David Rabuka BS, MS, PhD

David Rabuka received a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley as a Chevron Fellow in the lab of Professor Carolyn Bertozzi. Prior to joining Professor Bertozzi’s lab, Dr. Rabuka worked at the Burnham Institute synthesizing complex carbohydrates and cholesterol derivatives. Her he developed methodology for sialic acid glycosylation. He joined Optimer Pharmaceuticals as an early employee, focused on the development of glycan and macrolide based antibiotics as well as exploratory research and lead optimization.

Dr. Rabuka graduated with a double honors B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan where he received the Dean’s Science Award and holds an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Alberta.

He is an author on over 30 major publications, as well as numerous book chapters and patents. In 2008 he co-founded Redwood Bioscience, a company built on a site-specific conjugation platform applied to the generation of antibody drug conjugates.

Redwood Bioscience was acquired by Catalent Pharma in 2014 where Dr. Rabuka is currently the Global Head of R&D, Chemical Biology.