Khurram Hayat - Lab Manager
When you first learned about Prellis Biologics and the vision of the company, what were some of your initial thoughts?
"When I first learned about what Prellis is doing, I was amazed and impressed at what each team member was accomplishing. The research and development the team is doing will be revolutionary."
When you reflect on your team at Prellis, does anything stand out to you as being really unique?
"I am always amazed at the work the team has accomplished and the unique people we have here. There are so many brilliant individuals working together to help Prellis achieve its goals."
What excites you most about the company’s future?
"In regard to the future, I am excited because our team is growing and we are making up for areas we needed to focus on. We can go beyond what our goals are for Prellis and set new standards for the industry."
Milad Khorrami, PhD - Director of Chemistry
What initially sparked your interest in Prellis?
"When I first learned about Prellis, I was immediately interested in learning more about a company working on 3D printing human tissues. The technology that Prellis was working on was very similar to my PhD thesis at the University of Houston, and I quickly found Prellis to be a very good match. I chose Prellis because of the fascinating technology they have and how well my background and experiences matched."
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
"The team members, my coworkers, are the most unique part about Prellis. What we are doing at Prellis is multi-disciplinary. It’s a startup company, and we have scientists from all different backgrounds. We have optical engineering, cell biology, and mechanical engineering. I’m here as a chemist and materials scientist. We have people from all different aspects, and we get together to solve one problem — how to fabricate a functional human organ. How top-notch scientists from such different fields are gathering together at Prellis is truly amazing. We are tackling one big challenge from many different angles. I really enjoy every day when I’m at work. I feel like with every day, every experiment, every meeting, every brainstorm, we are getting one step closer to fabricating that final functional human organ. I’m super happy to be contributing to this field."
How do you believe readily available tissues will change the world?
"Tissue engineering and organ manufacturing; this is my dream job. As you may know, right now in the United States, there are 30,000 people in line for organ donations. That is a huge waiting list. So, fabricating functional human organs like kidneys, livers, and lungs — these can significantly change the world and meet the demands of those patients. I’m very positive that in the near future, scientists will be able to fabricate functional human organs. It’s going to change the world."
Ishan Khan - Lead Tissue Engineer
What initially sparked your interest in Prellis?
“When I first learned about Prellis, I didn’t fully understand how cross-functional the company was. After speaking with Melanie and learning about the company’s mission, I was drawn in by the social angle of it. We have the ability to solve so many of the world’s issues through Prellis’ technology. To me, this place is more than just a job. If I can play a tiny role in developing an organ that could potentially save someone’s life, then that is a life worth living. That’s why I joined Prellis.”
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
“I have never seen a lab with such a diverse, talented team; we have optical engineers, cell biologists, chemists. It’s as if we’re all from different planets, and we’re trying to solve a set of problems on the same team. It’s mind-blowing. The language the optical engineers use is different from the language the cell biologists use. It’s interesting, it’s exciting, and it’s challenging.”
How do you believe readily available tissues will change the world?
“The work we’re doing at Prellis is going to change the world drastically. If you think about going from a tiny replacement of a tissue to an entire liver or kidney, a patient won't have to wait for an organ donor. People are going to survive. They don't have to worry about those conditions. People won’t have to suffer just for being human.”
Jolene Lujan - Senior Cell Biologist
When you first learned about Prellis Biologics and the vision of the company, what were some of your initial thoughts?
"When I first learned about Prellis, I was extremely eager and excited to join the team. I wasn’t growing where I was at the time, so I was excited for this new opportunity to arrive. The team’s vision at Prellis is so grand. When I first read about it, I thought to myself, “How could they actually achieve something like this?” Now that I’m a part of it, I can see it actually happening. I’m in awe of the cutting-edge technology we use at Prellis."
When you reflect on your team at Prellis, does anything stand out to you as being really unique?
"Prellis is special because our company is extremely pro-women. The company was founded by a woman, Dr. Melanie Matheu. My direct supervisor is a woman. Working in STEM and being able to say I’m surrounded by women is such a great feeling. I’ve always looked for companies that support and empower women in STEM, and Prellis does just that."
