Leadership
The executive team steering ClimateCrop's science, operations, and regulatory strategy.
Yehuda Borenstein
CEO & Chief Science Officer
Yehuda Borenstein brings 18 years of plant molecular biology research to ClimateCrop, including a decade at North Carolina State University where he led the cereal stress genomics group. His work identifying osmotic stress regulatory networks in wheat and sorghum laid the scientific groundwork for ClimateCrop's founding programs. He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry from Uppsala University and completed postdoctoral training at The Salk Institute. Borenstein has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and holds 11 patents in plant stress response genetics.
Dr. Marcus Osei
Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Osei oversees ClimateCrop's research operations, field trial network, and seed company partnerships. He previously served as Director of Crop Improvement at CIMMYT's Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa program, where he managed multi-country varietal development across 13 Sub-Saharan African nations. His experience bridging laboratory science and smallholder farming systems is central to ClimateCrop's field-first development philosophy. Dr. Osei holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Wageningen University and was named among Crop Science Society of America's Young Crop Scientists of the Year.
Dr. Priya Nambiar
VP Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Nambiar leads ClimateCrop's regulatory strategy across all major markets. She has over 15 years of experience navigating biotechnology regulation at USDA, EPA, and international agencies including EFSA and ANVISA. Before joining ClimateCrop, she served as Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager at a major agricultural biotechnology company where she led the regulatory submissions for three commercialized trait products. Her expertise in the evolving global regulatory landscape for gene-edited crops is a core competitive asset for ClimateCrop. Dr. Nambiar holds a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology.