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Introducing the Wyss Lumineers Class of 2023

February 21, 2024

These entrepreneurs launched companies from the Institute within the last year to bring innovative solutions to the marketplace

By Lindsay Brownell

Introducing the Wyss Lumineers Class of 2023
Vaskar Gnyawali and Sukanya Punthambaker left the Wyss to begin Project Samri. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

(BOSTON) — Since the Wyss Institute’s founding in 2009, we have successfully launched more than 50 startup companies from our labs. This year, five more startups have joined the ranks, led by fearless Lumineers who are blazing a trail out of academia and into industry. The 2023 Lumineers class is tackling big problems, from infertility to skin diseases to plastic pollution.

Our Lumineers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries, and areas of expertise, but they are united by the vision, commitment, and courage it takes to leave the world they know and jump into entrepreneurship in the name of making the world a better place.

Meet the 2023 Lumineers

Christian Kramme – Gameto
Faculty Advisor: George Church, Ph.D.

  • Gameto is developing solutions to improve women’s reproductive health throughout their full lifespan, from conception to menopause and beyond.

Denitsa Milanova, Ski Krieger, David Thompson – Marble Therapeutics
Faculty Advisor: George Church, Ph.D.

  • Marble Therapeutics is a cellular rejuvenation company using next-generation gene therapy to address the root causes of skin diseases and aging.
Introducing the Wyss Lumineers Class of 2023
Christian Kramme at his bench at the Wyss Institute before leaving to join Gameto. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

Sukanya Punthambaker, Vaskar Gnyawali – Project Samri
Faculty Advisors: Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.; George Church, Ph.D.

  • Project Samri is using genetically optimized microbes to solve the global problem of plastic pollution.

John Ahrens, Robert Weeks – Reel Foods
Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Lewis, Sc.D.

  • Reel Foods is creating clean & sustainable cell-cultured fish fillets in a novel vascular bioreactor to overcome the scalability and cost challenges of cultivated meat.

Joel Moore – Ropirio Therapeutics
Faculty Advisor: Chris Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Ropirio Therapeutics is a lymphatic medicine company that is commercializing the world’s first drugs that specifically target and activate lymph vessels.

Dmitry Popov, Francesco Bertacchi, Ryan Conway – WurQ
Faculty Advisor: Conor Walsh, Ph.D.

  • WurQ is a wearables company that captures and analyzes real-time movement data at scale to advance human physical potential.
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