Plant-powered
Biotech Beauty

Barbara Paldus

CEO

Barb is a scientist, entrepreneur and investor. Prior to launching Codex Beauty and Sekhmet Ventures, she spent two decades leading innovation in spectroscopy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. By 34, she had founded two Silicon Valley companies that, among many breakthroughs, paved the way for carbon cycle/natural gas pipeline monitoring, and accessible vaccine/cancer therapeutic manufacturing. Barb, earned her Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford, has been awarded 40 U.S. patents and numerous prizes in science.

Sara Kaur

CFO

Sara Kaur directs all aspects of the finances for the business, implementing strategies with a disciplined and risk-managed approach to growth and scale. Sara has spent more than two decades leading global finance operations within the technology and semiconductor industries at companies including Finesse Solutions, Google and Honeywell. Sara’s work experience includes general management and stewardship of the business, compliancy with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and setting up global enterprises. Sara holds a Masters in Finance from Birmingham City University, UK and is a CPA with the California Board of Accountancy.

Terry Petraia

Senior Vice President of operations

Is an industry leader in the areas of quality, manufacturing, research and development and project management. She has been published in peer reviewed scientific publications and has many formulation patents to her credit, including those for stable emulsion and medicated acne cleansing pads. Most recently, she held the position of Vice President Technical Services and Quality at KDC-One Chemaid, where she helped develop processes, analysis, and system improvements.

Tracey Ryan

Managing Director of Codex Beauty Ireland and Master Formulator of Bia

A trained herbalist, Tracey Ryan founded the natural skincare range Bia and guides all stages of formulation, development and production for the plant-based products. Inspired by her passion for nature, Ryan studied organic horticulture and sustainable development at An t-lonad Glas, The Organic College, in Dromcollogher and also holds an advanced degree in herbal science from the Cork Institute of Technology. Ryan has long been committed to supporting the Irish community of farmers and growers, using locally harvested ingredients and botanical-based extraction techniques in her work.

Steve Trzaska

Vice President, Head of Patents and Business Development

Steve is the former head of patents and business development for the U.S. subsidiary of L’Oréal. During his time at L’Oreal, Steve built the first fully functional U.S. patent department, handling all U.S.-originating patent filing, litigation and acquisition-related due diligence. Steve also played a leading role in establishing the group’s first U.S. Open Innovation (later Business Development) organization by successfully negotiating numerous joint development and licensing agreements with many leading universities, including Stanford, McGill University, and UCSD. Steve holds a BA from Temple University and JD from Widener University School of Law.

Konstantina Katcheves

Business Advisor

Konstantina Katcheves is vice president and deputy general counsel at Agilent Technologies, Inc, where she leads the global intellectual property and licensing team. Katcheves also serves as executive general counsel for the company’s Agilent Crosslabs Group, focused on laboratory management. Previously, Konstantina was vice president of intellectual property and technology alliances at the Lonza Group, and, at various points in her career, has led strategy, M&A and joint ventures as a key member of corporate development teams. Konstantina received a BS from the University of California at San Diego, MS from John Hopkins University and JD from the University of Oklahoma.

Asanka Pathiraja

Business Advisor

An honors graduate of the London School of Economics, Asanka spent five plus years as a Wall Street Corporate Attorney at a major NYC AMLaw 50 firm before transitioning to focus on investing in emerging growth companies. He was an early seed investor and advisor to Builder.AI – the winner of the prestigious Europas 2020 “Hottest Artificial Intelligence Company” Virtualitics AI Analytics – an offshoot of CalTech and NASA research, and the prestigious Richard Taittinger (Taittinger Champagne) Gallery in New York’s Lower East Side. Further, alongside Sir Richard Branson, Asanka serves as strategy and operations advisor for Virgin’s New Now Leadership Forum. He was named 40 under 40 by his alma mater, Emory University. Asanka is heavily involved with several Philanthropic causes, namely Prince William’s Wildlife Conservation Charity, Tusk.

