Ben Lepene

Biography

    Ben directs all R&D and product development programs at Ceres Nanosciences. Ben drives the scale-up and commercialization of Ceres' Nanotrap platform for a range of biomarker discovery applications and diagnostic assay products. Ben has extensive experience and a track record of success with grant funding programs, and is the lead on multiple funded awards from the DOD, Gates Foundation, and other agencies and foundations. Also, Ben works with a range of global pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to define and conduct verification efforts for targeted Nanotrap sample collection, preservation and diagnostic applications of great interest to industry.    Prior to joining the Ceres team, Ben led the development of polymer-based and bio-inspired antioxidant delivery system designed to actively prevent oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA within targeted cells. Ben has accumulated a broad range of technical laboratory and project management experience at his previous positions. He has managed the fabrication and setup of both R&D and pilot scale laboratory facilities. He has also served as principal investigator on multiple Phase I and II DoD SBIR programs that led to the development and commercialization of multifunctional nanomaterials.   Ben received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech and completed a graduate program in Biomedical Sciences from Virginia Tech.

Research Interest

Product development,