Mia Unson

Mia Unson joined Flagship Pioneering in 2020 as part of the legal team where she supports Flagship's intellectual property interests in agriculture and sustainability.

Previously, Mia worked at Inari Agriculture where she helped establish a foundational IP portfolio, and she was a senior patent agent for 12 years with Monsanto Company (now Bayer), where she was responsible for the company’s RNA technology patent portfolio. She began her IP career as a patent agent with the boutique firm David R. Preston and Associates in San Diego.

Mia received her Ph.D. in Oceanography/Marine Chemistry from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her dissertation focused on marine natural products chemistry and microbial/invertebrate symbioses. She was a post-doctoral fellow in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at UCSD, where she worked on actinomycete sulfur biochemistry and developed a patented Mycobacterium immunoassay.

Outside of her professional interests in science and intellectual property, Mia has had a lifelong love of music and animals. She has been a volunteer for German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue in New England and California for over 20 years and currently serves as a trustee of the board of Salt Marsh Opera in CT.