Dr. Herr was instrumental in the creation and development of the BioLexa Platform, so we are honored to have him on our advisory board and grateful for his assistance to the Company. Dr. Andrew Herr, PhD, is an associate professor in the Division of Immunobiology and Center for Systems Immunology, with an affiliate appointment in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital within the UC Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Herr completed his thesis work in molecular biophysics from Washington University in St. Louis, and completed his postdoctoral work in structural immunology at the California Institute of Technology as a Damon Runyon Research Fellow. He was recruited to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as an Ohio Eminent Scholar in Structural Biology before moving to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The Herr lab studies mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. Specifically, they discovered the zinc-dependent mechanism of intercellular adhesion in bacterial biofilms formed by Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. aureus. Biofilms are specialized bacterial colonies that are highly resistant to antibiotics and immune responses, so developing novel therapies to prevent biofilm formation is of high importance. This is of particular significance in eczema, since nearly 90% of people who suffer from atopic dermatitis are colonized by S. aureus on their skin. Dr. Herr also solved the first structure of a human IgA1 antibody bound to its cognate Fc receptor while at Caltech, and his lab has continued to study antibodies and immune receptors implicated in autoimmune diseases. In addition, the lab is studying a family of related collagen-specific immune receptors such as glycoprotein VI, which activates platelets upon exposure to fibrous collagen. Before joining the faculty at Cincinnati Children’s within the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Dr. Herr was an Ohio Eminent Scholar in Structural Biology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and served as an associate director of the Cincinnati Medical Scientist (MD/PhD) Training Program. Dr. Herr received the 2014 Emerging Entrepreneurial Achievement Faculty Award from UC for his work to commercialize a novel anti-infective therapy based on his lab’s research.

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