What started off personal, developed into a passion to improve neurological health and slow cognitive decline through sleep science.
Karen Crow, one of the co-founders of NeuroGeneces, encountered personal challenges as her mother battled Alzheimer's and her son struggled with a sleep disorder. During her research into these conditions, she discovered that sleep serves as a gateway to the brain, providing valuable insights into neurophysiology and creating opportunities to measure and enhance brain function.
Prioritizing brain health begins with assessing brain function and monitoring changes annually to provide early interventions when they are most effective in changing the trajectory of neurodegeneration.
Now Karen’s personal mission is to develop technology to monitor brain function and enhance long-lasting neurological health.
She connected with cofounder Jason Worchel, M.D., a neuropsychiatrist and recognized expert in neurostimulation. Together they launched NeuroGeneces to develop safe, natural, and proven ways to measure and improve brain health.
The NeuroGeneces Team
Karen Crow
Cofounder & CEO
A former management consultant and Google executive, Karen’s passion for assessing Brain Health through sleep science stems from personal experience: her mother had Alzheimer’s and her son has a sleep disorder. A two-time patent-owner and Google Founders' Award recipient, she has a successful track record of conceptualizing innovative solutions and turning them into reality. She co-founded WiserGiving.org, a nonprofit dedicated to donor education. Karen holds a BA with High Honors from Dartmouth College and MS from MIT.
Jason Worchel, M.D.
Cofounder, Chief Science Officer
Jason brings a wealth of research, clinical, and neuroscience expertise to the team. He is a neuropsychiatrist, recognized expert in neuro-stimulation science and holds a patent in neuromodulation. While Chief of Psychiatry at Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, he conducted a range of neuropsychiatric research projects and collaborative research in EEG biofeedback and the efficacy and theoretical mechanisms of action for Cranial Electric Stimulation, including the use of neurostimulation to enhance sleep for veterans with PTSD.
Michael Comerford
Chief Technology Officer
An Electrical Engineer and Computer Scientist by training, Michael has practical experience addressing software, hardware, and electrical design issues at both the technical and systems level. In recent years, his focus has been on data science / AI, having managed diverse analytical/AI teams at Google, Facebook, and Zynga. He leads NeuroGeneces' hardware and AI development. Michael received his BSE, summa cum laude from Duke University and his MBA with High Honors from University of Michigan.
Blythe Karow
Commercialization Officer
Blythe brings 20+ years’ experience in MedTech strategy and marketing with a strong background in innovation pipeline strategy, go-to-market strategies and FDA pathways in the neuro market. She was head of digital health strategy and product development for Neuromodulation products at Boston Scientific and former CEO of Evren Technologies. Blythe graduated with a BS from Johns Hopkins University and received her MBA from Darden Graduate School of Business at University of Virginia.
Christine Lehman
Head of Operations
Christine oversees the daily operations of the firm, drives FDA and other regulatory strategy, oversees grant operations and compliance. As a former healthcare and corporate attorney, she counseled investor-owned and nonprofit hospital and medical systems, pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, and private equity and venture capital firms in transactional, regulatory and governance matters. Christine received her BA magna cum laude from Duke University and her J.D. degree cum laude from Harvard University.
Jackson Brennecke
Sr Software Developer
Jackson possesses a diverse background in mechanical and system design, with a predominant emphasis on software and ML development within the field of neurotechnology. Building upon his experience at Blackrock NeuroTech, he builds software solutions encompassing data pipelining, real-time ML algorithms development to process neural input data, and offline analyses to assess performance. Jackson holds BA and MS degrees in Manufacturing Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering from Grand Valley State University.
Bob Alkire
Sr Electronics Engineer
Bob is an accomplished engineering and electronics design engineer with experience in hardware design and embedded systems. He has several awards, patents and honors for PCB layout, prototype bring-up and firmware development. Bob has practical experience translating hard science into software, hardware, and electrical design and is excited about converting research insights into products that improve daily life. He as a BS with distinction in Computer Science from California State University.
STRATEGIC ADVISORS
Paul Butler, former CTO of Honeywell Processing Solutions, and former COO of Lumidigm, a biosensor company, brings 35 years of deep experience in executive leadership, business and organizational strategy, customer-centered product design and marketing (including numerous biosensor products), management, and revenue generation. He has a track record of transitioning ambitious concepts into valuable products or services. Paul’s role in NeuroGevity commercialization includes business model design, product and service strategy, and manufacturing and logistics processes/relationships.
Robert Bender, PhD, has over 40 years of experience in life sciences and healthcare. He’s been a serial entrepreneur, a venture capitalist, and is currently Chairman of the Board of Revivo Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company developing a new class of therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Robert has brought multiple pharmaceutical products to market, and brings knowledge of the neuroscience venture capital space.
Murdoc Khaleghi, MD, is a physician, researcher, author, and serial health tech entrepreneur, with numerous research fellowships, including the American Heart Association, NIH, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Stein Institute for Research on Aging. Murdoc advises select startups, and has a proven track record of successful exits, including 5 IPOs and unicorns.
Avi Yaron is an entrepreneur, executive chairman and strategic adviser. He brings extensive knowledge of neurotech devices in the medical/wellness arenas, with a focus on personalized predictive preventative solutions to improve well-being. He cofounded Joy Ventures to pioneer and cultivate a neuro-wellness consumer product ecosystem, and cofounded HealthYA Ventures Lab to focus on disruptive health tech startups that target significant unmet needs. The NeuroGeneces team knows that securing investor funding will be critical for commercialization: Robert, Murdoc and Avi provide fundraising experience, strategic advice and access to contacts in this area.