Two WSU doctoral graduates partner to become entrepreneurs
When someone close to you is diagnosed with cancer, it can change your life perspective — and sometimes your life projectory. For Kevin Gray, a WSU doctoral graduate, the diagnosis drove him to a new passion and the ultimate creation of a biotechnology company to develop novel cancer treatments.
“I was in my second year in undergraduate school when my dad was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive kind of cancer,” says Kevin, co-founder and principal inventor of Chimeric Designs Inc. “It kind of flipped my world upside down and freaked me out.”
Kevin did what most do in this situation: he turned to the internet to research cancer treatment. A year later, he was in a class on cancer biology and technology where guest speakers visited from large universities across the nation. “It was like listening to a rock star every week,” Kevin recalled. It was then he decided to pursue a career researching cancer technology.
Kevin and his business partner, Afshin Kahn (left above), started Chimeric Designs Inc. as a spin-off of Kevin’s co-curricular research internship. The company is committed to researching more effective techniques in chemotherapy treatment to reduce post-treatment impacts on patients. Chimeric Designs, incorporated in May 2017, was recently awarded a Commercialization Gap Fund from the WSU Office of Commercialization to support the advancement of its products to the marketplace…
➡ Read the entire story at the Washington State University Graduate School website