About Us

Newormics is a developer of the first high-throughput, high-content screening platforms for use with in vivo small animal models as well as in vitro 3D tissue organoids. The company provides proprietary microfluidics-based platforms to advance early stage drug discovery and toxicity studies for faster and better drug development with cost-effective solutions.

At Newormics we are committed to empowering every scientist, research lab and drug discovery industry, to make discoveries faster with our modern and simple technology.

Newormics was co-founded in 2016 by Prof. Adela Ben-Yakar and Evan Hegarty and is a spinoff from the Ben-Yakar Lab in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin.

Our Team

Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder

Adela Ben-Yakar, PhD

Dir. of Manufacturing, Co-founder

Evan Hegarty, MSE

Head of Operations

Gina Lento, PhD

Research Scientist

Adam Laing, PhD

Automation & Manufacturing Engineer

Jacob Moore, PhD

Adam Laing, PhD

Dr. Adam Laing is a molecular and cellular biologist educated at the University of Edinburgh, and leads the Research and Development activities of Newormics. He is responsible for testing and characterizing the new devices and imaging methods, and development of toxicology and drug screening assays in C. elegans as well as tissue organoids.

Adela Ben-Yakar, PhD

A professor with dual appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr Ben-Yakar’s research focuses on the creation of imaging technologies and novel laser surgery with high precision. Educated at Stanford and the Technion in Israel, with post-doctoral study at Harvard, and using her NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, Dr Ben-Yakar began the research that has culminated in the launch of Newormics, LLC

Evan Hegarty, MSE

Evan Hegarty, co-founder, received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin while developing the technology and IP that lead to the launch of Newormics, LLC. As the Director of Manufacturing and Product development, and Principal Investigator of NIH SBIR grants at Newormics, Evan is responsible for development of all chip and system designs, creating production schedules, optimizing production methods, managing team members, identifying customer needs, developing future products, and reinforcing GLP and GMP.

Yunki Im, PhD

Dr. Yunki Im is a molecular geneticist with expertise in autophagy, mitophagy, unfolded protein response, post-translational modifications (sumoylation and ubiquitination), and mitochondrial biology applied to study neurodegenerative disease and cardiac vascular disease in C. elegans and mice. He was educated at GIST in Korea, with post-doctoral study at University of Rochester, NY.

Jacob Moore, PhD

Jacob Moore completed his master’s and PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin before joining the Newormics team. From his experimental research in the gas turbine industry, he developed a hands-on expertise in thermal/fluids systems that he is applying to chip and system designs. In addition, he is using his automated laboratory measurement experience to mature automation designs using Newormics technology.

Gina Lento, PhD

Dr. Lento is a serial COO/VPO executive for life science startups with broad skills in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics. With a unique background of equal parts government, public and private sector service, Dr. Lento holds a PhD in Biochemistry and additional credentials in Drug Evaluation, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Corporate Governance.