From Bioengineering to Bioentrepreneurship

Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/07/2022
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location
Communicore, C1-009

Isaac Rodriguez, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, SweetBio, Inc.

Dr. Rodriguez will share his journey from being a biomedical engineering graduate student to postdoctoral fellow to starting his own medical device company with his business-minded sister. His journey includes securing $6M from venture capital and angel investors, navigating the FDA with a product he co-invented in the lab, obtaining Medicare coverage, being issued 15 international patents, and scaling marketing/commercialization efforts in the rapidly changing multi-billion dollar wound care industry.

Bio:

Isaac Rodriguez, PhD is the Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of SweetBio, Inc., a commercial-ready medical device company with FDA-cleared, Medicare covered, bioengineered, collagen + honey advanced wound care products. To date, SweetBio has raised $6M and has been highlighted by Apple, on 60 Minutes, in USA Today, and in Forbes. Dr. Rodriguez is the co-inventor of the SweetBio technology with 15 years of experience in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biomaterials. His work has been cited 1,000+ times in academic journals. Dr. Rodriguez is responsible for evidence and publication strategy, external communications regarding evidence and baseline science, new product development, intellectual property, and supporting strategic, marketing, operations and fundraising activities. Some of Dr. Rodriguez’s notable achievements include serving as the keynote speaker for NASA Langley’s 2017 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration, being named Memphis’ Top 40 Under 40 in 2015, and being honored in 2017 by Virginia Commonwealth University as a Top 10 Alumni to graduate in the last 10 years.