Our Team
Trivia Frazier PhD, MBA
Co-founder, President, & CEO
Dr. Frazier has over 15 years of training and research experience in the isolation, culture, expansion, and characterization of adherent stromal/stem cells from adipose tissue and bone marrow. She has been in various management positions for the past 7 years. Dr. Frazier completed her undergraduate training in physics and biomedical engineering through a dual degree program between Tulane University and Dillard University, a historically black private university in New Orleans, and her graduate training in the Biomedical Science Program at Tulane University School of Medicine. In 2013, Dr. Frazier began working as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Jeffrey Gimble on an NIH R21 project entitled ‘Distinguishing adipose stromal vs. stem cells by serial transplantation’. During this work, she combined murine SVF cells with a silk scaffold to create a tissue engineered fat pad for in vitro and in vivo studies. She held a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Dillard University until 2016 and served as the department Chair. Dr. Frazier then served as the NSF Project Director for proof of concept and commercialization of work supported by an NSF Phase I SBIR, entitled: ‘Tissue Engineered Human “Fat on a Chip”: A Novel Tool for Metabolic Drug Discovery’. Dr. Frazier obtained her MBA from the executive program in the Tulane University Freeman School of Business, class of 2018, and finished in the top 10% of her class.
Publications
To review Dr. Frazier’s published work, click here.
Jeffrey Gimble, MD, PhD
Co-Founder, Board Member, & Consultant
Dr. Gimble received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Yale University, where he began his 30+ year research career. During this time, he has held several full-time and adjunct faculty positions, and has biotechnology industry experience on staff at Zen-Bio and as a co-founder of Artecel Sciences. Dr. Gimble’s professional career has focused on the isolation, characterization, and clinical translation of stromal/stem cells from adipose tissue, bone, and bone marrow, resulting in more than 200 published manuscripts. Together with Dr. Wu, he co-founded LaCell LLC and Obatala Sciences to provide this expertise to the broader academic and biotech research communities.
Publications
To review Dr. Gimble’s published work, click here.
Xiying Wu, MD
Co-Founder & Consultant
Dr. Wu obtained her Medical Degree from the Medical School of Jilin University in Changchun, China, before embarking on an illustrious career in biomedical research. Following eight years of biomedical research in China, Dr. Wu transitioned to the United States to pursue advanced biomedical studies. Joining Dr. Gimble's lab at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in 1991 marked the beginning of a longstanding collaboration.
Since then, Dr. Wu has made significant contributions to stromal/stem cell research both within academia and beyond, co-authoring over 50 manuscripts with Dr. Gimble. In 2012, she assumed the role of Vice President of Research & Development at LaCell, LLC on a full-time basis. Dr. Wu's leadership is pivotal in shaping the commercial and scientific trajectory of Obatala Sciences.
Publications
To review Dr. Wu’s published work, click here.
Cecilia Sanchez, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer & VP of R&D
Dr. Sanchez has over 25 years of research experience in genetics and cellular and molecular biology. Before joining Obatala, Dr. Sanchez worked for three years as team lead scientist for Innovation at bioMerieux Inc, in Salt Lake City. At bioMerieux, Dr. Sanchez obtained significant experience in broad aspects of new product development and trained in strategies for Drugs and Medical Device development at MIT.
Dr. Sanchez completed her undergraduate training in Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine in Colombia. She obtained her master’s in biology-Health in Montpellier, France. She earned her PhD in Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology at Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France, working under the world-renowned Dr. Pierre Chambon, founder of the Institute for Genetics and Cellular and Molecular Biology in France. Dr. Sanchez came to New Orleans in 2002 to take a post-doctoral position at Tulane University. She completed post-doctoral trainings at Tulane in epigenetics, mesenchymal stem cells, and pulmonary and aging biology. Dr. Sanchez held a tenure-track appointment as assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Tulane University until 2017, directing her laboratory, she obtained funding support from NIH and foundation grants, she actively published manuscripts and book chapters, mentored graduate students and served in a various internal and external academic and research committees and established productive collaborations with academic teams and industry, before relocating to Salt Lake. She recently returned to New Orleans to join Obatala Sciences.
Publications
To review Dr. Sanchez’s published work, click here.
Jae Sly, PhD, MBA
Chief Business Development Officer
Jae has over 20 years in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, from R&D to Clinic. Jae is an Industry Leader and Consultant providing strategic partnering of Biopharma technologies and services. Jae has initiated cross border partnering platforms, investment forums and is a corporate mentor in the DE and MD Incubator Startup Programs. Much of Jae's career has been with numerous start-up and small BioPharma Companies seeking to expand infrastructure, technology exposure on an International level. Contract negotiations and technology evaluation for Investment Opportunities, has been primary expansion within Jae's portfolio of services in last few years. Jae maintains a strong Industry presence by presenting and attending at major conferences. Jae received her Ph.D. in Immunology from University of Washington and MBA from San Diego State University. Jae is a member of LES, ESACT, BIO, BIO Start Up Stadium, Senior Scientific Advisor for USciences and LIMR. Jae is Adjunct Faculty at University of Delaware, Bioinformatics Core and Board Member of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware.
Katie Hamel, PhD
Director of Technical Writing
Katie Hamel received her Ph.D and B.S. in Biological Sciences from Louisiana State University in 2021 and 2011, respectively. Her dissertation training has focused on the involvement of adipose-derived stem cell age on ER+ breast cancer endocrine response.
Publications
To review Dr. Hamel's published work, click here.
Haley Lassiter, BSE
Tissue Engineering Scientist
Haley Lassiter received her Bachelor's of Science in Biological Engineering from Louisiana State University in 2021. Haley's undergraduate work in the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering focused on formulating hydrogels optimal for the growth of breast cancer cells, and on designing and fabricating novel microfluidic devices used to analyze tumor spheroid growth.
At Obatala, Haley specializes in product development for our human-derived biomaterials and 3D tissue models. Additionally, she is responsible for crafting marketing materials and overseeing our company's social media campaign. Her focus is on harmonizing the perspectives of our scientific and business endeavors, ensuring that scientific data is effectively communicated to our community.
Publications
To review Haley's published work, click here.
Emma Rogers, BSE
Laboratory Operations Manager
Emma Rogers received her Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University in 2020. Emma has previously worked on developing biomedical devices at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. She has also co-authored publications as an undergraduate researcher at the Tulane Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine. At Obatala Sciences, Emma works on daily laboratory operations, research, and new product development.
Publications
To review Emma’s published work, click here.
Jordan Robinson, MS
Tissue Engineering Scientist
Jordan Robinson received his bachelor's of science in engineering, and master's of science in engineering from Tulane University. His master's thesis focused on using Agent-based modeling to make predictions on patellar tendon healing in mice of different ages. At Obatala sciences, Jordan performs daily laboratory work and client project work.
Kevin Hicok, MS
Regulatory Consultant
Kevin Hicok has over thirty years of experience in the cell therapy and regenerative medicine fields. After 11 years at the Mayo Clinic studying autoimmune and bone-related diseases, he joined one of the pioneering adipose cell therapy companies, Artecel Therapeutics where he in collaboration with Obatala co-founder, Dr. Jeffrey Gimble and rest of the Artecel team demonstrated the ability of adipose derived cells to differentiate into bone, cartilage and neuro/glial progenitors. He continued his work in the adipose therapy space at Cytori Therapeutics, VetStem Biologics, and Gallant focusing on later stage therapy development in both human and veterinary sectors.
