Founders
Victoria Lunyak, PhD
Founder, CEO & Board Director
Dr. Lunyak’s areas of expertise include epigenetics, genomics and stem cell research. She has a distinguished track record of research discoveries and innovations, as a grant recipient from the International Soros Foundation to her stellar accomplishments in academia. +/-
Dr. Lunyak carried out her research in world-leading institutions, including Brown University, the University of California, San Diego, and most recently, at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.
Her research discoveries have been published in Science, Cell, Genes and Development and other journals, with more than 5,000 scientific citations and coverage in media across the globe. Many of her scientific innovations are patented and licensed worldwide.
Dr. Lunyak has presented hundreds of lectures and seminars at leading universities as well as at national and international scientific meetings. She has served on numerous journal editorial boards as well as study sections, panels and committees for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and many other national and international agencies.
Dr. Lunyak received her Master of Science degree in Biophysics from St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in St. Petersburg, Russia, and earned her PhD in Molecular Biology from the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute at the Russian Academy of Science.
Chester Aldridge
Co-Founder & Chairman of Board
In addition to his role with Aelan, Chester is also the chairman and CEO of US Equity Holdings. Chester has more than twenty years of experience in founding, operating and financing businesses, from startups to multimillion-dollar publicly traded companies. +/-
He has assembled world-class teams and helped raise more than $150 million of private equity for long-term financing of numerous ventures in the fields of entertainment, clean energy (solar and biofuels), Internet and publishing, among others.
Chester has also worked closely with his partners on licensing major Hollywood properties such as Frank Miller's Sin City and numerous Disney brands. He was responsible for securing sales and distribution rights worth tens of millions of dollars from partners including Sony, Atari and Vivendi Universal. His most recent projects are focused on biotechnology and biomedicine.
By working with scientists from research institutes and universities around the globe (NASA, the Buck Institute, Stanford and Fraunhofer), Chester is particularly experienced in understanding innovation-focused culture. This knowledge helps him provide the business and financial infrastructure for early-stage development of innovative products, treatments and technologies.
Walter Afanasieff
Co-Founder
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy Award-winning record producer, songwriter and accomplished musician. Afanasieff is best known for his collaborations with Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, as well as his work on a number of successful Disney motion picture soundtracks. +/-
In 2014, Walter became the head of the composers/producers department at ISINA, which is a worldwide talent search and development mentorship program for those seeking a career in music. In 2015, he became one of the contestant mentors of the Russian TV project "Main Stage."
As a result of his captivating and creative personality, Walter is no stranger to the world of philanthropy and public outreach. He not only has the intellectual gravitas for popularizing music, art and literature, but he also has a unique ability to focus on important causes far beyond the realm of the performing arts. He has been involved with numerous projects related to education, science and advances in human health and longevity. His message has always been loud and clear: to help advance the pursuit of scientific and medical innovation in a sophisticated funding space.