Before leaving the bench to join Samba Scientific in 2019, Jenna Gallegos earned a bachelors degree in Molecular Biology from CU Boulder and a PhD in Plant Biotechnology from UC Davis. Her scientific background includes traditional molecular biology focused on gene expression and RNA processing in C. Elegans and plants, as well as a post-doc in synthetic biology at Colorado State University. As a graduate student, she received the prestigious NSF-GRFP Fellowship. As a postdoc, she authored or co-authored 10 publications in two years and was awarded a patent in biosecurity.
Jenna is also a skilled writer and avid science communicator. She’s worked as a science journalist at the Washington Post, a feature editor for The Plant Cell and OUP Synthetic Biology, a freelance writer for SynBioBeta and Alliance for Science, and has published over 40 science news stories.
In her time at Samba Scientific, Jenna has worked directly with dozens of life science companies, overseeing their messaging, marketing strategy, and providing creative direction. She’s helped companies move from primarily academic markets into pharma, transition from private to public, secure additional funding, and deliver multi-fold increases in lead generation. She has recruited and trained a team of PhD-level account strategists and standardized processes that deliver proven commercial success for clients. As VP, Jenna oversees all operations at Samba Scientific and remains intimately involved in identifying and securing new business, ideating, and ensuring client success and satisfaction.