Jun Axup Penman

Jun Axup Penman is Chief Operating Officer at E11 Bio, a nonprofit focused research organization developing scalable technologies for whole-brain circuit mapping and connectomics. In this role she runs day-to-day operations and helps shape strategy to advance E11 Bio’s mission of lowering the cost and increasing the accessibility of brain mapping technologies. Her prior roles include serving as Chief Science Officer and Partner at IndieBio, a life science and biotech startup accelerator, where she funded and advised well over a hundred early-stage companies in human and planetary health. Earlier in her career she worked at several startups across immuno-oncology, protein engineering, lab automation robotics, CRISPR, precision medicine, neurotechnology, and related areas, and she has also co-founded a multiplex proteomics biotechnology company and a science toy company.

Axup Penman’s work spans venture, operations, and scientific leadership, with a consistent focus on translating advanced biology into practical technologies and companies. She holds a PhD in chemical biology from The Scripps Research Institute, where her research centered on immuno-oncology and directed evolution, culminating in the development of antibody therapeutics using unnatural amino acids and co-authorship of a peer-reviewed paper in PNAS.