About us

David Nickle, Ph.D.

Genetics and Genomics, Immunology, Virology, Evolutionary Biology

Dr. David Nickle comes to Monoceros with a rich biological background and 15 years of drug discovery expertise. He has a strong foundation in the biological sciences, with his early university studies focused on molecular biology, evolutionary genetics & computational biology. His master’s thesis from the University of Nevada involved the application of n-coalescent methods to understanding how genetic variation in free-ranging mice is effected by past climate events and geographic features of the landscape. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. at the University of Washington, applying these population genetics tools to the development of solutions to various infectious diseases. He currently holds an affiliate faculty position at the University of Washington in the Department of Global Health and has published over 130 scientific articles.

Prior to Monoceros, David ran the biologics programs at Gossamer Bio, a clinical stage biotech firm in San Diego, CA. His efforts supported antibody discovery programs as well as antigen design for vaccine development. David worked at Merck Research Labs for 13 years before taking the position at Gossamer Bio. He started at Merck as an individual contributor at the Merck Rosetta site, coming out of a research faculty position at the University of Washington. His initial focus was on genetics and genomics of common diseases. However, he went on to support a variety of programs in the immunological/infectious disease and respiratory space with increasing leadership roles. During his last few years he led programs in infectious disease, designing vaccines against viral and eukaryotic organisms.