NEWS

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company in Framingham leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is excited to announce the third event in the 9/90 Metrowest Seminar Series, titled “Will Generative AI Fast-Track Innovation and Creativity?,” to be held on Wednesday, September 20 at 9:30am at 100 Crossing Boulevard in Framingham. The event will feature a panel of speakers with experience in the AI space.

The Metrowest 9/90 Seminar Series is a quarterly series of events featuring current topics in business relevant to the growing biotechnology industry in and around Framingham. The series is presented by Olaris as a way to bring together individuals in the industry and highlight the Metrowest area as a great place to work. The previous seminar series events covered topics surrounding advances in “Omics” technologies (proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics) and their ability to transform biomedical research as well as finance and the biotech industry.

The seminar series event begins at 9:30 AM at the 9/90 campus and is open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged due to limited capacity; please RSVP at https://bit.ly/3OXZAK4.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Nihel Bekhti, Ph.D.  as Metabolite Scientist - MS. Dr. Bekhti holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Immunoanalysis from CEA Paris-Saclay and comes to Olaris via UMass Medical School.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Nicole Holderman, Ph.D.  as Metabolite Scientist - NMR. Dr. Holderman has a Ph.D. from the laboratory of Dr. Art Edison at the University of Georgia.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is pleased to announce that the company’s research on developing a triple-quadrupole (QqQ) mass spectrometry (MS) platform for clinical metabolomics applications has been selected for a poster presentation on June 5th at the upcoming American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) 2023 Annual Meeting, to be held June 4th-8th in Houston, TX.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is pleased to announce that the company’s research on developing a triple-quadrupole (QqQ) mass spectrometry (MS) platform for clinical metabolomics applications has been selected for a poster presentation on June 5th at the upcoming American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) 2023 Annual Meeting, to be held June 4th-8th in Houston, TX.

“The new QqQ technology will expand our ability to detect clinically impactful changes in metabolites. Coupled with our CEREBRO machine learning platform, Olaris offers an end-to-end solution for biomarker discovery for internal discovery efforts and as an offering to our strategic partners.” said Dr. Elizabeth O’Day, CEO and Founder of Olaris.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is pleased to announce that the company’s study on the metabolic changes occurring in donor hearts after Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) heart transplant has been selected for a poster presentation on June 5th at the upcoming American Transplant Congress (ATC) 2023 Annual Meeting, to be held June 3rd-7th in San Diego, CA.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is pleased to announce that the company’s study on the metabolic changes occurring in donor hearts after Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) heart transplant has been selected for a poster presentation on June 5th at the upcoming American Transplant Congress (ATC) 2023 Annual Meeting, to be held June 3rd-7th in San Diego, CA.

The ATC 2023 presentation will describe data from a multi-year collaboration between Olaris and an elite team of heart transplant surgeons and researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, including Drs. Seyed Alireza Rabi, and Asishana Osho. The collaboration was formed with the goal of identifying biomarkers of heart damage due to ischemia and reperfusion during DCD heart transplant. DCD followed by ex vivo machine perfusion, in which organs are procured following circulatory death and placed on a machine to maintain viable status before transplant, represents a new method in heart transplant. Currently, over 3,000 Americans on the heart transplant waiting list each year are unable to access life-saving transplants due to a shortage in donor organs; using DCD for heart transplant has the potential to increase the number of available organs by over 30%, but improved measurements of heart quality are needed to improve DCD outcomes.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company in Framingham leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, is excited to announce the second event in the 9/90 Metrowest Seminar Series, titled “How to Get There From Here: VC, investments and personal finance in biotech,” to be held on Wednesday, May 17 at 3pm at 100 Crossing Boulevard in Framingham. The event will feature a panel of investment and financial experts in the biopharma and biotechnology space, discussing everything from the current markets to how best to grow a biotech company at every stage of research and product development.

The Metrowest 9/90 Seminar Series is a quarterly series of events featuring current topics in business relevant to the growing biotechnology industry in and around Framingham. The series is presented by Olaris as a way to bring together individuals in the industry and highlight the Metrowest area as a great place to work. The previous seminar series event covered topics surrounding advances in “Omics” technologies (proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics) and their ability to transform biomedical research, while an event is planned for the fall to discuss the use of large language models such as ChatGPT in research and publishing.

The seminar series event begins at 3:00 PM at the 9/90 campus and is open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged due to limited capacity; please RSVP at https://bit.ly/990finance.

