Dr. Hans Peter Nestler is the founder of Biodarix LifeSciences LLC and a life sciences subject matter expert with the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. He has more than 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and life sciences research, with a focus on identifying and advancing new drug leads. 

He earned a Dr. phil. nat. and Dipl.-Chem. in chemistry from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. Earlier in his career, he served on the faculty at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and completed postdoctoral research at Columbia University. 

From 2006 to 2016, Dr. Nestler served as Director and Distinguished Scientist at Sanofi in Tucson, Arizona. His work contributed to multiple drug candidates, including Factor Xa inhibitors and treatments for cystic fibrosis. From 2016 to 2020, he led a joint project involving Icagen, Sanofi, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and served as Alliance Manager. 

Dr. Nestler has also mentored innovators through Tech Launch Arizona and the NSF I-Corps program. In 2021, he co-founded the biotechnology startup Zafrens and served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development.