Presenter Details

M.S.'14, Ph.D.'17, Lecturing Fellow, Duke University

After receiving her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Duke in 2017, Kelli co-founded Isolere Bio, a startup developing novel separations technology to improve the manufacturability of advanced therapeutics. Serving as CSO and later CEO of Isolere Bio, Kelli helped to build and lead the company from the ground up through university licensing, product development, application pivots, and fundraising. After Isolere's acquisition by Donaldson Company in 2023, she stayed on as Director of Business Development and then General Manager, overseeing the launch and early commercialization of multiple products. Kelli is now focused on supporting the development of entrepreneurship at Duke and in the Research Triangle. She is as a Founder-in-Residence at North Carolina's Center for Entrepreneurial Development and has returned to Duke I&E to spearhead the inaugural PhD Innovators Program, designed to mentor late-stage PhD students and post-docs interested in translating their innovations out of the university.