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About
OraLiva leadership comes from the diagnostics and life sciences industries with extensive experience in clinical laboratory logistics, artificial intelligence, microfluidics, and manufacturing. We have an exceptional Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with strong industry connections.
Meet the Team
Anna Grassini
President and Founder CEO
John T. McDevitt, PhD
Founder, Chief Scientist, Prolific Inventor, Leading Expert in Clinical Medical Microdevices
Contact: mcdevitt@oraliva.com
Dr. John T. McDevitt is the Scientific Founder and a shareholder of Oraliva, Inc. He is Full Professor in the Department of Biomaterials at NYU Dentistry and a member of NYU’s Bioengineering Institute . He also holds a joint appointment at Tandon School of Engineering (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering). Prior to coming to New York, Dr. McDevitt was the Brown-Weiss Professor of Bioengineering and Chemistry at Rice University (2009-2014). He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Texas at Austin where he was positioned for 20 years. McDevitt completed his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Stanford University.
Professor McDevitt is a pioneer in the development of ‘programmable bio-nano-chip’ technologies. He has a strong track record of translating essential bioscience, artificial intelligence and medical microdevice discoveries into real-world clinical practice. He has served as the Scientific Founder for a number of diagnostic and clinical services companies. McDevitt and his team have raised over $45M in Federal and Foundation support. His recent research has been sponsored by major programs funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at NIH, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Army and the United Kingdom’s Home Office Scientific Development Branch.
Professor McDevitt and his team have written more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and have contributed to more than 100 patents and patent applications. The work was recognized with the “2016 AACC Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award,”“Best of What's New Award” in the Medical Device Category for 2008 by Popular Science as well as for the “Best Scientific Advances Award” in 1998 by the Science Coalition. Dr. McDevitt’s individual honors include the Presidential Young Investigator Award, the 2010 California Polytechnic Distinguished Alumni Award and the Exxon Education Award. Over the past 10 years, Dr. McDevitt has served as the Principal Investigator for 6 major clinical trials and 2 clinical pilot studies, all involving the programmable bio-nano-chip. Through these clinical efforts, mini-sensor ensembles are being developed for major diseases in the areas of oral cancer, cardiac heart disease, trauma, drugs of abuse, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.
Contact: mcdevitt@oraliva.com
Dr. John T. McDevitt is the Scientific Founder and a shareholder of Oraliva, Inc. He is Full Professor in the Department of Biomaterials at NYU Dentistry and a member of NYU’s Bioengineering Institute . He also holds a joint appointment at Tandon School of Engineering (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering). Prior to coming to New York, Dr. McDevitt was the Brown-Weiss Professor of Bioengineering and Chemistry at Rice University (2009-2014). He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Texas at Austin where he was positioned for 20 years. McDevitt completed his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Stanford University.
Professor McDevitt is a pioneer in the development of ‘programmable bio-nano-chip’ technologies. He has a strong track record of translating essential bioscience, artificial intelligence and medical microdevice discoveries into real-world clinical practice. He has served as the Scientific Founder for a number of diagnostic and clinical services companies. McDevitt and his team have raised over $45M in Federal and Foundation support. His recent research has been sponsored by major programs funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at NIH, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Army and the United Kingdom’s Home Office Scientific Development Branch.
Professor McDevitt and his team have written more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and have contributed to more than 100 patents and patent applications. The work was recognized with the “2016 AACC Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award,”“Best of What's New Award” in the Medical Device Category for 2008 by Popular Science as well as for the “Best Scientific Advances Award” in 1998 by the Science Coalition. Dr. McDevitt’s individual honors include the Presidential Young Investigator Award, the 2010 California Polytechnic Distinguished Alumni Award and the Exxon Education Award. Over the past 10 years, Dr. McDevitt has served as the Principal Investigator for 6 major clinical trials and 2 clinical pilot studies, all involving the programmable bio-nano-chip. Through these clinical efforts, mini-sensor ensembles are being developed for major diseases in the areas of oral cancer, cardiac heart disease, trauma, drugs of abuse, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.
