Mr. Mohammad Modarres, MSc, consults social enterprises that collaborate with the US Equity Holdings management team. As a Vice President, Mr. Modarres works on the due diligence, strategy, market analysis, operations and business development of numerous social impact ventures in the fields of biotechnology, renewable energy, education, environmental conservation, and health and wellness, to name a few. 

BACKGROUND 

Mr. Modarres came on to the US Equity Holdings team to assist its social impact portfolio from a NASA-spinoff initiative. His research on climate change and professional experience in the fields of public health and international development led him to concentrate on the strategy, development and operations of multiple ventures for US Equity Holdings. 

BIOTECHNOLOGY 

Mr. Modarres is a Co-Founder and the Vice President of Mount Tam Biotechnologies. Formed on World Lupus Day 2014, Mount Tam Biotechnologies was established to develop, optimize and bring to market leading medical compounds to improve the health and well-being of millions of people who have been affected by autoimmune diseases. The organization's first and most advanced product focuses on the treatment of lupus. Mount Tam Biotechnologies is working extensively with the world-renowned Buck Institute for Research on Aging. It has an exclusive worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with the Buck Institute, which includes the Institute’s most advanced R&D assets in the area of autoimmune disorders. The license contains TAM-01, a pre-IND stage compound, which represents a promising therapeutic for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus. The agreement also includes other earlier-stage compounds and an extensive library of assets positioned in the autoimmune disease space. The licensed assets are supported by an extensive portfolio of intellectual property consisting of over 45 worldwide issued patents and patent applications, including composition-of-matter, manufacturing and therapeutic-area applications. 

 

BIOMEDICAL 

 

Mr. Modarres is the Vice President of Aelan Cell Technologies. Aelan Cell Technologies is engaged in the research, discovery, development and commercialization of innovative biomedical technologies for the advancement of human health and longevity. Aelan has assembled an experienced team - bringing together scientific and business expertise - to successfully lead its products through each phase of development. With a team of experts led by Dr. Victoria Lunyak, Aelan was established in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Aelan is actively building partnerships with companies that share its goals.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Mr. Modarres was on the Business Development Team of Equity Solar. Equity Solar develops chemistries that improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. Its goal is to improve its customers’ cell efficiency and reduce their cost per watt through innovative silicon surface solutions. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Mr. Modarres was the Team Manager for US Equity Holdings on the Pompeii Sustainable Preservation Project (PSPP). Founded by Fraunhofer IBP, Europe’s largest application-oriented research institute based in Munich, Germany, the initiative was established to protect the UNESCO World Heritage site located at the base of Mount Vesuvius, Italy. 

 

DESIGN

 

As a published political cartoonist featured in such publications as Newsweek.com and the New York Times, Mr. Modarres has won over a dozen national and international contests. His most popular artwork, in memory of 9/11, was donated to the permanent collection of the 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero in New York City.

 

Mr. Modarres currently uses his visual literacy to help startup non-profit and for-profit organizations better brand, market, and develop appealing user experiences for their beneficiaries and stakeholders alike. 

 

His clients include professional athletes, celebrities and high impact entrepreneurs and organizations. 

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Prior to joining Equity Solar, Mohammad’s international development experience included assisting an $80 million USAID funded initiative with CARE International. Based in Rwanda, he co-authored Rwanda's National Climate Vulnerability Report alongside practitioners at World Vision, WinRock International and the United Nations. 

Mr. Modarres has additional international development experience in Western Europe and Southern Africa, including representing the country of Ireland as a United Nations Youth Delegate in Indonesia and assisting with the expansion of FIFA’s Football for Hope – 20 Centres for 2010 initiative to provide community access to public health education services through soccer during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The opportunity allowed him to collaborate with social entrepreneurs from across the continent—from Kenya and Lesotho, to Mali and Rwanda.  

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

A recipient of the Johns Hopkins Provost’s Research Award, Mr. Modarres analyzed the work of social entrepreneurs from around the world, both with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he conducted research for a social entrepreneurship leadership book. His interest in social entrepreneurship began when he created a fair-trade nonprofit initiative as a teenager. He showcased his first products at the United Nations Church Center as an invited panelist who spoke about the social and economic impacts the US-Afghanistan and US-Iraq wars had on the greater region at that time. 

 

Mr. Modarres has sat on the board of multiple international nonprofits. 

 

EDUCATION
 

Mr. Modarres founded The Gertrude School. An academic mentorship program for students from low-income households, the School prepares students for higher education.

MEMBERSHIPS

Mr. Modarres completed his honors degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University. He was awarded more than a dozen awards during college, including the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Research Fellowship, the Michael Bloomberg Scholarship, the Merk Award, and the University's Balanced Man Award. As a Johns Hopkins University nominee for such scholarships as the Truman Foundation Scholarship and the Rhodes Scholarship, Mohammad became the first student to be awarded the National Leadership Honor Society General Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award—a distinction given to only one American student leader each year—as well as the George J. Mitchell National Scholarship in the same year. 

As a Mitchell Scholar, Mr. Modarres was one of just a dozen American student leaders to receive a full scholarship to attend graduate school in Ireland. He completed his Masters of Science in Development, a two-year World Bank accredited degree established at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and funded by the MacArthur Foundation. He attended Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, graduating with First Class Honors (Ireland’s equivalent of summa cum laude), while completing entrepreneurship and innovation training at the Trinity Innovation Campus. He also attended the United Nations Training School in Ireland. Mr. Modarres completed his dissertation on the impact of climate change on water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and food security practices in Rwanda, receiving the highest academic honors for his research.