Aleks Baranczak, PhD, is the Chief Program Officer at Blackbird Laboratories, where she leads research development, partnerships and program management. Prior to joining Blackbird, Aleks was with Calibr, a drug discovery division of Scripps Research, where she oversaw a portfolio of preclinical programs and was responsible for the establishment and management of partnerships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Previously, Aleks worked as a scientist and group leader at AbbVie later joining the University of Chicago where she managed initiatives leading to the creation of multi-institutional research centers and institutes. Aleks earned her PhD in Chemistry at Vanderbilt University and conducted postdoctoral work in chemical biology in the laboratory of Prof. Jeff Kelly at the Scripps Research Institute.