John Blackwood is an experienced and successful drug discoverer at leading biotech companies. Before Samsara, he worked at Kymab where he delivered key hematology biologic assets into development. He was responsible for leading teams and for directing, implementing and supervising experimental strategies and established new working processes within small molecule and biologic drug discovery. He started his industry career at IONTAS where he led the discovery of several immuno-oncology assets and focused on target discovery. He previously held positions at the University of Cambridge, investigating the structure-function relationship of large protein complexes involved in DNA processing, and at the University of Newcastle, investigating how mutations in mitochondrial DNA form and expand within aging prostate tissue. During his doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh, he investigated the molecular mechanism of trinucleotide repeat instability, which is responsible for several neurodegenerative disorders.