Biosortia Microbiomics

Biosortia’s leadership team is equipped with the research and business experience necessary to accelerate its objective in becoming the premier, aquatic natural products company with a primary focus in drug discovery. Biosortia has attracted a strong management team, as well as experienced and diverse advisors, to lead its success.

Ross O. Youngs, Founder and CEO – Ross has spent close to 40 years inventing products, technologies, and processes for various industries and holds over 75 patents worldwide. He drives innovation by focusing on what is better, faster, and less expensive. Ross’ recent major innovations include an R&D 100 Award for collaboration on biopolymer technologies. In 2009, Biosortia received a $6 million ARPA-E (U.S. Dept. of Energy R&D) grant for its algal harvesting technology, which helped lead to the development of Biosortia’s drug discovery platform.

In 1998, Ross received the Ernst & Young Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year award. Additionally, the U.S. Small Business Administration honored him as their national “Business Person of the Year" in a presentation made by Vice President Al Gore.

Dean Becker, Chief IP Officer – Recognized as the world’s leading patent broker and dealmaker, having completed over $11 Billion USD in intellectual property based transactions with the highest volume of patent sales globally. Dean created and sold Ocean Tomo’s Patent Auction business to ICAP PLC, formerly the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, the world’s largest energy & commodities broker and the world’s leading provider of OTC pricing data with a daily transaction volume of more than 2.3 Trillion USD with 63 offices across 28 countries. Following ICAP’s acquisition of Ocean Tomo’s transaction business, Dean served as the CEO and Founder of ICAP Ocean Tomo Auctions, ICAP IP, ICAP Patent Brokerage and ICAP Media for a decade.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Dean has transformed the landscape of intellectual property transactions, consistently setting new benchmarks for excellence and innovation. His expertise in identifying valuable intellectual property assets and matching them with strategic buyers has earned him a reputation as a trusted advisor and thought leader in the field.

Dean is also committed to educating others about the importance of intellectual property and its role in driving innovation. Dean is a mentor to some of the most brilliant inventors in the world helping them shape their ideas and inventions into saleable assets.

Olivia Becker, Head of Licensing – Globally recognized for having cultivated the largest network of connections in the patent industry. Liv is widely recognized for her expertise in negotiating patent sales and licensing. With an extensive background in intellectual property, through 16 years of dedicated work and collaboration in the patent industry, she has established unmatchable relationships with key stakeholders, inventors, patent attorneys, corporate leaders, and innovation advocates.This expansive network not only reflects her commitment to fostering collaboration within the intellectual property community, but also positions her as a valuable resource for navigating the complexities of IP management and strategy.

Olivia began her career in 2010 as the first female patent broker at ICAP, a FTSE 100 Company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Following her time at ICAP, she joined Unified Patents, where she contributed to efforts aimed at promoting innovation and reducing frivolous patent litigation.

Prior to founding Becker Transactions, Olivia held pivotal roles at Ocean Tomo from 2017 to 2022, serving as the Chief Business Development Officer of Ocean Tomo Transactions and as Vice President of Ocean Tomo China, a joint venture with Sinofaith IP Group headquartered in Shanghai, with subsidiaries and liaison offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Changsha, Hong Kong, Chicago and San Francisco.

Guy T. Carter, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer – Dr. Carter has close to 40 years of experience working in Pharmaceutical R&D, primarily in the discovery and development of microbial products. In the course of his career in the pharmaceutical industry, he worked as a natural products discovery scientist and advanced through levels of scientific management to gain the overall leadership of the Natural Products Discovery function at Wyeth Research (later acquired by Pfizer), as well as directing other elements of the Chemical Technologies Department. Guy received a doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then pursued marine natural products research on an NIH-sponsored post-doctoral fellowship with Kenneth Rinehart at the University of Illinois.

Haiyin He, Ph.D., VP of Research – Dr. He has close to 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D, specializing in the discovery of drug leads from natural products and their semi-synthetic analogs in oncology, infectious disease, and other therapeutic areas. Haiyin worked as a Principal Scientist III and group leader at Wyeth Research. After the merger between Pfizer and Wyeth, he continued on to work at Pfizer World Wide Medicinal Chemistry as an associate research fellow in the area of antibody-drug conjugates for cancer chemotherapy. Haiyin received a Doctorate in marine natural products at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with John Faulkner, and then acquired a postdoctoral experience in the chemistry department of Cornell University with Jon Clardy.

David R. Coho, Vice President of Operations & Finance – David has close to 30 years of innovation, technology development, and commercialization experience across a range of industries, primarily focused on technology and life sciences. He leads operations and finance teams with added responsibilities as Company Secretary and Treasurer. David contributes to the strategic direction and executive leadership of Biosortia.

In 2009, David was instrumental in Algaeventure Systems awarding and execution of a $6 million U.S. Dept. of Energy grant from its esteemed ARPA-E program. David received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Miami University.

Chad Hummell, Business Development Manager, Partnerships & Licensing pipeline, has been a driving force at Biosortia since its founding in May 2012. He is a proven leader in developing B2B and academic partnerships, winning over $8.2 million in grants and projects, and helping to commercialize product and technology innovations. Prior to Biosortia, Chad led product launches with Ross Youngs’ Univenture Companies and served as a director for government and non-profit programs through the Ohio EMTEC/PTAC in Columbus/Dayton/Cincinnati. He holds a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics/Management from Ohio Northern University.