What excites you most about the company’s future?
"I'm excited to see where this antibody and vaccine testing can lead. It's really exciting to be working on the horizon of the ‘next big thing.’ It's insane to think about what could actually happen from this company — organ donation, 3D-printed tissues, etc. So much good could come from this."
Oleg Konings - Senior Software Engineer
When you first learned about Prellis Biologics and the vision of the company, what were some of your initial thoughts?
"I was inspired by the vision: 3D printed organs for humans. I recognized the opportunity to contribute towards revolutionary technology. It seemed like a good way to apply my high-performance software engineering experience towards a novel technology."
When you reflect on your team at Prellis, does anything stand out to you as being really unique?
"The mix of self motivated individuals using their respective skill sets towards a common objective. Specifically the combination of chemistry, tissue engineering, optics, software and mechanical engineering."
What excites you most about the company’s future?
"I am excited to see the incremental progress of our tissue engineering, and how my contribution fits into the pipeline. Finding new ways to improve the computation of holograms so we can enable real time tissue printing from CAD models is particularly enjoyable. Knowing that my software skills may indirectly be used to help others gives meaning to my work."
Gregory Woo - Senior Sales Manager
When you first heard about Prellis’ mission, what was your initial reaction?
When I first heard about Prellis, my Mom was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, and would need a kidney transplant. It was one of those moments where timing aligned perfectly between my professional and personal life. I am proud to work for a company dedicated to improving my parent’s health and quality of life. Prellis’ mission is very near and dear to my heart, and I knew immediately, "This is a company I want to be a part of."
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
We have such a cross functional team, and everyone works so well together. I’ve seen a lot of biotech company’s dynamics, but there’s something different about the work Prellis is doing. Everyone is an expert in their own field and contributes their knowledge to our multidisciplinary approach. It’s a team unlike any other.
What’s your vision for the future of Prellis?
I see Prellis as a revolutionary tissue engineering company. Our technology is so unique and offers unparalleled solutions across multiple platforms. Prellis has only scratched the surface of its full potential, it makes me excited to think of what the future will hold. I look forward to working and growing with this team, and making what many believe to be impossible an everyday thing.
Erin Stephens, PhD - VP of Tissue Engineering and Antibody Discovery
What initially sparked your interest in Prellis?
I was missing science, and I was looking for the next cutting-edge, ultra-new, never-been-thought-of technology, and that's the category Prellis fell into. I saw Prellis’ vision and chose tissue engineering even though it was a little outside my area of expertise from my PhD and formal training. I saw the bigger picture of how Prellis’ tech is going to change the world.
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
There isn't a team out there that I've been more proud of. Whether I can tie that to a specific individual’s work or anything we do together collectively, the interdisciplinary backgrounds that we've merged and melted together work extremely well. The languages that our separate teams speak are very, very different, but we always find ways to communicate effectively and efficiently and create the high-performing team we have now. COVID has changed our communication in some ways, but we're definitely persevering.
What’s your vision for the future of Prellis?
When the pandemic hit, we took a left turn and dug out one of the tissues we had developed early on and hadn't done much with before, but the fact that EXIS is now up and running as a platform — it's an interesting roadmap for all the other tissues and organs we want to develop. Having a roadmap of how to get beyond our lab with our tissues is very exciting. What we've done can now be interpreted and translated and applied to other tissues. That roadmap is very exciting.
Jonathan Dornell, PhD - Lead Cell Biologist
What initially sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
When I first learned about Prellis, what really attracted me was the EXIS Platform and its ability to investigate either therapeutics or antibody discovery based on targets of interest. From a very young age, I've been attracted by the idea of what personalized medicine looks like in the future, and being able to have a platform that is able to leverage lymphocytes from individual donors and measure their immune response over time and an external system that can be scalable — I think that is a very useful tool for making personalized medicine a reality.
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
It might be a cliché answer, but it's real for me — the breadth of diversity for the team and what everyone brings to the table, both in the lab and from an intellectual perspective. We have people from so many different walks of life and disciplines, both inside and outside of STEM, that I've been able to learn and engage with over the last six months, and I think that’s very valuable. I’m proud to be able to work with people who are able to share their unique insights with how that fits into their previous experiences and what they envision in the future.
