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Professor Michael Fenn Print bio

Professor Michael Fenn

Michael Fenn, Ph.D. is the Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Harvard Innovation Labs. He is Biomedical Engineer, Entrepreneur, and Startup Advisor working within the Harvard innovation and entrepreneur ecosystem to create, develop, and grow new life science and healthcare ventures. Mike is leveraging his scientific and engineering research expertise, as well as experience with technical and business strategy, consulting for startups and venture capital.

Ultimately, his goal is to influence the life science and healthcare space in order to advance the delivery of medicine and improve patient outcomes while also having a positive economic impact.

Presently, Mike is serving as cofounder, advisor, consultant, and board member of multiple startups and incubators, including as Scientific Advisor for Nexien BioPharma; Council member and consultant at GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group); Scientific Advisory Board Member at BioFuse Medical Technologies, JointechLabs, and Spectrum Capital Management; and Advisor for U.S. Business Strategy at BRECA Health Care.

Since 2010, he is also Cofounder and CEO of SciCoLab Ventures based in Melbourne, Florida. They provide technical and business strategy consulting for a variety of entrepreneurial ventures in a number of rapidly growing sectors of science, medicine, and engineering, focusing on early-stage startups, IP development, and technology commercialization.

In the past he served as Science Advisor for TekCapital, as Member of Board of Directors at Jackson Hole Technology Partnership, as Chief Scientific Officer and Cofounder of Disruption Labs, as Ambassador at The Center for Advancing Innovation, as Member of Board of Advisors at Virsum, as Mentor at Groundswell Ventures, as Manager of Cell Culture Laboratory at Particle Engineering Research Center at The University of Florida, as Materials Science and Solid State Chemistry Research Intern at Bristol-Myers Squibb, and as Intraoperative Neurophysiology Technician at Biotronic NeuroNetwork.

Mike earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida in 2013. He earned his Master’s degree of Science in Material Science and Engineering in 2011 and his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry from University of Florida in 2007. For a year he attended Chemistry at the University of Oregon in 2002.

Between 2008 and 2011, he was a Graduate Research Assistant, and after 2011, he became a Ph.D. Research Assistant.

Mike also held many roles at Florida Institute of Technology. He was an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering for 5 years starting in 2013. Since 2014, he was also the Director of the Center for Medical Materials and Biophotonics, and Affiliate Assistant Professor for the Department of Physics.

As the director of the Center for Medical Materials and Biophotonics, he worked with biomedical engineering faculty and international collaborators, who initiated a pioneering research center that delivers world-class research in: advanced biomaterials, focusing on the nano-bio-interface for biologically inspired tissue engineering applications; medical photonics, including Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence-based sensing applications, cell-based and in-vitro diagnostics, nanoparticle systems for optical biosensors, and toxicology screening platforms; and biomaterials characterization techniques combined with machine learning and advanced data analytics.

Mike’s accomplishments include:

  • He established a research lab while managing up to 10 students and post-docs focused on nanomaterials, biomaterials, optics/photonics, and oncology with applications in medical and surgical devices, drug delivery platforms, and in-vitro diagnostics.
  • Secured over $1.75 Million of research funding; including an NIH funded grant for 3D printing of tissue engineered composites, and multiple industry contracts for advanced materials R&D.
  • Cofounded the Center for Medical Materials and Biophotonics; acquired over $750,000 of major research instrumentation via grant funding and industry partnerships.
  • Participated in Florida Tech Business Launching Station startup incubator program; resulted in the co-founding of a drug toxicity screening startup.
  • Coauthored one textbook, published 21 scientific papers, and presented at over 50 major conferences, giving invited talks at Stanford MedX, Columbia’s Startup Lab, and Mayo Ventures.
  • Achieved full six-year ABET engineering education accreditation upon inaugural review serving as co-coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering Department accreditation committee.
  • Featured on the cover of Florida Tech Discovery Magazine twice (Fall 2015 and Spring 2016).

Learn about How to Start a Startup: Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences and Healthcare. Read Mike’s take on Building Our Tomorrow: The Future of Ontario’s Infrastructure.

Visit his LinkedIn profile. Follow him on Twitter.

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