Dr. Jeff McDonald is a Professor at the Center for Human Nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern. In the Center for Human Nutrition, Jeff’s lab uses mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques to measure lipids in a wide array of biological samples to understand basic mechanisms of lipid biology, lipids role in disease and disease progression, and how lipids can be used to diagnose disease. Dr. McDonald will lend his expertise to guide Olaris' efforts in coupling mass spectrometry and NMR for groundbreaking metabolomics research.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Kari Boardman as Lab Manager. Kari has over 20 years of technical laboratory experience at the Boston Childrens Hospital.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Masoumeh Dorrani as a Metabolite Scientist. Masoumeh has years of expertise in mass spectrometry and holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Kentucky.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Jowin Jestine as a Data Engineer. Jestine has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Analytics and Program Management.

Olaris was featured in an article by Microsoft News on the experience of CEO Dr. Elizabeth O'Day with the Founders Hub, part of the Microsoft for Startups program. The article highlights the support systems available through Microsoft for Startups as well as the entrepreneurial journey faced by a female CEO in the biotech industry.

Olaris CEO Dr. Elizabeth O'Day was featured in an article by the Boston Business Journal as a 40 under 40 alumni Mover and Shaker, honoring the company's progress since her selection as a 40 under 40 recipient in 2020.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning for the discovery and development of its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Stuart Chaffee, a 20-year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry, as Executive Chairman.

Dr. Chaffee brings a wealth of experience including contributing to starting four publicly traded biotechnology companies, raising over $900M in private and public capital, and $4.9B in transactions. In this new role for Olaris, Dr. Chaffee will partner with CEO Dr. Elizabeth O’Day and the Board of Directors to develop and execute strategic growth opportunities for the company.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Jurre Kamphorst as Vice President of Mass Spectrometry Technology and Biomarkers. Dr. Kamphorst has a Ph.D. in Bioanalytical Sciences from Leiden University in the Netherlands and was most recently the Director of Clinical Metaoblism and Biomarkers at Rheos Medicines.

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning for the discovery and development of its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, which aim to optimize treatments and outcomes for individual patients, is pleased to announce that the company’s study on the application of the myOLARIS-KTdx kidney transplant graft status score to transplant recipients has been selected for a poster presentation on June 6th  at the upcoming American Transplant Congress (ATC) 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held June 4th-8th in Boston, Massachusetts. To view the poster presentation on video, visit https://youtu.be/QNJmbLaQ5Xc

Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning for the discovery and development of its myOLARIS™ diagnostics products, which aim to optimize treatments and outcomes for individual patients, is pleased to announce that the company’s study on the application of the myOLARIS-KTdx kidney transplant graft status score to transplant recipients has been selected for a poster presentation on June 6th  at the upcoming American Transplant Congress (ATC) 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held June 4th-8th in Boston, Massachusetts. To view the poster presentation, visit https://youtu.be/QNJmbLaQ5Xc .

Olaris, Inc is pleased to announce that the company’s study on the identification of a urine metabolic signature to detect over-immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients has been selected for a presentation at the International Transplant Science (ITS) 2022 Annual Meeting, to be held May 15th-19th in Berlin, Germany. The presentation will describe the results of a multi-year collaboration between Olaris and Dr. Dirk Kuypers, Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Laboratory of Nephrology at the University of Leuven, to identify a biomarker for over-immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients.

We are thrilled to announce that Olaris Founder and CEO Dr. Liz O'Day has been named a New England finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business wards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.

Olaris, Inc.  is pleased to announce that the company’s presentation on the identification of metabolic reprograming associated with CDK4/6 sensitivity and resistance has been selected for a poster presentation at the upcoming 2022 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting, to be held April 8th - 13th.

The presentation, led by Olaris Metabolite Scientist Dr. Chandrashekhar Honrao, will describe the recent results of a collaboration between Olaris and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Using a human breast cancer cell line model and isotope tracers, researchers determined that glucose metabolism was altered following treatment with two CDK4/6 inhibitors, palbociclib and abemaciclib. They also found that cells resistant to the drugs had alterations in different metabolic pathways, representing the first-ever evidence of metabolite signatures specific to two different CDK4/6 inhibitors.

View the presentation at https://youtu.be/nXBiGRcnqXk.

Olaris Data Scientist Chen Dong was featured in the Success Stories page on the website of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC). Chen began as an MLSC-sponsored intern at Olaris in 2019, and his hard work has helped to drive Olaris' success, most recently with a publication on metabolite-based diagnostics for Parkinson's disease in men with LRRK2 mutations.

