Founder Story:
Kalen Hall, Cofounder & CEO, Informuta
Tulane School of Medicine ’24, PhD, Biomedical Sciences
Leo Williams, Cofounder & CTO, Informuta
Tulane University ’23, PhD, Bioinnovation
Two bright minds met at Tulane University and combined their research to create a groundbreaking innovation: revolutionizing the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases through the fusion of machine learning and DNA sequencing technology. Kalen Hall and Leo Williams, co-founders of the biotech startup Informuta, are dedicated to combating drug resistance in bacteria, a critical challenge in modern medicine.
Informuta’s technology leverages AI to analyze bacterial DNA and predict potential drug resistance. This approach aims to offer personalized treatment plans, improve patient outcomes, and reduce the risk of treatment failure.
The Tulane Innovation Institute met Kalen and Leo in the fall of 2022 and encouraged them to apply for funding to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey. In a few short months, they were awarded funding at Open Medical Innovation Challenge (MIC) Night, which helped finance their initial business incorporation. They also received $50,000 from the Provost’s Proof of Concept Fund, enabling prototype development and preclinical validation, securing initial data for their NIH and NSF applications.
Kalen and Leo received mentorship and pitch coaching from the Tulane Innovation Institute team. They were selected to join the Green Wave Innovation Network/Startup Team Mentoring program, modeled after MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service. The program matched Informuta with experts Dean Teffer, Larry England, and Jura Zibas, who provided invaluable guidance in product development, machine learning model training, cybersecurity, software infrastructure, intellectual property strategy, and legal concerns. This mentorship has enhanced Informuta’s investor readiness, product development strategy, and cost structure.
“The mentoring program made us realize numerous variables and factors we were not previously considering, and we feel much more confident communicating with investors now than before,” said Kalen Hall.
A year later, Informuta won first place in the Tulane Innovation Institute’s $50K Demo Day, contributing to their commercial product development, necessary legal work, and acquisition of their first office.
“With much help from TUII, we seem light years ahead compared to our inception in January 2023,” said Kalen Hall.
In addition to the Tulane Innovation Institute, Informuta has received additional funding from Lepage Center Pitch competitions and most recently secured $70K as the fourth-place winner at the Rice Business Plan Competition, the largest graduate-level student business plan competition globally.
The impressive backgrounds of these Tulane graduates made their potential game-changing discovery possible. Kalen began her academic journey at the University of Florida, completed an honors thesis in Biochemistry, and recently graduated with a Ph.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine’s Biomedical Sciences Program. Her research focused on how bacteria exploit weaknesses in DNA repair systems, leading to mutations that drive drug resistance. As CEO of Informuta, Kalen oversees the microbiological and clinical aspects of the company, guiding it toward its mission of transforming infectious disease treatment.
Leo started with a BS in Biochemistry from LSU and a stint in medical school in Australia as part of the UQ-Ochsner joint MD program before shifting his focus to a Ph.D. He graduated from Tulane's interdisciplinary Bioinnovation Ph.D. program, where his focus on using DNA sequencing to understand cancer mechanisms honed his skills in programming, bioinformatics, and machine learning. As CTO, Leo serves as chief data scientist and head of product development.
In the next 12 months, Informuta aims to close a $2M seed round and relocate to San Diego to join JLABS, Johnson & Johnson’s innovation incubator focusing on genomics and personalized medicine. Informuta plans to expand its team to five members, conduct clinical trials, obtain regulatory certification, and launch its first product within the following year.
Their collaborative work, discovered at Tulane, led to the creation of the data analysis software that forms the technical backbone of Informuta’s diagnostic products. Together, they hope to address some of the most challenging issues in infectious diseases today.
