Founder & CEO

Josh Smith is the Founder and CEO of Bench in a Box Technologies and brings 25 years of hands-on molecular biology and diagnostic assay development experience, anchored by a B.S. in Genetics and Development from Penn State University and an M.S. in Clinical Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin System. In a prior venture, he built a clinical laboratory network from the ground up to more than 300 active clients across 31 states within three years, and has raised approximately $3 million across his entrepreneurial career. His technical record includes three issued U.S. patents -- one as sole inventor in molecular diagnostics -- a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, BSL-3 research training, and service as an expert witness in biotechnology and laboratory matters across multiple states. Josh is an active contributor to international industry standards, and serves as the primary technical architect of BIAB's novel, enzyme-free molecular detection platform designed to bring laboratory-grade diagnostic accuracy to point-of-care environments.

COO, Atterx Biotherapeutics Advisor

Dr. Watt has been with Atterx since 2006. Previous to joining Atterx, he held senior management positions as Director of Cell Biology & Transgenesis at Infigen, Inc. and as Director of Government Programs at OpGen, Inc. He received a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Guelph, Canada followed by a post-doctoral position at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Watt has nearly 20 years of experience in the development of novel biologics/pharmaceuticals for various diseases/infections.

President, Hellma USA & Scientific Cell Co. Advisor

Evan Friedmann is Vice President of Scientific Cell Company, a Long Island–based master distributor and development partner for onsite analytical testing solutions. With 16 years at the company, he is active in several professional organizations, including AOAC CASP and ACS CANN, where he serves as Program Chair. Evan is also Vice Chair of the AOAC Annual Meeting Technical Programming Council and a member of the Cannabis Science Conference Educational Steering Committee.

President & CEO Verne Bioanalytics Advisor

Dr. Nathan Johnson, Ph.D. is the President & CEO of Verne Bio. He has a hybrid of microbiology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics expertise across 15 years for food testing, oncology, immunology, stem cell biology, animal model development, and plant-related efforts. He has published peer-review scientific papers including in prestigious journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science, and held positions such as Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Takeda, H3 Biomedicine, and Mouse and Rat Resource Centers. He holds a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, MS in Biomedical Sciences, and a BS in biology and minor in chemistry.