Our Mission
vivoVerse Inc. – formerly operating as Newormics LLC, is committed to improving public health by identifying neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity in compounds which people may be exposed to. We aim to reduce reliance on animal testing by prioritizing the chemicals of interest requiring further study using an alternative to animal testing in vivo model organism with diverse genetic backgrounds.
We also want to promote the use of C. elegans as an important model organism for studying disease and fundamental biology, by providing our technology to research labs and companies worldwide to make their own discoveries.
About Us
vivoVerse Inc. – formerly operating as Newormics LLC, 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.
Company Story
vivoVerse Inc. – formerly operating as Newormics LLC, 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. The technology was first developed to immobilize C. elegans for performing laser axotomy. However its usefulness to allow high-resolution imaging of large numbers of humanized disease-model worms quickly became apparent. Initial pilot studies were performed using a 96 well format vivoChip and customized microscope. These studies identified neuroprotective compounds in an Alzheimer's model worm, and in a separate study, compounds able to inhibit protein aggregation.
vivoVerse Inc. – formerly operating as Newormics LLC, was founded to develop vivoChip technology and C. elegans based chemical screening further, and provide these products and services to a wider market. The company has provided vivoChip and vivoCube systems to dozens of research institutions and pharmaceutical companies around the globe.
Our Team
Adela Ben-Yakar, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder
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Evan Hegarty, MSE
Director of Manufacturing, Co-Founder
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Gina Lento, PhD
Head of Operations
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Adam Laing, PhD
Research Scientist
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Jacob Moore, PhD
Automation and Manufacturing Engineer
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Nicholas Chavez
Software Engineer
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