Keith Canada

Keith Canada has a diverse work experience spanning over three decades. Currently, they serve as the Vice President & Head of Platform Technology at Aliada Therapeutics since 2022.

Before joining Aliada Therapeutics, Keith worked at Merck from 2015 to 2022. During their tenure at Merck, they held two key roles. From December 2020 to March 2022, they served as a Senior Principal Scientist and was responsible for building large molecule high-throughput screening capabilities to enable formulation development. Keith also played a collaborative role in multiple biologic project teams, influencing experimental designs, selecting analytical readouts, compiling reports, and leading troubleshooting investigations. From August 2015 to December 2020, Keith served as the Director of Enabling Technologies - Protein Engineering. In this role, they led a Protein Engineering group responsible for the directed evolution of biocatalysts and the optimization of therapeutic peptides/proteins. Keith built a Protein Engineering group with 4 labs, equipment, workflow software, and more than 15 Ph.D. scientists.

Prior to Merck, Keith worked at Intrexon Corporation as the Vice President - Ultravector Division from September 2014 to March 2015. In this role, they served as a strategic and tactical leader of the Ultravector division's automated DNA design, construction, and testing activities. Keith also managed a group of 25 employees.

Earlier in their career, Keith held various roles at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals from 2003 to 2014. Keith served as the Senior Associate Director - Antibody Engineering from 2005 to 2014, leading a global biologics lead engineering group responsible for gene recovery, bioinformatic analysis, design and engineering of novel biological therapies, and the formatting of engineered domains. Keith also served as the Senior Scientist - Protein Resources from 2003 to 2005, where they managed a group of 5 employees and streamlined the protein purification department.

Keith's work experience also includes positions at Protein Sciences Corporation as a Project Manager/Scientist from 2001 to 2003, University of Connecticut as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist from 1999 to 2001, Louisiana State University as a Doctoral Student from 1993 to 1998, and Purdue University as a Research Associate and Research Assistant from 1991 to 1993, respectively.

Throughout their career, Keith Canada has demonstrated leadership, scientific expertise, and the ability to build and manage successful teams in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Keith Canada completed their Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Purdue University from 1988 to 1992. Keith then pursued further education and obtained their Ph.D. in Microbiology with a minor in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University between 1993 and 1998. Keith continued their academic journey at the University of Connecticut, where they engaged in Postdoctoral Research from 1999 to 2001, focusing on Protein Directed Evolution.