Jacob Rubens

Jacob (Jake) Rubens, Ph.D., is an Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering. He is a scientist entrepreneur leading a Pioneering Business Unit that founds and grows companies based on new biotechnology.

At Flagship, Jake co-founded Quotient Therapeutics, Tessera Therapeutics, and Sana Biotechnology, and launched Kaleido Biosciences. Jake is currently the CEO of a stealth company developing a breakthrough technology for engineering life that enables a new class of medicines. Previously, Jake was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Quotient; Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer at Tessera, where he led research from 2018 through 2021; and Co-Founder of Sana Biotechnology, where he co-invented and developed the company’s Fusosome platform at Cobalt Biomedicine prior to its merger with Sana.

Before joining Flagship, Jake received his Ph.D. in microbiology from MIT, working in the Synthetic Biology Center with Professor Tim Lu with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. At MIT Jake invented gene circuits that allow engineered cells to do novel analog, digital, and hybrid computations, enabling the emerging field of “intelligent” cell therapies.

Jake’s work has resulted in multiple pending patents and publications, including articles in Nature and Nature Communications. Jake was named to  Forbes' 30 under 30 list in science,  Endpoints’ 20(+1) Under 40 list of the next generation of biotech leaders, Business Insiders’ list of 12 young serial entrepreneurs building the next generation of biotech startups, and InVivo’s Rising Leaders list of industry influencers.