Caribou Biosciences appoints group leader, agricultural and industrial biotechnology

Date:09-02-2016

Caribou Biosciences, Inc. recently announced that Vonnie Estes has joined the Company as Group Leader, Agricultural and Industrial Biotechnology. Ms. Estes brings decades of experience across the agriculture and industrial biotech industries and will lead the Company's partnership and business development activities in these sectors.

"We are delighted to welcome Vonnie as a member of our team," said Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Caribou. "With extensive experience at both large and small agriculture and industrial biotech companies, she is uniquely positioned to help Caribou capitalize on the potential opportunities for CRISPR-Cas gene editing to develop improved crops and bio-based products."

During her career, Ms. Estes has held key leadership positions in some of the most prominent companies in the agriculture and industrial biotechnology fields, including DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta, while also working at start-ups and venture funds to establish novel technologies, build new companies and drive innovation. Before joining Caribou, Ms. Estes served as a consultant for global industrial biotech and agriculture companies, advising on partnership development, investor relations, strategic planning and market entry. Prior to that, Ms. Estes was a Managing Director for Granbio, where she oversaw the company's continued expansion and growth across North America and was responsible for identifying and licensing new technologies, overseeing large capital investments and raising brand awareness, leading to her inclusion in Biofuels Digest's "Top 100 People in Bioeconomy" for two consecutive years.

Ms. Estes graduated from New Mexico State University with a B.Sc. in Horticulture and received an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology from the University of California, Davis. Ms. Estes is on the Board of Directors at Microvi Biotechnologies, a member of the Iteris Performance Analytics Advisory Council and an appointed member of the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee at the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

"I am thrilled to be joining Caribou at a time when it is entering a new phase of growth and advancement," said Ms. Estes. "CRISPR-based technologies have the potential to help solve many of society's most pressing problems, and Caribou's leadership in gene editing places them at the forefront of applying these new approaches. I look forward to collaborating with this exceptional team to help realize the potential of our cutting-edge platform for the agriculture and industrial biotech industries."