Trivia Frazier Joins Panel at 2022 BIO Conference

Dr. Frazier will join an illustrious panel at the 2022 BIO International Convention in San Diego, CA. The panel discussion, "Fostering Diversity and Bio-Equity Through Novel Financing and Training Initiatives in the Aging Innovation Ecosystem" will be moderated by Kwame Ulmer, MBA, MS, who is Principal at Ulmer Ventures, Venture Partner at Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, and Founder of MedTech Color

The other speakers include:

LCDR Michael Banyas, USPHS, M.P.A.; Health Specialist at NIH/National Institute on Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD)

Todd Haim, PhD; Director of the NIH/National Institute on Aging (NIA) Office of Strategic Extramural Programs (OSEP)

Karen Heidelberger, MBA, MS; Chief Partnership and Communications Officer & Partner at Deerfield

Obatala's COO Mentors Award Winning Tulane Novel Tech Team

Obatala's COO, David Bode, served as a mentor in the 2021-2022 Tulane Novel Tech Challenge, a year long technology development extracurricular activity where Tulane students do product development and customer discovery to build a commercializable product. Mr. Bode mentored Fleur Femtech, which is building an over the counter diagnostic for endometriosis. Fleur Femtech won first place in the 2022 Novel Tech Final Pitch.

Obatala's CEO Speaks at AACSB Annual Conference

Dr. Trivia Frazier, Obatala's CEO, spoke on a panel at the 2022 International Conference and Annual Meeting of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in New Orleans. The panel topic was "The Power of Purpose in Business", and she was joined by Alejandro Moreno-Salamance, Direcotr General of INALDe Business School; Andrea Chen, the Co-Founder & CEO of Propellor; and Karen Sedatole, Interim Dean of Emory University's Goizueta Business School.

Obatala Announces Cecilia Sanchez, PhD, as New Chief Scientific Officer

Obatala Sciences is pleased to announce that Cecilia Sanchez, PhD, will serve as the company's Chief Scientific Officer and VP for R&D effective April 1, 2022. Dr. Sanchez received her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Pierre Chambon, an international leader in transcriptional biology in Strasbourg, France, before moving to Tulane University in New Orleans for post-doctoral fellowships with both Dr. Melanie Ehrlich and Dr. Darwin Prockop. Upon completion of her training, Dr. Sanchez joined the Tulane Department of Medicine's Pulmonary Division as a faculty member, where she was independently funded on projects relating to pulmonary fibrosis. In 2017, she and her family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she was an Innovative Projects leader in Biomerieux, an international leader in the development of biomedical devices and assays.

Like all members of the New Orleans diaspora, Dr. Sanchez missed the ambience of Southeastern Louisiana, and Obatala was fortunate to recruit her in December 2021. In accordance with our transition plan, over the past few months, Dr. Sanchez has worked closely with Dr. Xiying Wu and Dr. Jeffrey Gimble to onboard into her new role. Drs. Wu and Gimble will remain as active members of Obatala Sciences. Dr. Gimble will now serve as the company's Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Wu as a consultant.

Dr. Sanchez brings to Obatala a wealth of expertise in stromal stem cell biology, fibrosis models, GMP operations, and biotechnology product development. We are excited for her to assume her new leadership role in the company!

Obatala CSO to Present Poster at MPS World Summit

Obatala Sciences' CSO, Dr. Cecilia Sanchez, will present a poster at the first annual MPS World Summit, which will be held in New Orleans, from May 30-June 3. This conference is partially funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and it will be the largest ever gathering that is exclusively focused on microphysiological systems, organs-on-chips, and organoids. Dr. Sanchez's poster describes Obatala's Adipose Tissue-on-a-Chip Platform as a tool for disease modeling and drug discovery.

Obatala Sciences™ Participates in Americas Competitiveness Exchange

Obatala Sciences™ was included in the Americas Competitiveness Exchange Louisiana programming, a week long series of events that brought economic development representatives from 21 countries to the New Orleans Area, Baton Rouge Area, and Acadiana to learn more about business development and partnership opportunities in the state. Obatala® participated in events in New Orleans and Lafayette, and Obatala's CEO, Dr. Trivia Frazier, presented a summary of the company to the attendees.

