Our Story

The critical importance of the gut microbiome to our health has been well established, and microbiome research is continuing to shed light on the potential to improve our health through our microbiome. Hundreds of clinical trials are underway for a wide variety of medical conditions. However, existing methods for collecting and processing samples are time consuming, costly, and often invasive. Our team at MicrobiomX recognized the opportunity to develop a scalable, safe, rapid solution.

Our Team

Roslyn Hendriks, Chair & CEO

Roslyn Hendriks was the founding CEO of Immunexpress. Under her leadership, Immunexpress raised $42.5M, and developed the the first FDA-cleared RNA-based diagnostic for infectious disease. Immunexpress was awarded the Medtech Innovation Award 2018. Dr. Hendriks, DVM, PhD, MBA is a Fellow of NACD.

Thomas Lendvay, Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Lendvay is a surgeon and entrepreneur. He is a Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Washington and co-Director of Seattle Children’s Robotic Surgery Center. Dr. Lendvay was the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of CSATS (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2018). His research and innovation focus on disruptive technologies to improve patient outcomes.

Kathleen Lendvay, President and COO

Kathleen has over 20 years experience in business consulting and management at Accenture and Point B, followed by senior executive positions in global health and social enterprise organizations. Most recently, Kathleen served as interim CEO at VitalTalk (healthcare) and FIRST Washington (STEM education).

Advisors

Blake Hannaford, PhD

Blake Hannaford is a Professor of Electrical Engineering, Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Surgery at the University of Washington. His teaching and sponsored research are in the areas of medical devices, embedded systems, haptic interfaces, and surgical technologies. Dr. Hannaford has also worked as an expert witness and consultant on patent protection and litigation.

Will DePaolo, PhD

Will DePaolo is an immunologist, microbiome specialist, microbiologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He serves as Director of the DePaolo Lab, a research laboratory working to understand the complex relationship between our immune system and the microbiota in different disease and nutritional states.

Scott Weissman, MD

Associate Professor Scott Weissman is the Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH). As an NIH-funded investigator with over 60 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Weissman is an expert in the clinical management of dysbiotic conditions including CDI and colonization with multi-drug-resistant Enterobacterales.

Christina Surawicz, MD

Dr. Surawicz is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. She joined the faculty in the Gastroenterology Division in 1981, retiring in 2018. Her research interests include the use of fecal microbiota transplant in recurrent C difficile infection (CDI), with 118 peer reviewed publications. She has served on the FDA’s GI Drug advisory committee and was President (first woman) of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Mark McWilliams

Mark McWilliams specializes in bringing new medical technology to market, having successfully taken three companies from concept to exit and served in various capacities ranging from Innovator, Founder, CEO, Board Member and Investor over the past 20 years.

Rich Cohen

Rich Cohen is Vice President, Global Marketing at Boston Scientific. He 25 years of experience in the global medical device market, with a focus on driving revenue, developing innovative business strategies, and commercializing new products.