From Lab Bench to Boardroom: The Unexpected Path of a Medicinal Chemist
- Dr. GPCR Podcast
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
What does it take for a scientist to become a startup leader in biotech? For Dr. Maria Majellaro, the transition from lab work to leadership wasn’t meticulously planned, it was a bold leap fueled by gut instinct and a deep love for chemistry. In this episode of the Dr. GPCR Podcast, she shares how her background in medicinal chemistry paved the way to co-founding Celtarys, a company now shaping the future of GPCR assay tools.
“I was good in the lab… but would I be good outside of it? That was the question I had to answer.” — Dr. Maria Majellaro
Maria’s career didn’t start with a desire to launch a company. It began in Bari, Italy, with a love for science nurtured by her father and fueled by childhood cartoons about the human body. Over time, she developed a fascination with how molecules influence biology and how that chemistry could be applied in the drug discovery world. A postdoc in Santiago de Compostela introduced her to GPCRs, and from there, things escalated quickly.
Celtarys was born out of necessity. The academic group Maria worked with had developed a technology that allowed for flexible, fast synthesis of fluorescent ligands. However, as she and her co-founders soon realized, commercializing it was the only way to deliver that value to the broader GPCR research community.
Celtarys Research, now partnering with Dr. GPCR, is helping researchers worldwide gain access to customized, reliable assay tools without the delays and frustrations that often plague probe development.
👉 Learn more about Celtarys’ science-driven solutions on their company page.
_______________
Comments