Tim Alcorn, PhD
Regulatory Consultant, Launched Numerous FDA Approved Clinical Tests
Contact: alcorn@oraliva.com
Dr. Tim Alcorn is an experienced clinical chemist and molecular biologist with more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Throughout his career he has worked in a variety of healthcare sectors including reference laboratories, medical device manufacturing, medical software development, in vitro device development, and pharmaceutical development. He has extensive experience in infectious diseases having been the laboratory director at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology where he developed advanced clinical assays and ran a laboratory that generated over $50 million in revenue. In addition, he was Director of Clinical Affairs at Janssen Diagnostic Inc. where is helped bring new diagnostics and software to the global market to support the launch of drugs for the treatment of HIV and HCV. Dr. Alcorn has also overseen the development and global commercialization of medical devices including a handheld ultrasound device and wearable sensors for monitoring ECG and patient vitals. Dr. Alcorn served on the scientific advisory board for Roche Diagnostics for several years as well as other diagnostic companies. In addition, he has authored numerous publications, book chapters, and international clinical chemistry guidelines. Over the years Dr. Alcorn has also gained significant experience in global reimbursement, health economics, and commercialization. Additionally, Dr. Alcorn has experience in device and diagnostic regulations and has helped numerous companies develop regulatory strategies for their products. Currently Dr. Alcorn is an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s graduate regulatory science department where he teaches courses in IVD regulation and translational biotechnology. Dr. Alcorn is a HIPAA Privacy and Security Expert and served as the privacy officer for a health medical records system. Dr. Alcorn started his career at the University of North Carolina working on sexually transmitted diseases pathobiology and vaccine development.
Dr. Alcorn has a Phd from the University of Sciences in Philadephia and B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia.
Contact: alcorn@oraliva.com
Dr. Tim Alcorn is an experienced clinical chemist and molecular biologist with more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Throughout his career he has worked in a variety of healthcare sectors including reference laboratories, medical device manufacturing, medical software development, in vitro device development, and pharmaceutical development. He has extensive experience in infectious diseases having been the laboratory director at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology where he developed advanced clinical assays and ran a laboratory that generated over $50 million in revenue. In addition, he was Director of Clinical Affairs at Janssen Diagnostic Inc. where is helped bring new diagnostics and software to the global market to support the launch of drugs for the treatment of HIV and HCV. Dr. Alcorn has also overseen the development and global commercialization of medical devices including a handheld ultrasound device and wearable sensors for monitoring ECG and patient vitals. Dr. Alcorn served on the scientific advisory board for Roche Diagnostics for several years as well as other diagnostic companies. In addition, he has authored numerous publications, book chapters, and international clinical chemistry guidelines. Over the years Dr. Alcorn has also gained significant experience in global reimbursement, health economics, and commercialization. Additionally, Dr. Alcorn has experience in device and diagnostic regulations and has helped numerous companies develop regulatory strategies for their products. Currently Dr. Alcorn is an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s graduate regulatory science department where he teaches courses in IVD regulation and translational biotechnology. Dr. Alcorn is a HIPAA Privacy and Security Expert and served as the privacy officer for a health medical records system. Dr. Alcorn started his career at the University of North Carolina working on sexually transmitted diseases pathobiology and vaccine development.
Dr. Alcorn has a Phd from the University of Sciences in Philadephia and B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia.
Glennon Simmons
Engineering, Microfluidics, Assays, Entrepreneur
Contact: simmons@oraliva.com
Glennon W. Simmons is an inventor, entrepreneur and creative problem solver with over two decades of experience developing and commercializing lab-on-a-chip devices, instrumentation, and immunoassays for in vitro diagnostic applications. Glennon’s career has been devoted to developing compact portable diagnostic platforms that have potential to reduce cost and increase access to health care, while improving the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis. Most of Glennon’s career has been spent working for the McDevitt Laboratory, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers conducting grant-based research focused on developing the programmable bio-nano-chip (p-BNC) assay system—a modular and programmable bead-based immunosensor platform for multiplexed biomarker analysis. Glennon was the principal designer of the cartridge component of the assay system and developed numerous assays on the platform which has shown utility for a wide variety of application areas including cardiac and cancer diagnosis, wellness monitoring, trauma screening, roadside drug testing, anti-terrorism and threat analysis, and food and water monitoring. Glennon particpated and was a major contributor to two XPRIZE teams that were finalists in the competition. Glennon completed his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently serving as the laboratory manager of the McDevitt Laboratory at New York University.
