2x founder

Ricky Barrett

Biotech & Pharmaceuticals

Co-founder

Guardian Bio· Summer 2022🇺🇸 Miami, Florida, United States

in LinkedIn

2026Director of BD & IR· Retension Pharmaceuticals

Founder · since 2021

Company

Retension Pharmaceuticals

Role

Director of BD & IR

current

Stage

—

no public source

Raised

—

no public source

Based

—

Founder / co-founder — the company's markEmployee / research role

Source: LinkedIn work history

Profile coverage5 of 7 · missing posts, contact

Guardian Bio

Dendritic cell-based platform for cancer therapy

Summer 2022

Experience

Career

Retension Pharmaceuticals
Director of BD & IR · 2026 – Present
2026
Collage Venture Partners
Entrepreneur in Residence · Miami, Florida, United States · 2025 – 2026
2025
Guardian Bio
Co-founder
Co-Founder and CSO / COO · Boston, Massachusetts, United States · 2022 – 2025
2022
University of Pennsylvania
Visiting Scientist · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States · 2022
2022
University of Pennsylvania
Postdoctoral Research Fellow · Greater Philadelphia · 2019 – 2022
2019
Nucleate
Founder
Leadership Team · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States · 2021 – 2022
2021
University of Central Florida
Graduate Research Assistant - Immunology · Orlando, Florida Area · 2014 – 2018
2014
University of Central Florida
President - Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Association (BSGSA) · 2015 – 2016
2015
University of Central Florida
Lead Teaching Assistant · 2014 – 2015
2014
Sirenas Marine Discovery
Discovery Intern · Greater San Diego Area · 2013 – 2014
2013
Florida Atlantic University
Teachers Assistant · Boca Raton, FL · 2011 – 2013
2011
Florida Atlantic University
Lead Course Facilitator - Challenge/Ropes Course · 2010 – 2013
2010
Florida Atlantic University
Lab Assistant · Boca Raton, FL · 2010 – 2013
2010
Florida Atlantic University
Graduate Council for Council Of Student Organizations (COSO) · Boca Raton, FL · 2011 – 2012
2011
Red Bull
Student Brand Manager · 2008 – 2009
2008

Bio

Co-founder and CSO at Guardian Bio. Ricky started his career as a marine biologist and research diver at FAU with a focus on marine natural products and drug discovery. He pursued a PhD at UCF, focused on immunology followed by a postdoc in cancer immunology and tumor microenvironment at the University of Pennsylvania. Ricky is a prolific science communicator creating educational science content for an audience of over a quarter million followers across various social media platforms.