Olga Danilchanka, PhD

Olga Danilchanka, PhD

Principal at MRL Ventures Fund, the corporate venture arm of Merck

Olga focuses on investing in preclinical stage companies translating novel biology into human medicines across therapeutics areas of high unmet need. Currently she serves as a Director on the board of Therini Bio and an Observer on the boards of Ambagon Therapeutics, Caraway Therapeutics, Eyebiotech Limited (EyeBio) and PAQ Therapeutics. Prior to joining MRLV in 2018, Olga coordinated the microbiome discovery efforts at the MRL Cambridge Exploratory Science Center, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, and was responsible for identifying immunological pathways through which the microbiome may contribute to disease progression. Prior to joining Merck, Olga was at Epiva Biosciences, a startup founded by Flagship Pioneering (merged with Evelo Biosciences). At Epiva, she helped define the company’s overall strategy and established a microbiology group that identified gut bacteria species that can be used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Olga earned her doctorate in microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and did her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.