Contact: simmons@oraliva.com
Glennon W. Simmons is an inventor, entrepreneur and creative problem solver with over two decades of experience developing and commercializing lab-on-a-chip devices, instrumentation, and immunoassays for in vitro diagnostic applications. Glennon’s career has been devoted to developing compact portable diagnostic platforms that have potential to reduce cost and increase access to health care, while improving the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis. Most of Glennon’s career has been spent working for the McDevitt Laboratory, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers conducting grant-based research focused on developing the programmable bio-nano-chip (p-BNC) assay system—a modular and programmable bead-based immunosensor platform for multiplexed biomarker analysis. Glennon was the principal designer of the cartridge component of the assay system and developed numerous assays on the platform which has shown utility for a wide variety of application areas including cardiac and cancer diagnosis, wellness monitoring, trauma screening, roadside drug testing, anti-terrorism and threat analysis, and food and water monitoring. Glennon particpated and was a major contributor to two XPRIZE teams that were finalists in the competition. Glennon completed his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently serving as the laboratory manager of the McDevitt Laboratory at New York University.
Ty Gabriel
Chief Business Officer/Comptroller, Retired Naval Officer
Contact: gabriel@oraliva.com
Ty Gabriel is a retired naval officer with 20 years leading teams and managing resources in support of US national security objectives. Originally from Brooklyn NYC and a graduate of New York University, he joined the military immediately after the events of September 11, 2001. He started his career as a weapons officer [aircrew] for a carrier-based attack aircraft. He then transitioned to being an intelligence officer conducting strategic intelligence operations in Iraq responsible for $70M of equipment spread throughout the theater of operations, supporting fleet operations in Japan, and leading a tactical intelligence team that supported both army and naval special forces units Afghanistan. Ty then became a liaison officer between U.S. navy 5th fleet and the private civil maritime community conducting counter-piracy operations throughout the Arabian Gulf. Ty’s last operational tour was as a diplomat in Hong Kong where he also obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Ty returned to the US to obtain his Master of Biotechnology Entrepreneurship and Enterprise (MBEE) from Johns Hopkins University. He has also spent the last two years conducting deal sourcing activities within the life sciences vertical for both a venture capital firm and a multi-family office network.
Contact: gabriel@oraliva.com
Ty Gabriel is a retired naval officer with 20 years leading teams and managing resources in support of US national security objectives. Originally from Brooklyn NYC and a graduate of New York University, he joined the military immediately after the events of September 11, 2001. He started his career as a weapons officer [aircrew] for a carrier-based attack aircraft. He then transitioned to being an intelligence officer conducting strategic intelligence operations in Iraq responsible for $70M of equipment spread throughout the theater of operations, supporting fleet operations in Japan, and leading a tactical intelligence team that supported both army and naval special forces units Afghanistan. Ty then became a liaison officer between U.S. navy 5th fleet and the private civil maritime community conducting counter-piracy operations throughout the Arabian Gulf. Ty’s last operational tour was as a diplomat in Hong Kong where he also obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Ty returned to the US to obtain his Master of Biotechnology Entrepreneurship and Enterprise (MBEE) from Johns Hopkins University. He has also spent the last two years conducting deal sourcing activities within the life sciences vertical for both a venture capital firm and a multi-family office network.
Michael McRae, PhD
Bio-Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, Entrepreneur
Contact: mcrae@oraliva.com
Dr. Michael McRae is a bioengineer focused on developing of next-generation point-of-care diagnostics and artificial intelligent (AI) biosensors. With a background in bioinstrumentation, optics, electronics, computer vision, statistical and machine learning, and software development, his goal is to enable a new standard of patient care through improving clinical decision making, establishing more efficient and automated workflows, and advancing personalized disease/wellness testing capabilities.