What’s your vision for the future of Prellis?
What excites me most is the role Prellis is going to play when it comes to bridging tissue engineering with the wet lab work for bringing organs to individuals. I think the work that has been done with the Holograph X and EXIS Platform is definitely exciting, but the goal is to bring that all together so that we can transplant bioengineered organs one day. Some may say it’s a moonshot, but when we're in this domain of space, what are we doing if we're not aiming for moonshot opportunities? I’m definitely excited to be able to be part of that effort and continue to grow as a research scientist in the space of immunology.
Milad Khorrami - Director of Chemistry
What sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
“When I started my undergrad, I went to the material science engineering department. From there, we had to choose one topic to research. At that point I was back home in Iran, and I wanted to apply for US Universities, and I knew that the biomedical applications are a hot topic here. And I was very interested in bioengineering and biomedical science. I chose to do research in the field of biomaterials and polymeric materials for biomedical application. So I pursued that realm and I got admitted to the PhD Penn State University department of material science and engineering. However, my PhD advisor was working on biomaterials for biomedical applications, and that's how I found my way towards tissue engineering. I found it super fascinating, and the more I got involved in the field, I got more interested. That's how I kept learning and finally I got my job in a tissue engineering based company in SF.”
What drew you to Prellis?
“When I was searching for a job, I was searching for different companies all over the United States. Based on my experience doing an internship at United Therapeutics, I got to know that there is a company working on 3D printing the human tissues based in SF. I was interested. The technology that Prellis was working on was very similar to my PhD thesis at the University of Houston. They both were working with similar topics. And I found Prellis to be a very good match with my PhD thesis. And I reached out to them, and I got a response. And that’s how I got here. I chose Prellis because of the fascinating technology they have and how well it matched with my background and experiences.”
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
“The team members, my coworkers, and the people here are the most unique part about Prellis. What we are doing at Prellis is multi-disciplinary. It’s a startup company; however, we have scientists from different backgrounds. We have optical engineering, cell biology, mechanical engineering. I’m here as a chemist and materials scientist. We have people from all different aspects and we all get along together to solve one problem, which is how to fabricate a functional human organ. How top-notch scientists from different fields are gathering together here is truly amazing. Tackling one big challenge from many different angles.”
How will readily available tissues change the world?
“Tissue engineering, organ manufacturing, this is my dream job. To contribute my knowledge and experience; to contribute in the field of tissue engineering for fabricating functional human organs. As you may know, right now in the United States, there are 30,000 people in line for organ donations. There is a huge waiting list. So, fabricating functional human organs like kidneys and livers and lungs...these can significantly change the world and meet the demands of those patients. I’m very positive that in the near future, maybe in the next 3-5 years, we can fabricate functional human organs. This is my perspective for the future of tissue engineering. Once it’s out, it’s going to change the world. I really enjoy every day when I’m at work. I feel like every day, every experiment, every meeting, every brainstorm, we are getting one step closer to fabricating that final functional human organ. I’m super happy to be contributing to this field and I'm part of these super fast-paced scientists at Prellis Biologics. I’m hoping sometime soon we'll be able to fabricate something functional.”
Ishan Khan - Lead Tissue Engineer
What sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
“My undergraduate degree was in mechanical engineering, and for my graduate school I wanted to do something interesting, something a little out of my comfort zone, but still related to engineering. So, I jumped into biomedical engineering, and although my focus was biomechanics, like cellular mechanics, I did a bunch of coursework in tissue engineering. I was familiar with the scope of the field. It was never so much about what the field of tissue engineering has achieved, but rather what it can do in the next 10 years. Right now, things like scaffold design, 3D printing, and bioprinting are all common words in the field, but I think in 10 years we will see things that blow people’s minds. So, being a part of that movement, this radical change in how we understand organ transplantation is a big thing for me. So, I wanted to get on that boat. When I read about the company, I didn’t fully understand how cross-functional it is. I have never seen a lab where a team is so diverse. We have optical engineers, cell biologists, chemists, microfluidics, computer science. It’s as if we’re all from different planets and we’re trying to solve a set of problems in the same team, which is mind-blowing. The language the optical engineers use and the language the cell biologists use are so different. It’s interesting, it’s exciting, it’s challenging.
