Suggestions
Jacob Becraft
Making medicine move faster | Synthetic Biologist | Co-Founder at Strand Therapeutics
Jacob Becraft, known as Jake, is a prominent figure in the field of synthetic biology and biotech entrepreneurship.
He is the co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics, a company focused on synthetic biology, immunotherapy, and mRNA therapeutics.
Jake's career began with the development of the SAfER platform at MIT, the world's first programming language for mRNA in synthetic biology.
His interests extend to the convergence of hard-tech and biologically engineered therapeutics, as well as organism-machine interfaces.
An accomplished inventor, Jake holds numerous patents in the biotech and gene therapy sectors and has been honored with prestigious awards like the Goldwater Scholarship, Viterbi Fellowship, and Amgen Fellowship.
He advocates for founder-driven biotech startups, supporting young technical founders in the field.
Additionally, Jake has contributed as a Science and Technology advisor to legislators in the Massachusetts State Legislature.
He is a sought-after speaker on synthetic biology and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of a conducive environment for the advancement of synbio gene therapeutics.
Jake serves on the Executive Board of Public Health United, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing scientists' communication skills to become effective scientific ambassadors.
His academic background includes a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering and Synthetic Biology from MIT and a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated Magna cum Laude with distinction.
Outside of his professional endeavors, Jake enjoys back-country snowboarding and practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Highlights
A little late life update from December:
Just before Christmas, I traveled back to my undergraduate alma mater, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to deliver the commencement address, 10 years (and 1 semester) post graduation. It was such an incredible honor. Meeting some of the graduating seniors, I’m confident this next wave of scientists and engineers are going to blow us away!
Bucket list doesn’t remotely begin to describe it, as I never anticipated I would receive the invitation.
The students were incredibly impressive and already looking forward.
UIUC was an incredible springboard for my education, and at a state school affordability.
A little “Peoria meets Boston” last week when my friend and colleague, Congressman LaHood (representing my hometown/district in IL), came to Boston and got an up close and personal tour of Strand.
Politics can be dividing, but one thing we can all agree on is a need for more resources in our fight against disease, more collaboration to ensure patients can access drugs, and more unity to make sure America remains the headquarters for biomedical innovation.
