Chad Testa, PhD, has 20 years of bioscience experience which have been spent primarily in private sector biotech/chemical organizations. Chad is currently Vice President of Research at Cūrza Global, LLC, developing novel antibacterial agents with a new mechanism of action that selectively target bacterial protein synthesis. Duties include leading all biological/biochemical characterization, establishing and managing grants, contracts and collaborations, contributing to conception of novel chemotypes and a member of the core team that determines project progression, timelines and overall direction of all programs. Previous experience includes establishing and leading an antibacterial discovery and development program targeting the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis.Chad has secured a considerable level of non-dilutive funding in his career, having been awarded numerous grants (SBIR, R01, CARB-X) from NIAID, NCI, FDA and NSF as principal investigator, as principal investigator for a large DTRA sub-award in collaboration with University of Florida to advance Curza's lead program. He also serves as a reviewer for NIH-NIAID and NSF programs. Chad is an accomplished scientist whose scientific expertise has been recognized with published peer-reviewed research papers and multiple issued patents, with others pending. Chad possesses exceptional communication skills that have been used to establish collaborative relationships for portfolio advancement, building corporate/research teams, presenting research activities to outside parties, at conferences and as an exhibitor at trade shows. He is highly experienced supervising multidisciplinary teams directed at new therapeutic and biomarker assay development for multiple therapeutic indications as part of leading internal and external projects.