# J. Robert Coleman

> J. Robert Coleman, PhD, MBA, is Chairman and CEO of HERVolution Therapeutics, a Copenhagen-based biotech developing immunotherapies that target human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) - the ancient viral DNA lodged in the dark genome that reawakens in cancer, aging, and neurodegeneration. A trained virologist, he co-founded Codagenix, where he built a synthetic-biology vaccine platform into a clinical-stage pipeline and raised nearly half a billion dollars before pivoting to HERVs in late 2023.

- **Role:** Chairman and CEO at HERVolution Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** HERVolution Therapeutics, Codagenix Inc. (co-founder, former CEO), Stony Brook University Center for Biotechnology (advisory)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Tulane University, PhD, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (mentor: Dr. Eckard Wimmer), Stony Brook University, MBA, New York Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded Codagenix and served as CEO through late-stage clinical development., Raised up to $498M in combined public and private financing at Codagenix., Brought three vaccines into clinical trials using the Codagenix platform.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Earned PhD at Stony Brook under virologist Eckard Wimmer, working on codon-pair virus recoding.
- **2011** — Co-founded Codagenix Inc. to build a synthetic-biology vaccine platform based on viral recoding.
- **2013** — Named a Top Young Entrepreneur, Long Island.
- **2016** — Selected for Stony Brook 40 Under Forty, Science & Engineering category.
- **2020** — Codagenix dosed first patient in Phase 1 trial of COVI-VAC / CoviLiv, an intranasal live-attenuated COVID-19 vaccine.
- **2022** — Presented at Jefferies Healthcare Conference as CEO of Codagenix.
- **2023-12** — Appointed Chairman and CEO of HERVolution Therapeutics.
- **2024-12** — Closed $11.7M Series A for HERVolution.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Codagenix and served as CEO through late-stage clinical development.
- Raised up to $498M in combined public and private financing at Codagenix.
- Brought three vaccines into clinical trials using the Codagenix platform.
- Published in Science, Nature Biotechnology, and PNAS.
- Closed $11.7M Series A at HERVolution in December 2024 to advance dark-genome immunotherapies.
- Stony Brook 40 Under Forty honoree, 2016.

## Latest updates

- **2024-12** — HERVolution announced an $11.7M Series A to advance HERV-targeted immunotherapies for cancer and diseases of aging.
- **2023-12** — Appointed Chairman and CEO of HERVolution Therapeutics.

## Links

- Website: https://hervolutiontx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-robert-coleman-b263b610/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MlifuRkPQw

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robert-coleman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-08