Michael is the co-founder and chief technologist of Custom Diagnostic Solutions, LLC, an in vitro diagnostic company that provides customers with simple, low-cost, and reliable devices for a broad range of assays and applications, including influenza A/B, respiratory syncytial virus, Lyme disease, adenovirus, strep A, legionella, and more. Based in Houston, TX, Michael is a consultant for clients seeking to develop hardware and software for AI-linked in vitro diagnostic devices. Michael has developed point-of-care diagnostics through numerous technical consulting relationships in academia and industry, has co-authored over 20 publications and patents related to in vitro diagnostics, and has given several presentations at domestic and international conferences.
Michael has served technical roles as a consultant on numerous federal grants and contracts, including several SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II awards. Through postgraduate research as a consultant and Visiting Scholar at New York University College of Dentistry, Michael developed a cloud-based point-of-care cytopathology brush cytology test for oral cancer, a device that combines a non-invasive oral cell sampling, multi-spectral fluorescence imaging, and machine learning to detect early stages of dysplasia and malignancy. Michael received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2016 under Dr. John T. McDevitt and was a 2-time Business Plan Competition awardee and a 2-time XPRIZE Finalist for his research which involved the novel integration of bioinstrumentation and clinical predictive modeling for a spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. Michael received his B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Saint Louis University. He spent 3 years at NASA Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, OH) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) (Houston, TX) where he developed probabilistic risk models for 12 medical events that may be encountered en route to Mars.
Contact: mcrae@oraliva.com
Dr. Michael McRae is a bioengineer focused on developing of next-generation point-of-care diagnostics and artificial intelligent (AI) biosensors. With a background in bioinstrumentation, optics, electronics, computer vision, statistical and machine learning, and software development, his goal is to enable a new standard of patient care through improving clinical decision making, establishing more efficient and automated workflows, and advancing personalized disease/wellness testing capabilities.
Michael is the co-founder and chief technologist of Custom Diagnostic Solutions, LLC, an in vitro diagnostic company that provides customers with simple, low-cost, and reliable devices for a broad range of assays and applications, including influenza A/B, respiratory syncytial virus, Lyme disease, adenovirus, strep A, legionella, and more. Based in Houston, TX, Michael is a consultant for clients seeking to develop hardware and software for AI-linked in vitro diagnostic devices. Michael has developed point-of-care diagnostics through numerous technical consulting relationships in academia and industry, has co-authored over 20 publications and patents related to in vitro diagnostics, and has given several presentations at domestic and international conferences.
Michael has served technical roles as a consultant on numerous federal grants and contracts, including several SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II awards. Through postgraduate research as a consultant and Visiting Scholar at New York University College of Dentistry, Michael developed a cloud-based point-of-care cytopathology brush cytology test for oral cancer, a device that combines a non-invasive oral cell sampling, multi-spectral fluorescence imaging, and machine learning to detect early stages of dysplasia and malignancy. Michael received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2016 under Dr. John T. McDevitt and was a 2-time Business Plan Competition awardee and a 2-time XPRIZE Finalist for his research which involved the novel integration of bioinstrumentation and clinical predictive modeling for a spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. Michael received his B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Saint Louis University. He spent 3 years at NASA Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, OH) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) (Houston, TX) where he developed probabilistic risk models for 12 medical events that may be encountered en route to Mars.
