McMaster faculty members Eric Brown, Catherine Demers and Jose Moran-Mirabal earned this year’s Professor Entrepreneur Fellowships, awarded in celebration and support of McMaster’s innovative startup leaders.
Established by the McMaster Entrepreneurship Academy, the fellowship releases full-time faculty from teaching one course for one year. It’s designed to give faculty more time to focus on growing their entrepreneurial ventures.
The competition offered an impressive display of McMaster’s entrepreneurial talent, said Leyla Soleymani, associate vice-president, Research (Commercialization & Entrepreneurship), as she congratulated the winners.
“Entrepreneurship and commercialization are essential for turning academic ideas into real-world impact,” Soleymani said. “This fellowship will ensure our awardees can dedicate more time to fundraising, team building and prototype development for their ventures. We’re thrilled to support them as they work to bring their innovations to life.”
Six professors, from the faculties of Engineering, Science and Health Sciences, competed for the fellowships this month in a pitch-style competition at the Forge.
Their innovative startup companies are advancing solutions in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, diagnostics and monitoring, health care and accessible treatments.
A selection committee evaluated each pitch and chose the three winners based on their inventions’ potential for commercialization and the impact the fellowship could have on the success of their venture.
Here are the 2025 Professor Entrepreneur Fellows:
Eric Brown | Kapoose Creek Bio
Eric Brown, a professor in the department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences is the CEO of Kapoose Creek Bio, which is revolutionizing the discovery of medicines from nature using artificial intelligence.
The company’s “unEarth Rx” AI platform, developed at McMaster, is designed to accelerate natural product drug discovery and advance solutions to treat neurodegeneration and mental health disorders.
Catherine Demers | CorLibra
Catherine Demers is a professor in the Department of Medicine and founder and CEO of CorLibra, which aims to help seniors with heart failure safely monitor their health from home.
CorLibra’s interactive software SaMD provides a user-friendly, interactive solution that simplifies weight tracking and diuretic adjustment, empowering patients to better manage their condition at home and improve quality of life.
Jose Moran-Mirabal | Tessella Biosciences
Jose Moran-Mirabal, a professor in the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, is the co-founder and CEO of Tessella Biosciences, a biotech company that provides high-printability plug-and-play bioinks and biopolymers that make 3D bioprinting a smooth experience for researchers.
With the mission to revolutionize the science and engineering of biomaterials and improve global health care, Tessella Biosciences’ products offer printability and tunable mechanical properties which are ideal for modelling a variety of tissues.