Anna-Maria Keaveney

Scientific Advisor

Anna-Maria Keaveney is a medical herbalist practicing at Dunboyne Herbs Clinic in Ireland and a lecturer in the department of biological sciences at Cork Institute of Technology. Since 2000, Keaveney has been a key member of the Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists (IIMH), serving at various times as chair and president, among other roles. She is also on the herbal medicines subcommittee of the Health Products Regulatory Authority in Ireland. Keaveney received her BSc. in Natural Sciences from Trinity College in Dublin, BSc. in herbal medicine from Middlesex University in London and MSc. in Primary Health Care from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Rosari Kingston

Scientific Advisor

Rosari Kingston is a medical herbalist based in West Cork, Ireland. In addition to running her own private practice, Kingston serves as the director of the Irish College of Traditional and Integrative Medicine and is an adjunct lecturer at the University College Cork. Known for combining Irish herbal physician tradition with modern medical knowledge and the latest research, Kingston is a member of the Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists, a professional body committed to the highest standard of training for herbalists, and was part of the founding group that developed the BSc in herbal science for the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). She received a BA and PhD from University College Cork and an MSc from the University of Wales.

Marc Cornell

Scientific Advisor

Marc Cornell is an expert in natural and organic product formulation development and the former vice president of Innovation at Englewood Lab. During his thirty-year career he has worked in research and development roles for Merck, L’Oréal USA and Neostrata among other leading beauty companies. For the last twenty years he has worked primarily on cosmeceuticals and developed numerous transformational textures for the sensorial skincare category. Cornell received a BS from Elizabethtown College.

Anat Lebow, MD, FAAD

Dermatology Advisor

Dr. Lebow specializes in medical and cosmetic dermatology for women, men, and children of all ages. She is a board certified dermatologist who graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Medicine, during which time she was elected to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. She continued her training in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals before completing her dermatology residency at Montefiore Medical Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She is now in private practice in New York City.

Her areas of expertise include inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis, atopic/eczematous dermatitis, sun damaged skin, skin cancers, and aging skin. She believes in prevention of photodamage, inflammatory environmental accelerators and keeping your skin healthy and rejuvenated.

She presently advises and treats her patients and teachers the residents as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Raja Sivamani, MD, AP

Dermatology Advisor

Dr. Raja Sivamani is a board-certified dermatologist, bioengineer, and Ayurvedic
practitioner. He practices at his medical and surgical dermatology clinic at Pacific
Skin Institute and his integrative research, aesthetics, and wellness clinic at Zen
Dermatology. He serves as the Director of Clinical Research at Integrative
Skin Science and Research and in the Department of Dermatology at the
University of California, Davis as well as the Co-Director of the Microbiome
Research Initiative at the California State University, Sacramento. He merges
modern research and science with a personalized approach to each patient. His
training in Ayurvedic medicine lets him take a more humanistic approach to
patient care, science, and research. Dr. Sivamani has over 120 peer-reviewed
publications and a textbook on cosmeceuticals. He leads many clinical studies
that focus on the impacts of foods, nutrition, botanicals, cosmeceuticals, the
microbiome, and the gut-skin axis as well as studies on standard Western
medications and devices. He serves as one of the lead editors for LearnSkin.com and a chair for the annual Integrative Dermatology Symposium. 

Proven Efficacy

Our claims are not just fluff, they’re facts. We conduct clinical tests and publish the data to prove how our products perform. You’ll see real results in your skin.

Uncompromising Sustainability

We minimize the environmental impact of every aspect of our operation. Our product tubes are carbon-reducing polyethylene from renewable sugar cane and our cartons are PSC-certified. Everything is fully recyclable. We’ve minimized our carbon footprint in shipping and distribution, too.

International Compliance

Every country has their own cosmetics laws. We comply with those regulations and register with governmental health authorities wherever we are sold.

Patented Formulations

Our technology complexes are not only patented, they’re disruptive. Whether it’s plant-based hydration (Bia Complex™) or our food-grade preservation system (PreservX™) we innovate formulas that take skincare to a whole new level.

Controlled Supply Chain

We know what’s in every tube, literally. We control the complete supply chain — from sustainable wild harvesting through pharma-grade clean processes and our airless packaging — to achieve the highest quality possible.

ISO 22716 Certified Manufacturing

We apply current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) to our production process to create consistent high quality and performance as well as prevent contamination.