Founded to transform treatments and improve lives, LithopsBio harnesses diversity, patient‑relevant models, and AI to pioneer personalized medicine.

Dr. John Sherwood, Director of Neuroscience at LeafLabs, brings 20+ years of expertise as an electrophysiologist across academia, NIH, Eli Lilly, Harvard, and the Broad Institute. He pioneered recordings in human cerebral organoids, providing the first evidence of organized network activity. As PI on NIH and DARPA awards, he advanced neurosensing IC chips, silicon probes, and automated spike‑sorting pipelines. At LeafLabs, he is advancing the commercialization of neurotechnology tools, applying deep technical expertise and entrepreneurial training to position them for impact in drug discovery and therapeutic innovation.

He received a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Bristol, UK, and completed postdoctoral training at NIH, Eli Lilly, and Harvard University / Broad Institute.

Dr. Giorgia Quadrato, Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC, leads a lab integrating brain organoids and single‑cell omics to uncover the cellular and molecular basis of brain development and disease. She pioneered protocols to mature organoids and earned early career honors including the 2023 Broad Innovation Award. As Co‑Director of USC’s CIRM ASCEND Shared Resource Laboratory, she advances and democratizes access to organoids and cutting‑edge technologies across California. She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Syngap Research Fund.

She earned a B.S. in Molecular Biotechnology and M.S. in Pharmacogenomics from the University of Milano Bicocca, a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Stem Cell Biology from the University of Piemonte Orientale, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Tüebingen and Harvard University/Broad Institute.

Dr. John Isaac, Chief Scientific Officer at Slingshot, is an internationally recognized neuroscientist with over 30 years of experience spanning academia, non‑profit, and industry. He most recently served as CSO of AviadoBio, leading scientific strategy and pipeline development. Previously, he was Senior Director of Neuroscience External Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, where he identified and advanced external opportunities in neurodegenerative diseases and mood disorders. He also held senior roles at the Wellcome Trust and Eli Lilly.

He received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and pharmacology and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Southampton, UK, and has held academic faculty positions in the UK and USA.

AJ Meyer is a serial entrepreneur and MIT engineer with board‑level expertise in scaling robotics and Physical AI companies. He founded and leads LeafLabs, Pickle Robot Company, and Industry Labs. LeafLabs is an R&D firm advancing deep‑tech hardware/software systems, including brain‑implantable devices and prototypes for Google and Facebook. Pickle Robot pioneers Physical AI, combining foundation models, vision, and robotics to automate work at human scale. Industry Labs provides co‑working hubs for Boston’s tech community. Meyer maintains strong ties to MIT’s engineering and AI research community, where his career began.

B.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT, where he researched robotics at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and interned at Honda Research Institute and Analog Devices.