In this monthly Industry Insights on Research and Innovation Seminar (IIRIS) series, presented by Technology Opportunities & Ventures (TOV), experts from innovative startups will join us to discuss how their companies are using cutting-edge science to develop the next generation of therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and more. They will also share insights into industry trends and career opportunities, and answer questions from attendees. The events are free and open to the NYU community and a boxed lunch is provided.

November’s speaker is Rafail Tasakis, PhD, head of business development at Solvuu. Solvuu is a technology startup building the first AI-powered operating system for Biology. The company is on a mission to help innovators accelerate the commercialization of their NGS-based therapeutics and diagnostics and bring solutions faster to those who need them most.

Full speaker bios:

Rafail Tasakis, PhD (he/his), is the Head of Business Development at Solvuu, where he leads the launch of bioinformatics and data science services for drug discovery and NGS-based diagnostics. He joined Solvuu in July 2023, initially as a Bioinformatics Scientist, before transitioning to a business development role. His expertise lies in Cancer Genomics and Epitranscriptomics. Rafail completed his postdoctoral research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City (2022–2023) and earned his PhD in 2021 from the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany. He also conducted pre-doctoral research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where he received his BSc in 2016.