Meet the Team

Ben received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming where he researched tissue engineering and biomaterial design applied to translational medicine. He has spent time as a graduate research fellow at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory where he advised the physiology course in microfluidics and collaborated with the Harvard based Mitchison Lab researching spindle dynamics applied to developmental cellular biology. Ben has worked collaboratively on a range of biomedical engineering projects with the Gladfelter, Anseth, Tibbitt, and Sikes labs at Duke, University of Colorado Boulder, ETH Zurich, and MIT, respectively. He is the author of multiple peer reviewed publications related to biomaterial technologies and holds 6 pending patents in the space. Ben has received numerous entrepreneurial awards for commercialization of his research and is currently supported by National Science Foundation SBIR and Wyoming Business Council grants. Ben’s background as a collegiate Nordic ski athlete and passion for biotherapeutic medicine motivate his entrepreneurial efforts.

John obtained his BS in Chemical Engineering at Penn State University, an MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and performed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. His translational research has generated more than a dozen patents and two startup companies. John worked to commercialize several technologies through the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Technology Development prior to joining the University of Wyoming faculty. His current research focuses on the development of microfluidic technology for high-throughput cellular analysis. Applications include the design and construction of microenvironments to understand fundamental mechanisms of cellular motility; rapid screening of cell-matrix interactions at the single- cell level; and the rational design and evaluation of biomaterials for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and wound healing.

Dr Grieve is the founder and past CEO of the animal health company Heska Corp, which he built to a $1B market cap and NASDAQ listing. In addition to his animal health business experience, he holds more than 50 issued patents, has published nearly 100 peer reviewed articles, and held academic appointments at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Grieve has served on advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Wellcome Trust, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and the World Health Organization.

Dr Kawcak is an equine surgeon at CSU. He is one of the foremost experts on noninvasive imaging techniques, and specializes in advanced diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in sport horses. Dr. Kawcak is diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) and American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation (ACVSMR), Iron Rose Ranch Chair, and shares appointments in the CSU Orthopaedic research center, Translational Medicine Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Department of Biomedical Sciences.

Mr Burke has 40 years of experience in diverse business roles in biotech and biopharmaceutical space including sales, corporate strategy, commercial operations, growth strategy and execution, and multiple executive roles. During his tenure he led a global pharmaceutical organization and directed all functional departments, held multiple board and board chair roles in early-stage healthcare start- ups and non-profits, and recently lead the exit of Hennepin Life Sciences in their acquisition by Dare Biosciences.