Science

Engineering bacteria to deliver medicine.

I'm a molecular geneticist by training and, day to day, the Director of Research & Development at SiVEC Biotechnologies. My work sits at the intersection of bacterial genetics and drug delivery — designing programmable bacteria that can carry therapeutic cargo to the precise cells and tissues that need it.

The platform

BactPac™

BactPac uses non-pathogenic, normal-flora bacteria engineered to both produce and deliver a wide range of biotherapeutics — messenger RNA, siRNA, proteins and nanobodies, and gene-editing systems. By targeting a cell-surface marker, the vehicle enters via receptor-mediated phagocytosis, then releases its cargo directly into the cytoplasm. That intracellular delivery reaches tissues beyond the liver that viral vectors and lipid nanoparticles struggle to address, and because the cargo is made during ordinary bacterial fermentation, manufacturing is simpler and far less expensive than conventional approaches.

My part of that story is the genetics: rational design of the bacterial chassis — promoter architecture, controlled payload expression, genetic-circuit stability, and the cell-specific targeting system — so the constructs behave predictably, safely, and durably inside a living host. It draws directly on a career spent studying DNA repair, mutagenesis, and genome stability.

Pipeline

SVC-KRAb

Lead asset · oncology

A circular mRNA delivered into tumor cells and translated into a nanobody that inhibits over 20 cancer-driving mutant RAS proteins. In preclinical in vivo studies it reduced solid-tumor volume by more than 80% versus untreated controls with no observed side effects — the first successful targeting of a mutant KRAS protein by a pan-RAS biologic. IND-enabling studies are underway, with clinical trials anticipated in Q3 2026.

SVC-IAV

Infectious disease

An inhaled live biotherapeutic delivering two siRNAs for broad, fast-acting antiviral activity against seasonal and pandemic influenza A.

SVC-Survivin

Oncology

A nanobody-based chemotherapy enhancer that blocks the anti-apoptotic survivin protein in cancer cells, aiming to improve efficacy at lower, gentler doses.

Background

Before SiVEC I spent eight years as a Senior Scientist at the CECAD Research Center at the University of Cologne, leading an international lab in oncology, aging, and genome-stability research — including work on DNA-damage signaling, innate immune sensing of DNA, and KRAS biology. My earlier training runs through Harvard and USC (cell-cycle regulation and cancer) and a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Genetics from Indiana University, where I studied stress-induced mutagenesis and DNA repair in bacteria. I'm a named inventor on several patent applications underlying the SiVEC platform.

Now
Director of R&D, SiVEC Biotechnologies
Ph.D.
Microbiology & Genetics, Indiana University
Postdoc
Harvard University · USC
Prior
Senior Scientist, CECAD, University of Cologne

Selected publications

  • Harnessing bacteria to redefine drug delivery systems. Nature BioPharma Dealmakers, June 2025.
  • Mora D.S.O., Cox M., Magunda F., Williams A.B., Linke L. (2023) An optimized live bacterial delivery platform safely and efficaciously delivers bacterially transcribed therapeutic nucleic acids. Engineering in Life Sciences.
  • Williams A.B., et al. (2019) Restoration of proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum reverses an inflammation-like response to cytoplasmic DNA in C. elegans. Genetics 212(4).
  • Wilson D.M. 3rd, Rieckher M., Williams A.B., Schumacher B. (2017) Systematic analysis of DNA crosslink repair pathways during development and aging in C. elegans. Nucleic Acids Research 45(16).
  • Williams A.B., Foster P.L. (2007) The E. coli histone-like protein HU has a role in stationary phase adaptive mutation. Genetics 177.
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