What drew you to Prellis?
“I think organ transplantation in particular—there’s a social angle to it. I grew up in Bangladesh. My Grandfather’s younger brother was an organ donor, and he was very progressive. He was listed for kidney and liver. Although he was progressive, after he died, his family members did not allow it to happen. Even if you raise awareness, you won't see organ donation eventually happen. Because there’s a lot of social obstacles and religious obstacles as well. So, to me, this was something that was more than just a job. Like if I can play a tiny role in developing an organ that could save one persons human life, to me that is a life worth living for. That’s why I joined Prellis. ”
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
“The most unique part about working for Prellis is that it does not get boring. The things I worked on 2 months ago are very different from what I’m working on right now. You keep seeing different problems thrown in front of you, and you tackle them on a daily basis with a fresh mind and a fresh approach and you learn from them. That’s the most fun part for me.”
How will readily available tissues change the world?
“It will change the world drastically. If you think about going from a tiny replacement of a tissue to an entire liver or kidney, a patient won't have to wait for an organ donor. A patient won't have to wait if he has a rare blood type. They don't have to worry about those conditions. Basically, a patient won't have to suffer for just being a human.”
Hoang Nguyen - Intern
What sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
“I’m more of a CAD person — I really enjoy designing and 3D modeling. So, when I first saw that the job offer had the possibility of designing tissues and arteries, I always wanted to apply my skills in as many fields as possible. I can find a way to branch out and apply my skills to elsewhere, and that’s how I got interested in tissue engineering. It’s fun, too, printing organs and all that stuff.”
What drew you to Prellis?
“I found Prellis through my professor. He went to a conference and he found out about Melanie’s presentation and he reached out and eventually got in touch with the hiring team, and eventually we got involved with buying their products, and they told me that there may be an internship there for me and told me to apply. I had the CAD experience, so I thought I would be a good candidate to apply, and here I am.”
Have you enjoyed your experience at prellis?
“Absolutely. This is the first startup that I’ve worked at in the longest time. I’m 2 months away from a year of interning. It’s been my most amazing, longest internship. I got it extended twice. Everyone’s really nice, I learn something from everybody. I’ve never worked so closely with so many PhDs before, and it’s been a great learning experience. They’re amazing thinkers and hard workers. I’m learning a little bit from everyone.”
What’s your favorite part of the team?
“My favorite part of the team is the cohesiveness. The idea-sharing. The collaborating. Anybody can bring up an idea they have, and we’ll tackle it together.”
What do you see in Prellis’ future?
Hopefully, the future of Prellis will be 3D printing organs. Being able to print any compatible organ for that patient would be a game-changer. With printing speed and resolution off the charts—everything is just quick and efficient. To 3D print biocompatible organs would prolong life. It would especially eliminate the black market. It would make the world a much better place. Who knows, we could be going to Mars with Elon Musk.”
Gavan Wilhite - VP of Software Engineering
What sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
“I built a lot of skill sets around doing things virtually, like manipulating and creating content virtually, writing real time code that runs virtually, but i've always cared a lot about having positive impact on the world, and there are ways you can do that virtually, but it’s oftentimes easier to have direct impact when that can have impact on actual atoms rather than bits. So, tissue engineering...and particularly the challenges that we were having around building 3 dimensional typology for tissue engineering seemed like a clear place where I could apply that virtual knowledge to solving real world problems that would actually physically impact people in a positive way. From a technology perspective, I think there is something so profoundly powerful about being able to leverage all of the technology stack that we have built to date in order to physically synthesize life and we have explored a limited subset of things that one can do with that and that's already way more than we will probably ever do as a company. The sky's the limit on that. It is a brighter future in which we are more integrated closely with biology. A lot of our environments in tech are sterile and nonliving; but, a world that is more living, I feel like, would be a brighter one.
