Are you working on an innovation you think should be spun out into a startup? What resources are available to help? How can you become involved in the innovation ecosystem in St. Louis?
Join us for “OTM Office Hours”, a program series from the Washington University Office of Technology Management covering the latest topics in tech transfer and innovation.
Come join the last Office Hours of 2024, where we will be exploring “The Founder’s Perspective”. We will be joined by four academic startup founders, with experience starting companies both here at WashU and at other institutions.
OTM is pleased to welcome:
Cory Berkland, PhD
Dr. Cory Berkland is a professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry at Washington University in Saint Louis. Previously, he was a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Kansas.
He received MS and PhD degrees from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in Ames. His lab studies pharmaceuticals and materials with an emphasis on molecular design and transport in the human body, and more recently, wearable technologies.
He is a co-founder of Orbis Biosciences (acquired by Adare Pharmaceuticals), Savara Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SVRA), Bond Biosciences, Kinimmune, Axioforce, and other start-ups. He has served as a board member, C-level executive, and secured funding for these companies. He also has experience in Biotech investing and worked as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sofinnova Investments.
Christine O’Brien, PhD
Dr. Christine O’Brien is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington
University in St. Louis with a secondary appointment in the Department of Obstetrics &
Gynecology. Her research is focused on developing and translating non-invasive optical
spectroscopy and imaging tools to solve global problems in maternal-fetal health. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University and completed postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine in the Department of Radiology.
She launched her independent research program with projects focused on the development of novel wearable sensors for the early detection of postpartum hemorrhage and novel strategies for preterm birth detection and investigation. She has a startup company, Armor Medical Inc, that is working to commercialize the postpartum hemorrhage sensor technology that has been developed in her lab.
Jordan Russell, PhD
Dr. Jordan Russell is the founder and CEO of Gateway Quantum Electronics, a St. Louis-based start-up developing hardware for quantum computers and a member of the 2023 Arch Grants cohort. He completed his PhD in Physics at Washington University in St. Louis in 2019, where he studied the quantum electronic and optical properties of atomically-thin materials.
As one of the inaugural postdoctoral scientists for WUSTL’s Center for Quantum Leaps he led the development of novel superconducting single-photon detectors and the production of quantum noise-limited microwave amplifiers. His passions include scientific entrepreneurship, technology transfer, gardening, cats, and exotic hardware.
Lan Yang, PhD
Professor Lan Yang is an accomplished engineer, physicist, entrepreneur, and academic leader, known for her groundbreaking work in the field of nanophotonics. She has been recognized as one of the highly cited researchers by Clarivate each year since 2019. Currently, she is the Edwin H. and Florence G. Skinner professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on light-matter interactions in high-quality nanophotonics systems, which have found a broad range of applications, including communication, environmental monitoring, quantum technologies, sensing, spectroscopy, and imaging, etc. In addition to her academic role, Professor Yang is also a co-founder, chief technology officer, and board member of DeepSight Technology, a startup dedicated to developing advanced therapeutic and diagnostic tools and systems aimed at improving patient outcomes and making healthcare more effective and accessible. In addition, she is serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Photonics Research, ranked 12th out of 98 journals in the optics category according to the Journal Citation Reports (Source Clarivate, 2023).
Professor Yang received her BS from the University of Science and Technology of China and her PhD in Applied Physics from Caltech in 2005. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the NSF CAREER Award in 2010 and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2010. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), APS (American Physical Society), and AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science).
