Our Team
Dr Yao Shi
CEO, cofounder
@: yao.shi@cortexorganics.com
After completing his MSci at the University of Cambridge, Yao moved to Oxford where he obtained his DPhil in Organic Chemistry as part of the Synthesis for Biology and Medicine doctoral training program. In his academic career, he is the recipient of multiple awards and has received national recognition in relation to his DPhil work on complex natural product synthesis at the University of Oxford. Since founding, Yao has overseen the rapid growth of Cortex from spin-out to an established international service provider.
Prof. Darren Dixon
CSO, cofounder
@: darren.dixon@cortexorganics.com
Darren Dixon is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He took this post in 2008 following appointments at the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge. Concurrently, he is the Knowles-Williams Tutorial Fellow in organic chemistry at Wadham College and is the Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthesis for Biology and Medicine. His research centres on the development of new catalyst-enabled synthetic methodologies and their application to the synthesis of structurally complex scaffolds, natural products and molecules of biological significance. He has raised >£15M of research council, European Commission and industry sponsored research and training grant income. He has published over 210 primary research papers. His research has been recognised by awards including an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship, the RSC Tilden Prize, the RSC Catalysis in Organic Chemistry Award, the AstraZeneca Research Award and the Novartis Lectureship.