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We understand that whole-body health and wellness is tied to the complex ecosystem of microorganisms that is the microbiome, and that addressing imbalances in the microbiome transform people’s lives from the inside.
Our mission is simple: to improve the lives of millions through microbiome products. To that end, we create products that have the power and efficacy of a pharmaceutical with the safety and accessibility of a probiotic.
Colleen Cutcliffe has an impressive background leading and managing biology teams. She’s a scientist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Johns Hopkins University and has held senior positions at bioscience and pharmaceutical firms. She’s also a mom, not to mention our CEO.
Colleen and her two co-founders, John and Jim, saw an opportunity to apply next-generation DNA sequencing technologies and microbiological assays to the emerging microbiome science space. Using these data, they could create metabolic maps of the microbiome and use systems biology to make novel insights into the microbiome. This scientific trio was uniquely positioned to bring new products to the world.
It was her role as a mom, however, that inspired her to team up with her two former colleagues and create Pendulum. Colleen’s first daughter was born eight weeks prematurely. That meant instead of heading home that day with mom and dad, she was whisked away to the NICU for four weeks, receiving multiple doses of antibiotics as a precautionary measure due to her fragile state.
Multiple publications have shown the longer term chronic risks associated with early antibiotics. This led Colleen, John and Jim on their journey to find a safe solution for those who struggle with chronic issues that are the result of a disrupted microbiome. And, this set the stage for the vision of the company to create a new generation of natural products that have proven efficacy.
After nearly a decade of research, Pendulum Glucose Control was born and remains a central part of Colleen and her daughter's wellness.
Colleen Cutcliffe is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. She has more than 15 years of experience leading and managing biology teams in academia, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Prior to starting Pendulum, Colleen was the senior manager of biology at Pacific Biosciences and a scientist at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Colleen completed her postdoctoral studies at Northwestern’s Children’s Memorial Hospital. Colleen received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College.
“I am excited to be at Pendulum working towards unlocking the promise of the microbiome and building products to improve the health and lives of millions of people. Leading a team of world-class experts in medicine, lab science, manufacturing, finance and commercialization who work together fantastically makes my job easy.”
Jim Bullard is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. Prior, Jim served as a senior staff scientist at Pacific Biosciences. Prior to co-founding Pendulum, Jim completed his Ph.D. in Biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. in Computing & Information Systems at Northwestern University. He has a passion for experimental design, programming languages, and taking long walks with his dog.
“I feel fortunate to be working with smart, motivated people on interesting problems. Building products that help people is incredibly motivating.”
John Eid is the Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. John has led technology development teams for nearly two decades in diverse areas that include advanced microscopy, single molecular detection and analyses, automated data acquisition systems, biophysical systems modeling, and genome sequencing applications. Prior to co-founding Pendulum, John was a principal scientist at Pacific Biosciences. John completed his postdoctoral research at the Roland Institute at Harvard University, received his Ph.D. in Biophysics and Computational Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and his B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University.
“It is exciting to have a front row seat on the evolution of the microbiome field from a purely academic endeavor into a field that is actually helping people in the here and now.”
Orville Kolterman has been the Chief Medical Officer at Pendulum since its launch. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Orville has held a successful and distinguished 40 year medical career. During his 20 year tenure at Amylin, Orville served as the Chief Medical Officer, creating two of the most successful drugs, SYMLIN and BYETTA, which are among the most widely used diabetes drugs today. Before Amylin, Orville was the Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center and Medical Director of the Diabetes Center at the University of California Medical Center. Orville has served as a board member for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and is a past President of the California Affiliate of the ADA. . Following graduation from the University of Kansas with a B.A. degree, Orville received a medical degree from Stanford University. He then completed his medical internship and residency at the University of Chicago prior to returning to Stanford for specialty training in Endocrinology and Metabolism.
"I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with an exceptionally talented group of individuals at Pendulum pursuing further understanding of the human microbiome and discovering ways that its power can be harnessed to improve the lives of people impacted by various medical problems."
Colleen Cutcliffe is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. She has more than 15 years of experience leading and managing biology teams in academia, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Prior to starting Pendulum, Colleen was the senior manager of biology at Pacific Biosciences and a scientist at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Colleen completed her postdoctoral studies at Northwestern’s Children’s Memorial Hospital. Colleen received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College.