Olaris, Inc. announced today that it has expanded its leadership team with key senior hires who will advance partnerships for and commercialization of its novel diagnostics with the potential to transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated.

Olaris' new additions include:

Russell Herndon as Chief Business Officer. Herndon has more than 30 years' experience leading innovative healthcare technology companies and initiatives.

Laura T. Housman as Chief Commercial Officer. Before joining Olaris, Housman spent more than 30 years driving access to innovation in healthcare focusing on diagnostics, therapeutics, and devices across a range of disease areas.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Shawn Ayube, a 20-year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry, as Vice President of Operations.

In his new role, Ayube will be in charge of driving scalability across the organization and lead the effort to strategically enhance Olaris’ R&D capabilities as well as steering talent management and leadership development.

Olaris Founder and CEO Dr. Liz O'Day is serving today as a virtual visiting scientist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Biochemistry and Biophysics Center. Dr. O'Day will give a presentation on how machine learning and artificial intelligence can be combined with NMR and metabolomics to better understand the biology underlying Parkinson's Disease.

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Keri Sheehan as Director of Communications and Project Management. Dr. Sheehan holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from University of Pennsylvania, where she worked on the molecular dynamics of the cytoskeleton in natural killer cells, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School and UMass Chan Medical School. She has over 5 years of experience in improving research communications and scientific journal processes.

Olaris Founder and CEO Dr. Liz O'Day presents today at the Horasis USA Meeting in a panel on female entrepreneurs in tech.

Olaris Founder and CEO Dr. Liz O'Day served as a mentor today in the 9th annual Boston Business Journal Mentoring Monday program. The one-of-a-kind virtual event brought together women in business for a networking and fun in a fast-paced coaching atmosphere. The Boston event featured keynote speaker Michelle Wu, 3 panel sessions, and breakout mentoring sessions.

Olaris Founder and CEO Dr. Elizabeth O'Day will present virtually at the Truist Securities AI Symposium – Biotech & Tools. The symposium will take place virtually on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

The presentation by Dr. O'Day will discuss the unique combination of metabolomics and machine learning used by Olaris to develop diagnostics to empower patients that they have the right diagnosis and are on the right treatment path.

In addition to speakers, the symposium also features 3 panels, with focuses on applying AI to synthetic biology and therapeutics, utilizing deep learning and quantum physics for drug development, and integrated platforms for AI-based drug discovery. The keynote address will feature a discussion by Pfizer covering the use of AI and pharma in development of the COVID vaccine. A full agenda for the event can be found at: https://www.openexc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AI-Symposium-Agenda-2.24.pdf .

You can access the presentation on the day of the conference by going to: https://bit.ly/OlarisTruist2

Olaris, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Jifang Zhao as a Senior Data Scientist on the Data Science team. Jifang has years of expertise in statistics and machine learning and holds a Ph.D. and a Masters in Statistics from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he developed novel methods for processing large-scale, high-dimensional data from neuroimaging.

Olaris and Thermo Fisher Scientific are partnering to evaluate the feasibility of a machine learning and metabolomics–based diagnostic panel to assess risk of developing complications from overimmunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients

Olaris presented new data on the identification of metabolic signatures in matched plasma and serum samples associated with tumor proliferation in early-stage breast cancer (eBC) patients treated with Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) at the upcoming San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium® to be held December 7-10, 2021. The presentation, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Cynthia Ma, Professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, highlights the use of Olaris’ BoR platform to identify metabolic signatures associated with tumor proliferation, an indicator of treatment resistance, in eBC patients treated with CDK4/6i.

Find us at HLTH 2021 in Boston to connect and learn more about our to our pioneering metabolomics platform and machine learning algorithms that produce Biomarkers of Response which can differentiate drug responders from non-responders and ensure optimal treament. We are building our BoR pipeline across oncology, transplant, and neurodegeneration. Contact MfSatHLTH@microsoft.com to set up a time.

This week, the Business Journal featured a handful of Boston-area women in the industry, both established leaders as well as those who are just breaking onto the scene, at its Women Who Lead in Life Sciences event. In the following pages, they discuss their careers, the challenges facing their industry and what needs to be done to promote women in the male-dominated field.

Dr. Kuypers is Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Laboratory of Nephrology at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is also the Head of the Department of Nephrology and Director of the Renal Transplantation Program at the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. Dr. Kuypers’ clinical and translational research has spanned renal allograft surveillance using protocol biopsies and biomarkers of allograft status to pre-clinical and clinical immunosuppressive therapy development. He founded the Leuven Renal Allograft Biobank, which contributes prospectively collected biological samples and clinical data to translational studies in kidney transplantation. 

