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Sadik Yildiz aspires to be the Kernal turn-around-time guy. Knowing the history and limitations of array-based studies such as pathogen identification, he fully understands that today’s computing power, depth of databases, and learning algorithms, will enable him to convert new and old concepts that once were dead-ends to realistic, high-potential solutions. To Sadik, the case study for this is leveraging mRNA for vaccine use, a stepping stone for therapeutics. He’s thrilled to be an “official” member of the team because he believes Kernal is the company with the chops to deliver on the therapeutic promise of mRNA. He knows the company well. During Kernal’s early days, while Sadik was still working on his dissertation, he had many 2 a.m. conversations with co-founder Cafer Ozdemir. Cafer would call excitedly to ask... “what if,” or get Sadik’s thoughts on how to work through a daunting challenge. Sadik has a Ph.D. from Harvard University in systems biology and a BS in biological sciences and bioengineering from Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. His pile of books to read keeps growing (he’s a fan of science fiction); he wishes he had extra double nights to catch up.