What drew you to Prellis?
“I tend to prefer smaller startups. It is rare to have the intersection of both being able to deliver something incredibly unique to a company and having that company also recognize that that is valuable because it is difficult to see the value in something that is so different from where you’re coming from. When you see such a perfect fit of what you want to bring and what a company does and the intersection of those two things. It was a no-brainer.”
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
“You have people who are just incredible experts in their field. We have 1-2 experts in any given field across a dozen different disciplines at the company. Normally, you’ll have 6 software engineering experts and 2 marketing experts, maybe 4 at the most disciplines of experts, but here at Prellis, I feel like we have a dozen at least, and for the size that we’re at that’s pretty unique.”
What’s your biggest hope for the company's future?
“I hope that we perfect the synthesis of arbitrary tissue to the point where we can create full organs or it depends how crazy you wanna get with this cause I've got some larger visions of what we could potentially be doing. I hope we perfect our ability to create tissues that are important and useful to people and along the way we’re able to sell early versions of that that continue to create a sustainable company.”
Would you say you have a challenging job?
“There are always different challenges than what you’d expect, and the job wouldn't be fun if it didn't have these challenges. The degree to which interpersonal soft skills are important in my type of role is easy to underestimate. So that has been valuable to note how work that I have done on those soft skills has been useful and also amusing to the degree of which my job mostly involves that.”
Do you have any advice for those who want to get started in the world of biotechnology?
“I haven't spent a lot of time in academia, but because biotech is a relatively early field, it is still very academic in nature. I would encourage people to look for tools and practices and metaphors and mental models from outside of biotech and academia, because I think that the most fun I've had in my career is when I find unique niches or intersection between the things that I'm skilled in and the things that people need because I think in general, especially in this day and age, it's much easier to find a job if you're somewhat unique in the way you position yourself rather than if solely position yourself as a software engineer.”
Lydia Hoo - Human Resources Manager
When you first learned about Prellis Biologics and the vision of the company, what were some of your initial thoughts?
“I’ve been in biotech for many years; I’ve been with small biotech companies and large pharmaceutical companies, so I wasn’t new to the industry. However, I was definitely new to what Prellis is doing. When I look back on everything, I’m really amazed at what Melanie has accomplished and what her vision is. The work we do is kind of mind-boggling. As a Human Resources Manager and not a scientist, I think that the technology we use on a daily basis is really cool. The medical field has made big strides, but to have a vision of building organs—it’s something that is truly spectacular.”
When you reflect on your team at Prellis, does anything stand out to you as being really unique?
“Yes, everybody. Each person I work with cares so much about what they do. They are a wonderful group of people, they’re fun to work with, and they’re so bright. Everybody takes the time to explain what they’re working on and really make us feel like a team, so I think that says a lot. Greg [Sr. Manager Business Development] and I go way back. We’re a small enough company where there’s really that opportunity for us to get to know one another. Before COVID-19 hit, we ate lunch together daily and had a great office dynamic. Working from home, that’s the real downside to this situation.”
What excites you most about the company’s future?
“That we are actually able to 3D bioprint organs and transplant them into people that need them. I mean, I know it’s a long way off, but, we have the most intelligent team, so it could be sooner than we realize. That’s my big hope—that we can change the lives of everybody that needs an organ, instead of waiting unimaginable lengths of time like the old-fashioned way of organ transplantation. This way, we can reach more people at a faster speed. That’s my biggest hope for Prellis and patients in the future.”
Brian Hachtmann - VP of Hardware Engineering
What initially sparked your interest in tissue engineering?
