About Us

Inspired by nature, motivated by health

At inSoma Bio we borrow nature’s own designs to develop unique products for reconstructive plastic surgery. Our product enables surgeons to use a person’s own tissue instead of synthetic implants and fillers to improve procedures like breast and facial reconstruction.

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About us

Our Mission

The best possible patient outcomes for reconstructive plastic surgeries like breast reconstructive occur when a person’s own tissue can be used to rebuild or replace tissue. Founded by a team of biomedical engineers and clinicians with a combined 60 years of domain expertise, inSoma is developing injectable materials designed to mimic human tissue that can be used to more safely and accurately rebuild a person’s tissue without the need for synthetic implants or fillers.

The Team

Founders

Stefan Roberts, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Roberts has worked in biomaterials design and development for a decade. He has a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD from Duke University where he developed inSoma’s foundational technology as part of his dissertation. Stefan’s motivation to translate scientific work to clinical practice originates from prior positions he has held at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital.

Ashutosh Chilkoti, PhD

Chairman

Dr. Chilkoti is the chair of the Biomedical Engineering Dept. at Duke University where he has pioneered the academic and industrial application of recombinant proteins with over 400 publications and 70 patents in this field. In addition, he is founder of multiple startup companies with successful exits including one publicly traded company, PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, that has taken drug delivery technology into Phase 2 clinical trials.

Scott Hollenbeck, MD

Lead Medical Advisor

Dr. Hollenbeck is a board certified Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon with over two decades of expertise in clinical practice over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He serves as Chair of the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Virginia.

The Team

Team members

June Almenoff, MD, PhD, FACP

Director

Previously serving as President and Principal Executive Officer at Furiex (Acquired by Actavis for $1.2B), COO and CMO of Innovate Biopharmaceuticals, and with 13 years in GSK’s R&D, June brings significant experience guiding technologies from pre-clinic to product, including development of regulatory and commercial strategy.

Diane Gomez-Thinnes, MBA

Executive Strategy Advisor

Diane Gomez-Thinnes is a two-time President, having served as U.S. President, Galderma and as Worldwide President, Mentor, a Johnson & Johnson company. Diane is a results-focused, commercial strategy expert with proven success in the medtech, consumer care, and pharmaceutical sectors.  Her career spans two decades paving pathways for disruptive innovation and novel commercialization efforts in the industry across various specialty areas: dermatology, plastic & reconstructive surgery, biosurgery, interventional cardiology, neurovascular, and peripheral vascular.

John Canady, MD

Medical Advisor

Dr. Canady is the former President of the American Society of Plastic Surgery, with more than 30 years of experience in practice. He also served as Head of the Medical Affairs group in Cardiovascular and Specialty Solutions Group, a Johnson & Johnson Company that included Biosense Webster, Advanced Sterilization Products, Mentor, Acclarent, Sterilmed and Sedasys.

Anne Peled, MD

Medical Advisor

Anne is a dual-trained plastic and breast surgeon. After  graduating Harvard Medical School, she completed a plastic and reconstructive surgery residency and a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.  Just a few years into starting her own thriving breast cancer and plastic surgery practice, Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer herself, which gives her the unusual perspective of both the expert and the patient.

Larry Woolhiser, MBA, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Larry is a results-driven MBA and CPA with 20+ years of CFO, Controllership, and Treasury leadership experience with entrepreneurial, high growth, and transitioning healthcare and technology companies. Larry has a track record of being a catalyst for change, innovation, and growth backed by a solid history of transforming robust business goals into strategies for unlocking value and driving strong top and bottom-line results.

Matthew Anderson, MS

Director of Operations

Matthew received his B.S. from the University of Miami and M.S. from University of South Florida, obtaining a degree in Biology/Microbiology. For the past 20 years he has worked in natural products discovery from bacteria, specializing in microbial growth/isolation and fermentation, as well as downstream purification processes for proteins and polysaccharides.

Beverly Miller, PhD

Translational Scientist

Dr. Miller received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and her BS in Bioengineering from Oregon State University. Her academic work focused on the development of biomaterials for translational applications in women’s health, resulting in the development of original animal models and multiple patents.

Emily Budziszewski, MS

Implementation Scientist

Emily received her B.S and M.S in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to inSoma, her work focused on the implementation of an injectable implant for the localized treatment of liver and prostate cancer. Her role in those projects was focused on the design, implementation, and analysis of animal treatment models.

Stephen Olney, PhD

Research Associate

Dr. Olney received his B.S and Ph.D. from Indiana University-Bloomington, obtaining both degrees in Microbiology with a focus on bacteriology, genetics and biochemistry. Prior to inSoma, Stephen’s work focused on how bacteria sense their environments and the biomolecular changes that occur to affect bacterial physiology and behavior.

Mahsa Taskindoust, BS

Fellowship Scholar

Mahsa has a BS from Duke University where is also currently completing her MD. Planning her career as a plastic surgeon, Mahsa is completing a specialty research fellowship in plastics under the guidance of Dr. Hollenbeck.