“I am excited to be at Pendulum working towards unlocking the promise of the microbiome and building products to improve the health and lives of millions of people. Leading a team of world-class experts in medicine, lab science, manufacturing, finance and commercialization who work together fantastically makes my job easy.”
Jim Bullard is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. Prior, Jim served as a senior staff scientist at Pacific Biosciences. Prior to co-founding Pendulum, Jim completed his Ph.D. in Biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. in Computing & Information Systems at Northwestern University. He has a passion for experimental design, programming languages, and taking long walks with his dog.
“I feel fortunate to be working with smart, motivated people on interesting problems. Building products that help people is incredibly motivating.”
John Eid is the Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Pendulum. John has led technology development teams for nearly two decades in diverse areas that include advanced microscopy, single molecular detection and analyses, automated data acquisition systems, biophysical systems modeling, and genome sequencing applications. Prior to co-founding Pendulum, John was a principal scientist at Pacific Biosciences. John completed his postdoctoral research at the Roland Institute at Harvard University, received his Ph.D. in Biophysics and Computational Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and his B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University.
“It is exciting to have a front row seat on the evolution of the microbiome field from a purely academic endeavor into a field that is actually helping people in the here and now.”
Orville Kolterman has been the Chief Medical Officer at Pendulum since its launch. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Orville has held a successful and distinguished 40 year medical career. During his 20 year tenure at Amylin, Orville served as the Chief Medical Officer, creating two of the most successful drugs, SYMLIN and BYETTA, which are among the most widely used diabetes drugs today. Before Amylin, Orville was the Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center and Medical Director of the Diabetes Center at the University of California Medical Center. Orville has served as a board member for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and is a past President of the California Affiliate of the ADA. . Following graduation from the University of Kansas with a B.A. degree, Orville received a medical degree from Stanford University. He then completed his medical internship and residency at the University of Chicago prior to returning to Stanford for specialty training in Endocrinology and Metabolism.
"I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with an exceptionally talented group of individuals at Pendulum pursuing further understanding of the human microbiome and discovering ways that its power can be harnessed to improve the lives of people impacted by various medical problems."
Board of Directors
Adam D’augelli
Partner
True Ventures
Colleen Cutcliffe
CEO
pendulum therapeutics
Craig Sherman, General Partner
Meritech Capital
Heather Mason
Fmr. SVP
Abbott Nutrition
Fmr. SVP
Abbott Diagnostics
Hugh Martin
CEO
Lacuna Technologies
Sensity Biosystems (acq Verizon)
Pacific Biosciences (IPO)
ONI Systems (IPO)
John Eid
CSO
pendulum therapeutics
Peter Barton Hutt, Senior Counsel
Senior Counsel
Covington & Burling
Fmr. General Counsel
FDA
Roelof Botha
Seed & Early, Growth Partner
Sequoia Capital
Medical Advisory Board
Anne Peters, MD
DIRECTOR, CLINICAL DIABETES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PRIVATE PRACTICE
Carol Wysham, MD
PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
PRACTITIONER
ROCKWOOD MULTICARE CENTER FOR DIABETES
Davida Krueger, NP
NURSE PRACTITIONER
HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM
CHAIR
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION (ADA) RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Emeran Mayer, MD
DIRECTOR, OPPENHEIMER CENTER FOR NEUROBIOLOGY OF STRESS AND RESILIENCE
PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE
UCLA
Jay Pasricha, MD
Chief of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
John Buse, MD
CHAIR, DIVISION OF ENDOCRINOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Purna Kashyap, MBBS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MEDICINE
MAYO CLINIC
Robert Ratner, MD
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
VIRTA HEALTH
FMR CHIEF SCIENTIFIC & MEDICAL OFFICER
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION
Scientific Advisory Board
Alfred Spormann, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR, CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Christopher Mason, Ph.D.
Professor
WEILL Cornell medicine
Director of Emerging Genome Technologies
Tempus Labs, Inc.
Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D.
CEO
NEUBASE THERAPEUTICS
CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN GENETICS
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Eric Schadt, Ph.D.
FOUNDER & CEO
SEMA4
DEAN FOR PRECISION MEDICINE
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Peter Turnbaugh, Ph.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY
UCSF
Inspired by our mission? We’re always on the lookout for the best and brightest to help bring innovative microbiome solutions to life.
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