Why is cancer so hard to treat? How can we overcome resistance? Cancer is an everchanging disease-and many of the greatest treatment challenges are driven by clonal evolution. We must adapt to keep up!

In a great step, the AACR has formed the new Cancer Evolution working group, with Olaris CEO Dr. Liz O'Day on the Steering Committee. Co-chaired by Frank Laukien, CEO of Bruker, and Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick and UCL Cancer Institutes, this group of experts will translate cutting-edge research into new diagnostic, therapeutic, and prevention strategies.

A new way of treating cancer is coming, and biomarkers will be the guide!

From the laboratory to the boardroom, Tom Davis discovers how Dr. Liz O’Day applied her science career to founding biotech startup Olaris in the latest "Meet The Innovators" series.

When an estimated 7% of all health & life science startups are started by women, these five female founders are leading some of the most innovative companies in transforming healthcare services. Read more from Sally Ann Frank on The Record  about how their startup ideas led to fast-moving businesses. 

We are honored to have Dr. Liz O'Day recognized among so many unstoppable business leaders in New England as one of the Finalists for EY Entrepreneur of The Year! For 35 years, the award has recognized game-changing entrepreneurs - those who have ushered in innovation throughout their careers and who are disrupting industries with each step they take. 

 Olaris CEO and Founder Dr. Liz O'Day had the opportunity to share the origin of BoR technology with C-sessions and describe how our BoRs can be used as a tool to determine which treatment is best for each patient- even before they start therapy. Listen below to learn how Olaris BoRs in oncology can empower patients and providers to be confident in their treatment.

In his role, Dr. Rodrigues will lead the acceleration of Olaris’ data strategy for the continued development of novel diagnostics with the potential to transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated. He will also provide critical insight enabling Olaris to streamline its technology for companion diagnostic development with biopharma partners in clinical trials.

Liz O'Day has founded a for-profit biotech company, a nonprofit organization and is working hard to help the world return not only to 'some version of normal but hopefully even better.'

Olaris is pleased to announce the company’s presentation on the identification of metabolic signatures in plasma samples associated with therapeutic response in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) has been selected for poster presentation at the upcoming 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting, to be held virtually April 10th - 15th.

The presentation, led by Olaris Metabolite Scientist Dr. Chandrashekhar Honrao, highlights the use of Olaris’ BoR platform to identify metabolic signatures correlated with overall survival and to predict response or resistance to treatment in patients with advanced GIST.

Dr. O'Day is thrilled to join the BMRB advisory board to help expand the internationally renowned repository for biomolecular NMR data. Dr. O'Day will serve as a metabolomics and biotech advisor as BRMB develops additional content and tools to serve users of the repository. 

As the newest member of of the technology leader's global program aimed at helping startups scale, Olaris will be steamlining BoR development in immune response, neurodegeneration, and oncology. Olaris will also expand collaboration opportunities within biotechnology and healthcare through Microsoft's global partnership ecosystem.

Dr. O'Day was joined by industry experts and thought leaders Joshua Weiner, Healthcare Strategy at Facebook, and Dr. Martin-Immanuel Bittner, CEO of Arctoris, to discuss biotech innovations during the pandemic and to share their insights on the future of healthcare during their panel at Cataylst HIF 2021.

Olaris has appointed Dr. Cynthia Ma of Washington University in St. Louis and Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli from Northwestern Medicine to its Scientific Advisory Board and Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Ma and Dr. Cristofanilli will provide guidance on commercializing Olaris’ successful research identifying metabolic signatures for response to CDK4/6 inhibitors and building a pipeline of clinically differentiated, high-value diagnostic solutions.

Dr. Elizabeth O'Day and Dr. Mike Pellini discuss how far biotechnology has come in the last decade and share their insights on how robust diagnostics will usher in the future of precision medicine. Watch their panel in the recap below.

Read Olaris CEO Dr. Elizabeth O'Day's article on how microneedles could enable painless injections and blood draws in Scientific Americans Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2020. 

"My baseline for whether disruption is ‘good’ is thinking about whether the change in the industry will have a genuinely positive impact on people’s lives. Of course, this is a subjective measure, but in the case of Olaris, you can make the strong argument that our platform for determining which patients will benefit from a specific therapy will improve the lives of millions." - Dr. Elizabeth O'Day as interviewed in Authority Magazine's Female Disruptors series aimed to feature women bringing radical change to their industry.