Columbia Invents

Elizabeth Hillman

Dr. Elizabeth Hillman is the Herbert and Florence Irving Professor at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Columbia University. Her Laboratory for Functional Optical Imaging is developing novel biomedical imaging and microscopy techniques that use light to capture information about the structure and function of living tissues. She speaks about using light to probe the structure of the brain, how optical imaging is used in daily life, and her experience as a woman working in academia and male-dominated startups.

Theanne Schiros

Dr. Theanne Schiros is a Research Scientist at Columbia University and Assistant Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology working at the intersection of advanced materials and sustainability. She speaks about how nature inspires her work and how her startups, Algiknit and Werewool, are working to reduce waste and increase performance in the fashion industry. AlgiKnit is creating durable yet rapidly degradable kelp-based yarns, and Werewool is developing biodegradable textile fibers with inherent, DNA-programmed color and performance.

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic is the University Professor and Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia and a trailblazer in the regenerative medicine field. She speaks about her research in tissue engineering to grow and repair human bones and organs, as well as the effect platform technologies like hers have on scientific research. She also discusses the process of launching multiple startups based on her science, including TARA Biosystems, Immplacate, and EpiBone, all based in New York City.

Henry Colecraft

Dr. Henry Colecraft is the John C. Dalton Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia and the inventor of engineered deubiquitinases, a breakthrough innovation that rescues proteins marked for destruction by many genetic diseases including cystic fibrosis, Long QT syndrome, and potentially many others. He shares what it’s like to launch his new startup with a huge Series A investment from prominent venture capitalists; the critical role that graduate students and postdocs play in university innovation; and how Sherlock Holmes inspired him to become a scientist.

Alissa Park

Dr. Alissa Park is the Lenfest Earth Institute Professor of Climate Change at Columbia and an expert in carbon mineral sequestration. Her research in carbon capture, utilization and sequestration became the foundation of her startup Greenore, which converts iron and steel making by-product, slag, into valuable chemical products (calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica and alumina) while consuming CO₂ as a reactant. She shares how her student’s interest in entrepreneurship began their path to Greenore; what motivates engineers and scientists; and how science is both her work and her hobby.