Our Scientists
Prior to joining Living Proof, Soo-Young worked for several years under the supervision of world-renowned cancer researcher Dr. Judah Folkman in the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. Prior to her work with Dr. Folkman, she completed her Ph. D. in multidisciplinary fields of biochemistry, nutritional science and toxicology at Michigan State University, and completed a year of postdoctoral fellowship in Cancer Cell Biology at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has received numerous honors and awards for her pioneering research, in particular her work elucidating the role of proteins secreted by tumors in providing a natural check-point for metastasis. Soo-Young received Children's Hospital Boston's Cellular, Molecular and Clinical Research Best Young Researcher's Award for this work. She joined Living Proof not only with deep understanding and extensive experience of cell biology but also passion for new discovery in skincare products. Soo-Young plays a pivotal role in our innovative skincare discovery and is working on biological aspects in new material discovery.
Jana's graduate studies in the laboratory of Prof. Seth Cohen at the University of California, San Diego focused on the investigation of small molecules as potential therapeutics for lead poisoning and as possible drugs to treat cancer or anthrax infection. In recognition of her exceptional graduate work in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD, Jana was awarded the Teddy G. Traylor Fellowship in the Chemical Sciences. As an Integrative Training in Therapeutic Discovery postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University, her main research project with Prof. Craig Lindsley and Dr. Dennis Hallahan focused on developing small molecule inhibitors that increase the efficacy of radiation therapy to treat cancer. Dr. Lewis was awarded an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, but she declined in favor of a Senior Research Scientist position within the Hair Discovery group at Living Proof.
Joseph earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in Chemical Engineering, where he specialized in dynamic mechanical analysis of biological tissues and synthesis of tough bioinspired multicomponent hydrogels. His graduate research contributed to numerous publications and a patent application. During his studies he was the meritorious recipient of the NIH Biotechnology Training Grant as well as a winner of the KU Graduate Engineering Association poster and presentation competitions. Prior to joining Living Proof Joseph interned at top biotechnology companies and was a Visiting Scholar at MIT. Joseph brings his expertise in characterization and synthesis of polymeric materials as well as his passion for biomimetic materials design to Living Proof's New Material Discovery group.
Lorna joined Living Proof after receiving her MS in Chemistry from the National University of Singapore, where she acquired a broad spectrum of research experiences in the various fields of Chemistry. Her graduate thesis focused mainly on building organometallic thin films with potential electronic applications on various surfaces and characterizing them using a plethora of surface measurement techniques. She is now one of our innovative scientists in the hair discovery team, developing new technologies with cutting-edge science on the surface of hair.
Ron brings 14 years of experience in product development and supply to Living Proof. Prior to joining the company, Ron was the Formulation/Process Manager in beauty care product supply for Proctor & Gamble. Ron also held the position of Project Chemist for 13 years with the Gillette Company where he developed and launched over 40 products for the Personal Care Group, including four patented technologies. While at Gillette, Ron also directed all R&D functions for cross division projects between Personal Care, Braun, Gillette Blade and the Razor Advanced Research Group. His products led to strategic brand launches for Fusion, Mach 3, Gillette Series and Satin Care, helping make Gillette the #1 brand in Europe and North America in its category.
Maria received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University. While at NU, she began her hands-on experience in personal care products development at Gillette in 2005. Before joining Living Proof in 2008, she was a process engineer in Automation Engineering at Genzyme. Maria’s first project included Full Thickening Cream. Currently, Maria is developing Living Proof's next generation of revolutionary products.
Maureen joined Living Proof in November 2007, working with novel materials synthesized by the Living Proof scientists. She came to the company with 25 years of industry experience in Research and Development and has expertise in the formulation and implementation of hair and skin care products. Prior to joining Living Proof, Maureen was a Program Chemist for the Gillette Company and Procter & Gamble where she formulated and launched more than 100 products across numerous global brands and published a half dozen patents. Working in the field of hair and skin research, her contributions led to the publication of several journal articles.
David joined us after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego where he focused on the design, synthesis and evaluation of small molecule inhibitors of metalloproteins. His work led to the discovery and development of a new class of metalloprotein inhibitors and changed the way researchers look at the design of such compounds. During his four year tenure, David's research led to over a dozen publications and two US patent applications. Today, as the leader of our haircare program, he's been at the forefront of how our technology works with the physiology of hair.
Eric Spengler joined Living Proof in September, 2007. Eric is a seasoned consumer product development expert with over 27 years of research and development experience. Prior to joining Living Proof, Eric was Sr. Director OTC Health Care Development at Combe Incorporated where he led technical new product development for Combe's skin care, feminine care, oral care, denture care and men's grooming businesses. Before joining Combe, he held the position of Sr. Director of Hair Color Product Development for Clairol and VP R&D for Clairol's professional salon division - Matrix Essentials. Prior to Clairol, Eric gained substantial development experience with Procter &Gamble where he led the development of several global skin care new product introductions for Olay and Clearasil.
Betsy started at Living Proof after graduating from Northeastern University in Boston, MA with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Technological Entrepreneurship. Through the co-op program at Northeastern, Betsy gained experience in product development and formulation while working at Procter & Gamble. Currently Betsy is working on developing new hair products that feature Living Proof technology.
Betty received her Sc.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT where she was supervised by Bob Langer and Dan Blankschtein. Her research, elucidating how drugs get across the skin using advanced microscopy methods, received the Controlled Released Society's Excellence in Graduate Student Research Award. Betty comes to Living Proof with experience in pharmaceutical development at ALZA Corporation, a subsidiary of Johnson &Johnson, where she was the project leader on a program focused on improving a drug arising from the J&J discovery pipeline. Today, Betty is responsible for leading our work in skin care and on the discovery of new materials.
