My Journey: A Decade of Growth, with Bodi Zhang, Chief Strategy Officer

At Thorne, we are always willing to explore new ideas and to stay at the frontline of innovation. What sets Thorne apart from other health and wellness companies is that we invest heavily into more than just one piece of our business. From research to innovation to manufacturing and everything in between, we continue to drive growth and evolve our business with industry-leading health tests, advanced nutritional supplements, and more.

I am Dr. Bodi Zhang, Thorne’s Chief Strategy Officer, and I am responsible for the company’s strategic planning, execution, new business initiatives, and science strategy. I have a PhD in pharmacology and biochemistry from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, an MPH in health-care management from Harvard University, and a MD from Peking University in Beijing, China.

A decade of growth

I have been with Thorne for 10 years, a decade in which we have achieved phenomenal growth and development. In 10 years, we grew from an elite but small supplement manufacturer to the leader of wellness innovation. We interact with innovators and entrepreneurs in the field of health and wellness every day, which makes the work so exciting.

I first heard of Thorne when I was a research assistant professor of pharmacology at Tufts University, where I specialized in skin diseases and drug development. Paul Jacobson, Thorne’s Chief Executive Officer, came to our lab to discuss licensing opportunities of botanical ingredients for anti-allergenic effects. The name Thorne stuck in my mind, and I began to follow what the company did.

I left academia to use my expertise at Deallus Group, a global health-care consultancy firm. During this time, I had the opportunity to meet Paul Jacobson one-on-one and understand more about his vision of creating the world’s best precision wellness solutions. This helped me realize that Thorne is not just a high-quality nutritional supplement manufacturer but a health and wellness pioneer with ambitious goals to revolutionize the industry through science and technology.

That initial meeting left me feeling energized and ready for something new, so I decided to join Thorne and be part of the company’s pursuit of personalized, scientific wellness.

Growing Thorne (THRN) as a publicly traded company

Both my academic training in science and my professional experience in business prepared me well for my career at Thorne. When I joined the company, I was the General Manager of Strategic Collaboration, responsible for our business development and new product launches in East Asian markets. I advanced to Vice President and later Senior Vice President of Strategy, where I collaborated with our leadership team on fundraising, investor engagement, and investments.

In 2018, I became the founding Chief Scientific Officer of Onegevity Health, an AI-driven precision wellness company, until it merged with Thorne in March 2021.

My most exciting and proudest moment at Thorne is our initial public offering (IPO) in September 2021, when Thorne HealthTech became a publicly traded company trading under the ticker symbol THRN on Nasdaq. With 10 years of fast growth, Thorne was at a stage that required more resources to scale its operations.

As one of the core team members on our IPO, we spent almost two years coordinating with all stakeholders. I recall that we had to jump on phone calls with bankers and lawyers at 9 or 10 p.m. on some Saturdays and Sundays. Clearly, we had a lot of sleepless nights, but it was a great learning experience for me.

All the hard work paid off; since going public, we have access to more capital to expand our production capabilities and, more importantly, to generate increased consumer awareness at national and global levels.

Fast decisions, revolutionary ideas

As Chief Strategy Officer, I am responsible for the company’s strategic planning, corporate development, new business initiatives, and science strategy. But it’s not all late-night meetings and sleepless nights.

Although Thorne is no longer a small startup, it maintains a culture of flat, lean management system and fast decision-making process on time-sensitive projects. When we set out to launch a next-generation sequencing-based gut microbiome test kit, we had just one year’s time to figure out the market analysis, science, production, clinical trial process, and regulatory compliance. Our team worked hard and learned much in such a short time.

What we accomplished in that time was game-changing. Thorne’s Gut Health Test kit is a combination of cutting-edge sequencing and patent-pending wipe technology, which has improved the user experience while delivering personalized recommendations for lifestyle, diet, and nutritional supplementation based on each person’s unique gut microbiome composition.

We are proud to carry high-quality, clinically validated health and wellness solutions. My personal favorite is Metabolic Health, a combination of ingredients with solid clinical-trial results for healthy metabolism.* It is one of Thorne’s hero products.

Outside of work, I enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family. During the last six months, I have been spending time on my private pilot license, and hopefully, one day, I can receive my license and fly solo.

It’s been an exciting 10 years at Thorne, and I can’t wait to see what the next decade brings.

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This article is part of an ongoing series from Thorne HealthTech’s Medium blog, where we showcase the individuals behind Thorne’s approach to developing and delivering health and wellness solutions.