Dark Matter Blog

Arrakis has gone through many significant transitions since its founding in 2015. We’ve evolved and matured scientifically. We’ve added investors and partners. And, of course, people come and go. Today, we reach a bittersweet transition at Arrakis. We bid our head of research and employee #005, Jim Barsoum, au revoir, as he marches bravely into […]

Back in 2015, I felt compelled to set out in a new direction in drug discovery. I was in my third year as VP of Chemistry for Celgene. This was a great gig – good people, good science. However, it required a level of travel that began to seem excessive. My kids were old enough […]

49 years ago, when I was 16 years old, I wanted to do exactly what I am doing now. The only subject in school that held my interest was biology. As soon as I learned about DNA and RNA, I wanted to be a molecular biologist. I wanted to use molecular biology to create drugs. […]