi Burnett, MS

Andi brought deep expertise in rare alkaloid analytical chemistry, working alongside Jim to develop methods that quantified biosynthetic compounds and kept release analytics accurate across programs. BS Chemistry, University of Arizona.

Aaron Cantu, MS

Aaron led fermentation and downstream processing at CBT. He built much of the company's recovery workflow and drove fermentation scale-up, bioreactor optimization, and downstream isolation across programs.

Tyler Huelsman, MS

Tyler worked across strain development and protein engineering, modifying CBT's production yeasts and tuning pathway enzymes for higher function. He also mentored new team members on the strain development bench. Background spans chemical engineering, molecular biology, and systems biology. MS Bioengineering, UC San Diego (2015).

Phu Khat Nwe, PhD

Phu Khat engineered yeast strains for high-value compound production, bringing a chemical-biology lens to pathway design and strain development. One of few people from Myanmar (Burma) to become a research scientist. BA Chemistry, Albion College. PhD Chemical Biology, Yale University.

Joseph Nunley

Joseph supported fermentation execution at CBT, setting up runs, monitoring process details, and carrying campaigns through completion. Biology undergraduate; prior student research on microorganisms living on ocean plastics. US Marine Corps veteran.

Hirmenia Rosabal, MS

Hirmenia supported microbiology and lab operations, preparing bacteria and yeast samples, running cultures, and handling safe disposal. BS Biology. MS Forensic Science. Nine-year US Marine Corps veteran.

Alexis Llamas

Alexis ran fermentation campaigns and supported completion from setup through harvest. She brought mammalian cell culture experience while pursuing a BS in Biomanufacturing at MiraCosta College.