“I’ve always been interested in the human body as a machine. When I went to Stanford for a Master’s degree, there were two things that I really wanted depth in — automation of mechanical systems, and human biology. I had an internship at Abbott Vascular after college, developing manufacturing equipment for vascular closure devices, and realized that the engineers who could automate and control mechanical systems were highly valuable. As well, I have always had a fascination with biological systems and this perception that biology is machinery. When I went to Stanford, about a third of my time was spent on embedded system design and robotics, another third in human biomechanics — biomechanics of motion, cardiovascular biomechanics, human behavioral biology, and medical device design. I think the human body is probably the most interesting machine in the universe, at least our little corner of it. Leaving Stanford, I had an offer with intuitive surgical but ended up going with early stage Tesla as I care deeply about our environment. It wasn’t until I met Melanie [Prellis’ CEO and Founder] and joined Prellis that I got into the biological side of things as a professional. I really love and appreciate that about working here. I get to be a part of a team that’s deeply biological. I love working with Melanie and Erin [Prellis’ VP of Tissue Engineering and Antibody Discovery]. Every time I get to hang out with them I learn so much.”
What would you say is unique about the team at Prellis?
“I really enjoy that Prellis is deeply scientifically oriented. When I was at Tesla, the culture was hardcore engineering. At Makani Power, I learned to think more like a physicist, and at Prellis now I am learning from hardcore biological scientists. Prellis is at the bleeding edge of what people are publishing and what the world is finding through all these different projects. The engineering world has been separated from deep biology for a long time. It’s wonderful to find places where these two powerful groups of human effort are finally merging. Tissue engineering is super interesting because at some point, you have to leave the science behind and just go for engineering. It’s a great interdisciplinary team, and I really enjoy learning from the science side of things while offering engineering structure and approach. It’s fun to add different strengths to a community that already has so many. It’s such a pleasure to be on a team of such powerful folks that are also truly kind people. Everybody here is really on each other’s side. The basis is always respect and appreciation, even when we are in the thick of things solving truly challenging problems, and I love that about this team.”
What’s your vision for the future of Prellis?
“If we truly, masterfully execute on any of the basic things we’re trying to do, I feel like we have a wildly profitable business to be built. Of all the things I’m here to do, the thing that truly orients me the most is building a great business — one that makes a powerful impact on the problems of humanity. The long term vision is so grand. We are fundamentally unlocking a new regime of biological science research, tissue engineering and design. We are offering a huge technological platform advancement for an entire industry, and that’s super exciting. With the ultimate vision of fully functional organs grown perhaps from the recipient’s biology itself, I can see us saving a lot of lives and improving the quality of life for so many.
Evan Brahms - Technical Specialist
Why did you choose to work in tissue engineering?
“At Stanford, I was working on neuroinflammatory drug discoveries, so I ran a lot of drug studies over there and then transitioned over to Prellis. Just based off of the technology that Prellis has, and the capabilities of utilizing 3D cell culture as a means to speed up research as well as further research in terms of further usage.”
How do you think that readily available tissues will change the world as we know it?
“Readily available tissues will revolutionize research in terms of how fast we’re able to execute studies. Currently, it takes a tremendous amount of time for studies to, from start to finish, especially when you have to introduce animal models, but by utilizing 3dcell culture with human tissue you’re able to speed up this process significantly.”
What inspires you about Prellis?
“What inspires me daily is I’ve always wanted to have a lasting effect in medicine, and to be able to have and potentially make a significant impact for people overall. I feel like the tech that Prellis has has the capability to do so. Also, the motivation on a daily basis is really the people that work here at Prellis. Everybody that works here is absolutely incredible and extraordinarily intelligent within their own field. The variety of people that work here, and the minds that come together to make things happen is extraordinary.”
What continues to be your favorite part about working for the company?
“The people and the environment and the attitude that everybody has makes it a lot easier and creates this environment where you really want to come in the next day and work harder and strive for those goals. Melanie and the team make it very easy for everybody to really push harder and think outside the box within their field.”
What’s your biggest strength that you contribute to the team?
“My background and skill set and knowledge within the drug discovery field adds a different dynamic to the team as well as the ability to communicate among different researchers in different fields to further and fully understand the needs of potential and current clients of Prellis so that everybody can utilize our technology to the best of their capabilities.”
When you look at the future of Prellis, what excited you most?
“The thing that excites me the most is the impact that Prellis has and the capabilities and potential impact that Prellis has on all fields within research so that we can speed up the potential for further drugs to come to market. That would be a very large component as well as how Prellis might be able to shape future companies as well for further innovations within the field.”
INSPIRED BY PRELLIS