Saul Kivimäe

Saul Kivimäe has a diverse work experience spanning over several decades. Their most recent position is Executive Director and Head of Pharmacology and Early Discovery at Nektar Therapeutics, a role they started in May 2022. Prior to this, they held various leadership positions at Nektar Therapeutics, including Senior Director and Director of Pharmacology and Early Discovery. Saul also served as an Associate Director and Senior Manager at the company.

Before joining Nektar Therapeutics, Saul worked at UCSF, where they held the position of Senior Scientist in Bioengineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences. During their time at UCSF, they led the development of a macrophage cell therapy technology platform for personalized primary cell production with customized genetic modifications. Saul also contributed to research in conditional stem cell differentiation and genome engineering for cancer therapies.

Prior to UCSF, Saul was a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSF, where they focused on planar cell polarity signaling in mouse endodermal development and neuronal vesicular trafficking. Saul identified the cellular function of Dact adaptor proteins in Wnt signaling and characterized mouse mutants that model endodermal birth defects found in humans.

Earlier in their career, Saul worked as a Graduate Fellow at Rockefeller University, where they identified a protein phosphorylation-dependent activity switch in the circadian transcription factor Period in fruit flies. This research provided insights into the timing of oscillatory gene activation in circadian clocks and its relation to sleep patterns in humans.

Saul's career started with research positions at Tartu University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where they worked as a Research Scientist. Saul also gained experience as an Undergraduate Researcher at Tartu University.

Overall, Saul Kivimäe has extensive experience in pharmacology, early discovery, cell therapy technology, stem cell differentiation, and circadian biology.

Saul Kivimäe pursued their educational journey with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tartu, where they majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Saul attended the university from 1994 to 1998. Building upon their undergraduate studies, Saul went on to pursue a Ph.D. at The Rockefeller University. From 1999 to 2005, they dedicated himself to the fields of Genetics and Biochemistry, completing their doctoral degree at The Rockefeller University.