The People of OyaGen
Dr. Harold Smith, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President
Harold Smith, Ph.D is the founder, CEO and president of OyaGen, Inc. His technical expertise, broad biomedical background and critical thinking skills have guided OyaGen, Inc in the design of high throughput assays, methods and analyses that have been critical in establishing the Company’s drug discovery platforms and the development of its preclinical programs. He has led three rounds of private investment totaling several million dollars and has been awarded several million dollars in National Institutes of Health (NIH) extramural grants that have supported the development of the Company’s platform. Through these and other commercial efforts Dr. Smith successfully negotiated an exclusive license deal for the Company’s lead antiviral compound for COVID-19 and Ebola.
Dr. Smith also is a full professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry. Following 36 years of academic research with the University and thought leadership in the field of RNA processing, funded through the NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Dr. Smith currently is semi-retired from the University with a primary function in mentoring and teaching. He organized and chaired the first international conference on RNA editing and initiated, organized and chaired the first Gordon Research conference on RNA and DNA Editing. He has organized and chaired several conferences on Drug Discovery and Development. His contributions to research over his active research career with the University advanced our understanding of the composition, regulation and structure of macromolecular complexes involved in regulating gene expression at the level of messenger RNA and DNA editing and protein-nucleic acid interactions. This research platform enabled discoveries that were critical in the founding and growth of OyaGen, Inc and the discovery and development of the Company’s antiviral leads.
Read more about Dr. Smith’s work:
University of Rochester Faculty Page
Smith Lab Page