About Us

Dr. Padman, Astron's CMO, studied Natural Sciences at Queens’ College, Cambridge, before completing his medical degree at King's College London. He has held prestigious academic research and clinical posts at leading teaching hospitals in London. Known for his pioneering research around drug repurposing in oncology, he has published groundbreaking clinical outcome data in high impact factor peer-reviewed journals, and even recevied coverage from The Economist for his impactful work.

Travis Christofferson, Astron's Chief Science Officer, is a leading figure in modern oncology and the author of Curable, Ketones: The Fourth Fuel, and Tripping Over the Truth. He earned a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from Montana State University's Honors College and a master's in material engineering and science from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. As a former full-time science writer and founder of the Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Therapies, Travis brings extensive expertise to Astron's research initiatives.

Ben Whately, Astron's CEO, co-founded Memrise, a language learning app with over 80 million users worldwide. He holds a Master's in Experimental Psychology from Oxford, focusing on neural networks and computational modeling of human learning. As an active angel investor, he has invested in and advised more than 50 UK startups, emphasizing impactful ventures in medical technology, AI, machine learning, and climate technology.

Myuran studied at Imperial College London where he obtained a Masters in Computing. A multiple time founder and CTO, Myuran has over 15 years of experience building complex machine learning platforms at scale. Myuran leads our seasoned engineering team to develop the proprietary machine learning model that power's the Astron platform.

Dr. Kuhan trained at Imperial College London, earning a BSc in Surgery and Anaesthesia. He completed foundation and core medical training at hospitals including St Mary’s and St Bartholomew’s, gaining significant oncology experience at leading centers like UCL and the Royal Marsden. Following a research fellowship at Barts Cancer Institute targeting cancer stem cells, he developed translational phase 1 trials and served as lead sub-investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK.

Dr. Shivan Sivakumar, is a research-active oncologist dedicated to transforming outcomes for patients with pancreatic, liver, and biliary tract cancers. With expertise spanning early diagnosis, clinical trials, and disease biology, he bridges cutting-edge research with clinical practice. Dr. Sivakumar earned his PhD in Biochemistry from St. John's College, Cambridge, and his medical degree from Queen Mary's, University of London. Currently serving as Associate Professor in Oncology at the University of Birmingham and Honorary Consultant at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, he previously held prestigious positions at the University of Oxford as a Bristol Myers Squibb Translational Fellow and NIHR Clinical Career Development Fellow. His work continues to drive innovation in gastrointestinal oncology and precision medicine.

Dr. Gaya is a Clinical Oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal cancers, including those of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, colon, rectum, and anus. Qualified at St George’s Hospital Medical School with distinction, he trained at Imperial College and St Bartholomew’s Hospital and completed a Cancer Research UK MD Fellowship at UCL. A pioneer in radiotherapy techniques like SABR and CyberKnife, he also leads research in cancer imaging and immunotherapy, with numerous peer-reviewed publications and roles on clinical trial boards.

Dr. Meakin is a physician with 35 years of experience integrating metabolic health strategies into cancer care. After studying economics and pre-medicine at Notre Dame and completing a residency in radiation oncology at Stanford, he pioneered practical, evidence-based interventions such as balance training, diet adjustments, and repurposed medications to enhance patient outcomes. Co-founding Meakin Metabolic Care in 2022, he continues to advance accessible, low-cost cancer care solutions.

Since studying developmental genetics in the Zoology Department at the University of Cambridge, Sam has spent the last five years working in drug discovery where he applies machine learning to uncover new cancer treatments. Focused on the intersection of chemistry and biology he has worked to develop combinations of drugs which target synthetically lethal gene pairs for personalized medicine, as well as in the discovery of therapeutics which can modulate biomolecular condensates.