Claire Kinlaw, Ph.D., MBA

Chief Scientific Officer
Zea Biosciences

Dr. Kinlaw is passionate about innovations in sustainable agriculture for production of food, fiber, and high value compounds.  She has held positions of leadership inside start-ups and in the broader innovation ecosystem.

As a biochemist and molecular plant geneticist with business experience Dr. Kinlaw oversees drug discovery researcher partnerships and development of the Lighthouse Platform Technology at Zea Biosciences to enable cost effective production of protein therapeutics in plants grown under highly controlled environments.

Before joining Zea, Dr. Kinlaw worked for the Danforth Plant Science Center as their Director of Innovation Commercialization, bridging plant science discoveries to the marketplace for commercial solutions in agriculture.

Prior, she has held early leadership roles in several early-stage companies, notably TerViva, a company dedicated to commercializing an environmentally friendly tree crop for plant-based protein.  In addition, Dr. Kinlaw has advised more than a hundred early-stage companies in agriculture and renewable energy in developing commercial strategies. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas school of management