Our Team
Gaurav Byagathvalli
CEO and Co-Founder
Gaurav is a co-inventor of Piezo’s novel platform. Prior to Piezo, he served in a variety of roles at Moelis and Company, Capital One, and Elevance Health. He’s a published scientist with a background in drug delivery and synthetic biology, with research spanning biosensors for wastewater diagnostics, viral vectored HIV vaccines, and skin-targeted nucleic acid delivery. He holds a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ria Michalaki, PhD
Senior Scientist
Ria is an accomplished scientist with a background in vaccine delivery, lipid nanoparticle formulations, and biomaterials-based techniques. Her postdoctoral research at Georgia Tech focused on lymphatic-targeted delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. She has received numerous accolades, including the Richard Skalak and Berkeley Rising Star awards. She holds a BS and PhD from the University of Patras and Stanford University respectively, both in Chemical Engineering.
Jade Najjar, MS
Lab Operations Associate
Jade is a research scientist with over ten years of experience in molecular biology ranging from biotic and abiotic stress resistance in crop plants to drug target development for the treatment of diabetes and the elucidation of cardioprotective mechanisms in heart failure. She holds a BS in Applied Biotechnology from the University of Georgia and a MS in Plant Pathology from the University of Arkansas.
Maleena Shah
Bioengineering R&D Intern
Maleena is a biomedical engineering undergraduate student at Georgia Tech. She brings experience in drug delivery and cell/gene therapy.
Vibha Narasayya
Bioengineering R&D Intern
Vibha is a biomedical engineering undergraduate student at Georgia Tech. She brings experience in oncology and in vitro immunology.
Board of Directors
Mark R. Prausnitz, PhD
Co-Founder
Mark is a Regents' Professor and Regents' Entrepreneur in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech with over 35 years of experience in drug delivery systems with a focus on microneedles and electroporation. He has published over 340 research articles, invented 75 US patents issued or pending, and co-founded 9 companies that have raised more than $350 million in funding. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Inventors. He holds a BS from Stanford University and a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in chemical engineering.
Saad Bhamla, PhD
Co-Founder
Saad is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech with over 10 years of experience in research areas including frugal science and biotechnology. He is a prolific inventor with notable inventions such as the 20-cent centrifuge and 96-cent hearing aid. He holds a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.
Cynthia Sundell, PhD
Co-Founder
Cindi is a Principal and Director of Life Sciences in Georgia Tech’s Quadrant-i, aiding in commercialization and translation of technologies from research to the market. She is a former VP of Pharmacology for AtheroGenics and former VP of Drug Development at Cerenis Therapeutics. She holds a BA in Biology from Rutgers University and PhD in Biological Sciences from University of Pennsylvania.
Gaurav Byagathvalli
CEO and Co-Founder
Gaurav is a co-inventor of Piezo’s novel platform. Prior to Piezo, he served in a variety of roles at Moelis and Company, Capital One, and Elevance Health. He’s a published scientist with a background in drug delivery and synthetic biology, with research spanning biosensors for wastewater diagnostics, viral vectored HIV vaccines, and skin-targeted nucleic acid delivery. He holds a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Scientific Advisory Board
Norbert Pardi, PhD
Dr. Pardi holds a PhD in biochemistry and genetics from the University of Szeged, Hungary. He has been working at the University of Pennsylvania since 2011 and currently holds an Associate Professor position at the Department of Microbiology of the Perelman School of Medicine. He received training from Drs. Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania before he started his laboratory. His research interest is the development of mRNA-based therapeutics with particular focus on new- generation infectious disease vaccines. He explored the development of a novel vaccine platform using nucleoside-modified mRNA in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and used it to generate highly effective vaccines targeting various pathogens (influenza virus, coronaviruses, malaria and others). Dr. Pardi is a pioneer of the nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine technology and published milestone papers in the field.
Dr. Fuchs is renowned for her research in skin biology, its stem cells and associated disorders, including cancers and inflammation. She is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and has published >380 manuscripts. She received her PhD from Princeton in Biochemistry, her postdoctorate in Cell Biology at MIT, and has been on the faculty, first at University of Chicago and now Rockefeller University. Her awards include the National Medal of Science, L’Oreal-UNESCO Award, International Society for Stem Cell Research’s Innovation Award, the Gairdner International Award and the Franklin Medal. Dr. Fuchs holds membership in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Philosophical Society, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society. She is an inaugural member of the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research, and now serves as its President.
Elaine Fuchs, PhD
Jeffrey Ulmer, PhD
Dr. Ulmer spent more than 30 years in vaccines R&D at Merck Research Laboratories, Chiron Corporation, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline. His most recent leadership positions included Global Head, External R&D; Head, Preclinical R&D; and Program Head, Technical R&D. His scientific focus has been vaccine technology platforms, including DNA and mRNA vaccines, viral vectors and adjuvants. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from McGill University and a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Dr. George Palade in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine. He has published over 220 scientific articles, is an inventor on 11 patents, and is a Fellow of the International Society for Vaccines, where he serves as Vice-Chair of the Executive Board. He is currently President and CEO of TechImmune LLC, a biotechnology company based in Newport Beach, CA.
Kate Broderick, PhD
Dr. Broderick has more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry. A recognized vaccine expert, Dr. Broderick has a broad background in device and product development in the DNA therapeutic and drug delivery field. Prior to joining Maravai in 2022 as the Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Broderick held roles of increasing responsibility at Inovio Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Senior Vice President, R&D. Dr. Broderick has served as a principal investigator for a variety of grants and awards from government agencies and non-profits, including the National Institutes of Health. She received her PhD from the University of Glasgow in Scotland and completed her post-doctoral research at the University of California, San Diego.