# Yanay Ofran

> Yanay Ofran is an Israeli computational biophysicist and entrepreneur who founded Biolojic Design, co-founded Aulos Bioscience and Ukko, and worked in academic research at Columbia and Bar-Ilan. His career also includes teaching and co-hosting the documentary series Did Herzl Really Say That? with Oren Harman.

- **Role:** Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer at Aulos Bioscience; Founder & CEO at Biolojic Design; Co-founder & Chairman at Ukko
- **Organizations:** Aulos Bioscience, Biolojic Design, Ukko, Bar-Ilan University, Columbia University
- **From:** Jerusalem, Israel
- **Nationality:** Israeli
- **Education:** Undergraduate studies in physics and biology, with a minor in philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ph.D. with distinction in Molecular Biophysics and Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University
- **Known for:** Founded Biolojic Design and co-founded Aulos Bioscience and Ukko., Earned a Columbia doctorate with distinction., Co-authored computational research on protein interfaces with Burkhard Rost.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Completed undergraduate education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- **2003** — Published Analysing six types of protein-protein interfaces with Burkhard Rost.
- **2004** — Awarded his doctorate; subsequent research and teaching at Columbia.
- **2006** — Co-hosted Did Herzl Really Say That? with Oren Harman; listed as presenter for an ISMB tutorial on computing biological function.
- **2008** — Founded Biolojic Design, according to the 2021 Globes profile.
- **2020** — Co-founded Aulos Bioscience with Biolojic Design and ATP; served as founding CEO.
- **2021** — Aron Knickerbocker succeeded him as Aulos CEO on March 15; Ofran remained on the board.
- **2024** — Biolojic Design announced a collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
- **2026** — Continues to be listed as Biolojic Design founder and CEO, Aulos CSO and Ukko co-founder and chairman.

## Achievements

- Founded Biolojic Design and co-founded Aulos Bioscience and Ukko.
- Earned a Columbia doctorate with distinction.
- Co-authored computational research on protein interfaces with Burkhard Rost.
- Co-hosted a seven-part documentary series with Oren Harman.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Discussed curiosity, academic changes of direction and his approach to company leadership in a CTech interview.
- **2026-05** — Biolojic Design posted a technical report about its platform for engineering dual-specific protein designs.

## Links

- Website: http://www.ofranlab.org
- LinkedIn: https://il.linkedin.com/in/yanay-ofran

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yanay-ofran
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21