Obatala® CEO Participates in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

Obatala's CEO, Dr. Trivia Frazier, joined a panel during Idea Village's New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, "Enterprise Investing with Local Impact" where she discussed how the support of Ochsner Ventures has allowed Obatala to grow. She was joined on the panel by local investor Tara Hernandez, Ochsner Ventures CEO Aimee Quirk, Hampr founder Laurel Hess, and Benson Capital Partners Managing Director Mike Katz.

Obatala® CEO Joins Town Hall Meeting on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a virtual town hall at Dillard University on how to incorporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into STEM. Dr. Trivia Frazier, 0batala's CEO, is a Dillard Alumnae, and joined a presitigous panel that included:

  1. Justin Matthews, School of Engineering, Georgia Tech, Former DSL/Griffiss Institute Alumnus
  2. Dr. Kelly Nash, Associate Dean for Faculty Success, College of Sciences and Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio; Former PREP and SSA Alumnus
  3. Grace Johnson, Department of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Science Center; Former GEOPATH Alumnus
  4. Latisha Franklin, Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA); Former MARC Alumnus (video prepared remarks)
  5. Olabimpe Olafuyi, Ph.D. student in Computational Chemistry, Jackson State University

Other speakers at the event included Dillard University Facuty Members Dr. Ruby Broadway, Dr. Eric Buckles, and Dr. Abdalla Darwish as well as the president of Dillard University, Dr. Walter Kimbrough.

Other speakers were The Honorable Dr. Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense and The Honorable Ms. Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

Winter 2022 Tulanian Magazine Highlights Dr. Trivia Frazier

Tulanian Magazine is the official magazine of Tulane University, and Dr. Frazier had a feature interview in the most recent edition. Dr. Frazier is a triple-alumnae of the Tulane, earning her undergraduate in Biomedical Engineering in a joint program between Dillard University and the School of Science and Engineering, her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the School of Medicine, and her MBA from the A. B. Freeman School of Business. In the article she shares the inspiration for Obatala Sciences' name as well as the story of the company from its founding to the present.

Elevate Capital Features Obatala® CEO in Black History Month Blog Post

Elevate Capital, one of Obatala's investors, included Dr. Trivia Frazier as one of 10 Black founders that were featured in Elevate's February blog post. Each of the founders discussed various challenges they had to face since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elevate Capital is based in Oregon and invests across the United States in companies owned and led by underservered minority and women entrepreneurs. Obatala Sciences™ is proud to be a portfolio company and be a part of a great community of entrepreneurs of color.

Obatala Sciences™ Expands Team

Obatala® is pleased to announce it has hired Cecilia Sanchez, PhD, as its new VP of R&D.Before joining Obatala, Dr. Sanchez worked for three years as team lead scientist for Innovation at bioMerieux Inc, in Salt Lake City. Dr. Sanchez completed her undergraduate training in Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine in Colombia. She obtained her master’s in biology-Health in Montpellier, France and earned her PhD in Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology at Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France. Dr. Sanchez came to New Orleans in 2002 to take a post-doctoral position at Tulane University.

Obatala Sciences Selected as a Startup to Watch

Obatala Sciences was featured in an article about startups to watch in New Orleans. A recent string of significant exits by several companies in the Greater New Orleans Area has brought national attention to the burgeoning entrepreneurial community in the region. Jon Atkinson, the CEO of Idea Village, a startup incubator, recognized Obatala along with several other startups as the next set of companies poised for major success.

Obatala CEO Speaks at Convergence Conference

Obatala's CEO, Dr. Trivia Frazier, gave a keynote address at the 2021 Convergence Conference, which brought together industry and academia to discuss how to successful translate technologies out of universities and into the market. The conference was hosted by Tulane University, LSU Health Sciences Center, and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. The event was held at the BioInnovation Center and also featured presentations by Walter Isaacson and others.