Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering (North Carolina State University) and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering (Duke University). He spent over 10 years in the regenerative medicine industry, where he led the development of a cell-based process for manufacturing tissue-engineered blood vessels from the small-scale, pre-clinical phase to the industrial-scale, GMP-compliant phase. For the past 2 years, he’s been the Head of Science at Jellatech, where he is leading the development of a platform technology for producing complex animal proteins, such as collagen, directly from animal cells. In these positions, he has played a key role in fundraising from pre-seed through IPO, specifically in demonstrating the promise of the science/technology and in presenting long-term company strategy. Overall, Rob has a passion for building and developing technical teams to address global challenges as a part of dynamic, emerging companies.