With today’s advances in computation and robotics it’s an exciting time to be a biologist. Julia Kirshner, PhD, founded zPREDICTA with a mission to enable cures for every patient. zPREDICTA is pioneering the development of high throughput organ- and disease-specific models for 1-to-1 reconstruction of human tissue microenvironment. zPREDICTA models mimic drug behavior as seen in patients demonstrating high correlation with clinical response. In her capacity as zPREDICTA’s CEO, Dr. Kirshner commercialized Reconstructed Organ platform for preclinical testing of novel therapeutics and immunotherapy agents against hematological malignancies.

Prior to founding zPREDICTA, Dr. Kirshner held an appointment of Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University and was a member of the Purdue Center for Cancer Research and Bindley Biosciences Center at Purdue University Discovery Park. At Purdue, Dr. Kirshner’s lab pursued research into the mechanisms of tumorigenesis and effects of tissue microenvironment on drug response. Dr. Kirshner is an author of numerous scientific publications and is a recipient of multiple grants and innovation awards for her work towards understanding the role of tumor microenvironment, cancer stem cells, and the immune system in driving cancer development and spread.