Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. appointed Rik Derynck, Ph.D. as a scientific founder of the company. Rik Derynck, Ph.D. is currently a Professor in the Departments of Cell and Tissue Biology, and Anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as Co-Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Biology at UCSF. For the past twenty years, Dr. Derynck's lab has been focusing on the characterization of TGF- signaling mechanisms through activation of its receptors and the roles of the TGF--activated pathways in epithelial plasticity and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. His research has greatly impacted its understanding of TGF- family, with many mechanistic and conceptual advances originating from his lab, and has helped to provide the basis for therapeutic approaches based on inhibition of TGF- signaling. Among other awards, Dr. Derynck has been elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.