Alvin Tamsir

As co-founder and leader of Pivot Bio’s scientific team, Alvin Tamsir, Ph.D., grew the company’s research team from two scientists to a group of more than 50. With a deep understanding of both molecular biology and engineering principles, he leads the development of our microbial strains and manages our interdisciplinary research teams, supervising specialists in synthetic biology, computational biology, analytical chemistry, and plant biology.

It was during his graduate studies that Alvin first applied cutting-edge engineering principles to biology, exploring ways to amplify naturally occurring processes at the microbial level. It was also during this time that Alvin struck up a friendship — and later a partnership — with his lab mate Karsten Temme. After completing their graduate work, the two went on to co-found Pivot Bio.

Alvin’s scientific writing can be found in several publications, including Nature, Contributions to Microbiology, and Nature Chemical Biology. He is an inventor listed on many of the Pivot Bio patents. Alvin earned his Bachelor of Science in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in biological sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.