Nick Christodoulides, PhD
Immunology, Assay Design
Contact: Christodoulides@oraliva.com
Originally from the island of Cyprus and, since 2002, a US citizen, Dr. Nicolaos Christodoulides serves as a Principal Investigator and is responsible for the grant submission processes in OraLiva. He holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology (University of Iowa), a M.Sc. in Biology (Texas State University) and Ph.D. in Immunology (The University of Texas at Austin). In 2,000, upon completion of his post-doctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine on cardiovascular disease and shear stress-induced platelet aggregation, Dr. Christodoulides joined the McDevitt research group as a Senior Scientist, where he has been contributing his expertise on antibodies, immunoassays and cardiovascular disease in the development of point-of-care, bead-based as well as membrane-based assay platforms, for soluble or particulate analytes, respectively. As a co-inventor of the universal assay platform and director of immunoassay development in the McDevitt Lab, he has displayed a strong track record for the development of multiplexed and multi-class (cellular, proteomic) tests, implementable on a self-contained, single-use microfluidic assay cartridge, embedded with detection reagents, buffers and preservatives, functioning in conjunction with a portable universal analyzer. Under his leadership, >30 lab on a chip tests have been developed within the context of a milieu of diagnostic applications for cancer, cardiovascular disease, saliva-based diagnostics, infectious diseases, drugs of abuse detection and cell imaging systems applications. Dr. Christodoulides has also been intimately involved in design and execution of large, multi-site international clinical studies(sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United Kingdom’s Home Office Centre of Science and Technology). Aimed towards clinical validation, these studies contributed to the recognition of this powerful platform, voted as “Best of What's New Award” in the Medical Device Category for 2008 by Popular Science, as well as for the “Best Scientific Advances Award” in 1998 by the Science Coalition. The afore-mentioned trials resulted in the collection of unique databases laying the foundation for the efficient collection of first-in-kind wellness and disease signatures for the areas of adjunctive oral cancer tests, tests for drugs of abuse, as well as in testing for cardiac wellness profiles. More recently, he helped the group identify biomarker candidates for the COVID-19 severity score. If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist.
Contact: Christodoulides@oraliva.com
Originally from the island of Cyprus and, since 2002, a US citizen, Dr. Nicolaos Christodoulides serves as a Principal Investigator and is responsible for the grant submission processes in OraLiva. He holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology (University of Iowa), a M.Sc. in Biology (Texas State University) and Ph.D. in Immunology (The University of Texas at Austin). In 2,000, upon completion of his post-doctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine on cardiovascular disease and shear stress-induced platelet aggregation, Dr. Christodoulides joined the McDevitt research group as a Senior Scientist, where he has been contributing his expertise on antibodies, immunoassays and cardiovascular disease in the development of point-of-care, bead-based as well as membrane-based assay platforms, for soluble or particulate analytes, respectively. As a co-inventor of the universal assay platform and director of immunoassay development in the McDevitt Lab, he has displayed a strong track record for the development of multiplexed and multi-class (cellular, proteomic) tests, implementable on a self-contained, single-use microfluidic assay cartridge, embedded with detection reagents, buffers and preservatives, functioning in conjunction with a portable universal analyzer. Under his leadership, >30 lab on a chip tests have been developed within the context of a milieu of diagnostic applications for cancer, cardiovascular disease, saliva-based diagnostics, infectious diseases, drugs of abuse detection and cell imaging systems applications. Dr. Christodoulides has also been intimately involved in design and execution of large, multi-site international clinical studies(sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United Kingdom’s Home Office Centre of Science and Technology). Aimed towards clinical validation, these studies contributed to the recognition of this powerful platform, voted as “Best of What's New Award” in the Medical Device Category for 2008 by Popular Science, as well as for the “Best Scientific Advances Award” in 1998 by the Science Coalition. The afore-mentioned trials resulted in the collection of unique databases laying the foundation for the efficient collection of first-in-kind wellness and disease signatures for the areas of adjunctive oral cancer tests, tests for drugs of abuse, as well as in testing for cardiac wellness profiles. More recently, he helped the group identify biomarker candidates for the COVID-19 severity score. If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist.
Spencer Redding
DDS, MEd
Emeritus Professor and Chair, Department of Comprehensive Dentistry
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Emeritus Professor and Chair, Department of Comprehensive Dentistry
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Nadarajah Vigneswaran
BDS, Dr. Med Dent, DMD, UT Health, School of Dentistry, Oral Surgery and Pathology
Alexander Ross
Kerr, DDS, MSD, Oral Medicine, Global Oral Cancer Forum Director
Advisory Board
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