Before joining Amazon.com, Inc., Dr Barbu served as the Vice President of Research at Armata Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of targeted therapeutics for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections. Dr. Barbu combined her deep expertise in synthetic biology, bacterial pathogenesis and antimicrobial drug development, to lead the discovery and engineering efforts for Armata’s pipeline of natural and synthetic therapeutics programs. She set strategy and delivered key preclinical data essential for advancing Armata’s programs from bench to clinic. Previously, she spent 5 years at Synthetic Genomics, Inc., spearheading the development of the synthetic anti-infectives program, securing non-dilutive funding and a partnership with a global pharmaceutical company that further supported the development of the engineering platform. Dr. Barbu earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She completed her postdoctoral training at the MD Anderson Cancer Center where she focused on identifying druggable targets for cancer and infectious diseases. Dr. Barbu has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, presented worldwide as an invited speaker, and received private and government funding for her research in antimicrobial therapeutics and synthetic biology.