About Jordan Koehn
I am a scientist and biotech R&D leader with a background spanning organic chemistry, molecular biology, genomics, and drug discovery. I trained as an organic chemist before expanding into molecular biology and genomics during my postdoctoral research at UNC Chapel Hill.
At UNC, I invented a sequencing-enabled platform capable of identifying small-molecule interactions with RNA across the transcriptome in living cells at nucleotide resolution. This research became the scientific foundation of ForagR Medicines, which I co-founded in 2024.
As Head of Platform & Chemical Genomics at ForagR, I built the company’s laboratory capabilities, introduced automation to improve experimental throughput, and developed assays supporting our drug discovery programs. I now lead platform development and supervise scientists working across our hit-to-lead programs. I particularly enjoy working with my team to solve difficult experimental problems, develop their ideas, and determine which research directions are worth pursuing.
I have authored 19 peer-reviewed publications, received an NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship, and served as principal investigator on two awarded Phase I SBIR grants. In total, I have helped secure more than $1.7 million through competitive research funding, industry partnerships, and commercialization initiatives.
