Dr. Cagri Savran
Founder & CEO

Dr. Cagri Savran, Founder & CSO

Cagri is the inventor of the underlying technology. His R&D experience of over 20 years across multiple disciplines has generated 30 patents and patent applications on devices including optical biosensors, biological micro-manipulators and high throughput microfluidic systems. Dr. Savran holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and an MS and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University.

Scott Posnick
CFO

Scott Posnick is a proven thought leader for emerging businesses and those focused on growth. Scott’s diverse business experience brings much needed confidence to his clients; particularly, ensuring that strategic decisions are supported by sound financial data. He provides advice and counsel on areas critical to success, including: budgeting, forecasting and cash management; strategies to raise, invest, optimize and preserve capital; leveraging opportunities and controlling risks associated with mergers, acquisitions, and exits/divestitures; and establishing, maintaining, and evaluating business resources such as attorneys, bankers, auditors, and insurance agents. Scott is a CMA(r) (Certified Management Accountant), and a strategic thinker, decision maker, risk manager, and steward of business ethics. He has earned his BS degree in Accounting from Babson College and his MBA from Suffolk University Business School.

Dr. Chun-Li Chang
Director of R&D

Dr. Chun Li Chang
Chun-Li is a Research Professor at Purdue University and the co-inventor of Savran Tech’s primary technology. He has 13 years of hands on experience in bioinstrumentation, chemical conjugation, bodily fluid handling, cell culturing, device design and microfabrication as well as technical personnel management. Dr. Chang holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Dr. Jeff Behrens
Member of the Board of Directors

Jeff Behrens is founder and CEO of LabShares Newton, a biotech incubator for biotech startups run by biotech entrepreneurs. Formerly, Jeff was President and CEO of Siamab Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on developing antibodies targeting glycan targets in cancer that exited in 2018. Previously, Jeff served as Senior Director, Business Development and Operations at Edimer Pharmaceuticals (funded by Third Rock Ventures) and also worked at Alnylam and Biogen Idec, where co-founded Biogen’s Innovation Incubator. In 2003 Jeff sold his healthcare IT company, The Telluride Group, to mindSHIFT Technologies, a Fidelity-funded rollup. Jeff has an MS from the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), an MBA from MIT Sloan, and graduated from Harvard College. He teaches HST590, a PhD level course at MIT and lives in Newton, MA.

Nadia Altomare
Member of the Board of Directors

Nadia Altomare is the Chief Commercial Officer of Sera Prognostics Inc., a global leader in high-value women’s health diagnostics. She is focused on its breakthrough diagnostics product where she is leading the commercial business strategy and implementing the building blocks for widespread payer coverage. Previously, as President and then CEO at Abcodia Ltd, a clinical-stage company engaged in using human serum-based biomarkers to develop validated tests for the early detection of cancer, Nadia set up the U.S. subsidiary and oversaw the subsequent launch of global commercial operations. Prior to Abcodia, Nadia was Vice President & General Manager at ThermoFisher Scientific, a multinational biotechnology product development company. Her early career was spent through a series mergers and acquisitions and an IPO, resulting in a company ultimately acquired by PerkinElmer. Among her accomplishments was the startup, build and scale of the ViaCord division. Nadia received an MBA from Northeastern University and a BS in Business Administration from SUNY Stony Brook.

Saleh Daher
Member of the Board of Directors

Saleh Daher, CFA invests as an angel in technology startups in the Boston area. He is a member of Walnut Venture Associates and of MIT Alumni Angels. He hosts the Angel Invest Boston podcast. Trained as an engineer at MIT and Stanford, Sal traded and invested in the debt of emerging market countries, at Citibank and at privately-held Turan Corporation.

In 2013, Sal became a full-time angel investor. His exits include Exos, Streamroot, PIKA Energy, Videolicious, Rifiniti, Poly6 and Concrete Sensors. His present portfolio includes:

Gelesis
SQZ Biotech
Akili Interactive
Vedanta Biosciences
Leuko
Savran Technologies
doDoc
Pixability
Mavrck
XMOS
Squadle
FineTune Learning
Alice’s Table
COBU

Yavuz Kaynar
Member of the Board of Directors

Mr. Yavuz Kaynar is the newest member of the Savran Tech Board of Directors. Yavuz is an IT expert with a focus on Big Data and Enterprise Database Programming. Yavuz has spent over 15 years in the European Venture Capital, and is also an avid angel investor. He has made a number of successful investments that resulted in acquisitions and IPOs. He has a BS in systems engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from MIT.

Dr. Nigel Beard
Advisory Board Member

Nigel P. Beard, PhD is the Chief Technology Officer of Mission Bio with over 19 years of experience in strategic technology development and delivery of new product opportunities. Nigel brings R&D leadership in next-generation sequencing (NGS), microfluidics, AI, machine learning, and additive manufacturing. He has launched 50+ products, including full DNA sequencing platforms and machine-learning-based custom manufacturing systems, is an inventor on 40+ patents, and has extensive experience from GSK to Life Technologies to startups like Mission Bio. Dr. Beard holds a PhD in Microfluidics from Imperial College, London, an MSc in Analytical Chemistry from Loughborough University, and a BSc in Applied Chemistry from De Montfort University in Leicester, UK.

Dr. Edward Boumil
Assay Development Specialist

Edward F. Boumil, PhD is a Laboratory Scientist and Assay Development Specialist with Savran Tech. He received his BS in Biological Sciences (Biotechnology Concentration), as well as his PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2014 and 2017, respectively. He also conducted postdoctoral research at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Edward’s research skills include extensive experience in the field of Cell & Molecular Biology techniques in a plethora of research settings, including polymerase chain reaction, primary cell culture techniques, and quantitative microscopy. Edward also brings to the table strong in vivo research experience, including tissue handling and cell extraction from tissue, as well as biomarker measurement and assay validation.

Dr. Yuan Zhong
Advanced Microfluidic Engineer

Dr. Yuan Zhong’s knowledge and experience spans over multiple disciplines: from device engineering to surface chemistry to biology. Yuan has studied and developed rare cell isolation platforms during his PhD, and applied them to clinical diagnostic problems. At Savran Tech, he is working as advanced microfluidic engineer as well as contributing to assay development and optimization. Dr. Zhong has obtained his BS from Tsinghua University and his PhD from Purdue University.