Sonavi Lab’s CEO Ellington West: Black Entrepreneur on a Mission to Fight Bias and Save Lives

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Sonavi Labs chief Ellington West has not been short of role models, or challenges. Or ones that offered both — like her Black father, an innovator whose microphone technology is in use in 90% of the world’s devices, and also threw her a challenge, or her grandmother who was part of the “human computers” that helped NASA catapult John Glenn into space in 1962.
“My father is my hero, role model, my greatest inspiration,” West, 34, once told an interviewer. The older West is also the one who has set his daughter off on what is currently her biggest challenge — taking to the market a digital stethoscope, built at Johns Hopkins by a team led by her father, that could detect pneumonia, and possible COVID-19, and prevent deaths. Dr. West developed the tool along with a student, Ian McLane, as a response to a challenge from the Gates Foundation but feared the research could simply gather dust unless somebody developed it into a functional, marketable device.

Life Science Development Projects Position Baltimore BioMed Ecosystem for Boom

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The Baltimore biotech ecosystem is thriving. And new, big and bold life sciences development projects are in the works, leading many to project Charm City as the next sector of the BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) to boom.

Big Data in Biomedical: Quantum and AI to Problem Solve and Optimize

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The BioHealth Capital Region Forum offered many insights into the state of the industry, but the most prevalent theme was certainly big data. Panelists and keynote speakers across multiple events spoke about the importance of data in the biohealth and life sciences industry and how artificial intelligence will help the sector innovate.

Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures Boosts Maryland Life Sciences

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Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) has had a significant impact on the Maryland life sciences ecosystem since its founding in 2014, assisting with hundreds of licensed therapeutics in development and backing nearly 200 startups that have collectively nearly $3 billion in venture capital funding, 30% of which has remained in the state.