Chad joins Curza after 12+ years at Echelon Biosciences where his industrial career began. Most recently, Dr. Testa served as Senior VP of Research & Development after assuming positions of increasing responsibility from an initial role as Research Scientist. He has developed a diverse, multi-disciplinary chemical biology skill set, with particular emphasis on biological assay development for targeted biomarkers in antibacterial discovery, oncology and inflammatory disease pathways. Leading teams of scientists including external collaborators, Chad was responsible for administering multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary collaborations. Of particular importance was establishment of a proprietary antibacterial discovery platform targeting the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis that included development and implementation of a cascade of assays, including a whole-cell phenotypic screening platform to identify pathway-specific leads, biochemical and MIC assays that were used to identify two series exhibiting MEP pathway selectivity. Additional efforts include development of a non-invasive imaging agent to visualize tumors, numerous product launches, leading efforts that resulted in awarding of federal grants exceeding $8M and creation of synergistic relationships. Dr. Testa has served as PI or co-PI on grants awarded by NIAID, DTRA, NCI, FDA and NSF and participates as a reviewer for NIAID study sections focused on antibacterial discovery/development, the NSF SBIR program and the state of Utah. Chad received a Bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a Master’s degree in Chemistry studying a member of the lipoxygenase family of enzymes. His PhD in Chemistry was obtained from the University of Utah working with Prof. C. Dale Poulter studying isoprenoid pathways, including the MEP pathway.