Kelli Luginbuhl

From the university lab bench to a successful corporate acquisition, Dr. Kelli Luginbuhl has lived the full, rigorous arc of biotech commercialisation.

She co-founded Isolere Bio in 2017 while finishing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, building upon phase-separating protein technology. Under her vision, what started as a novel material with interesting properties evolved into a powerful platform technology that materially improves manufacturing yields for some of the industry's most promising new modalities.

An inventor on the company’s key patents, Kelli initially served as Chief Scientific Officer before stepping into the CEO seat in 2019. In this role, she led Isolere through complex fundraising, product strategy, and team building, ultimately driving the company to a successful acquisition by Donaldson Company. Post-exit, Kelli stayed on as General Manager, guiding her team through the establishment of manufacturing capacity, quality certification, and the launch of two new products to solidify a foundation for commercial growth.

Today, Kelli’s influence extends well beyond the company she built. She is a dedicated builder of systems and a champion for the next wave of science-backed founders. Embedded at the intersection of university technology transfer and early-stage investment, she serves as Adjunct Faculty at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Founder in Residence at CED in North Carolina. Her global impact also extends to New Zealand, where she serves as an independent Board Director for Precision Chromatography Limited, a Kiwi startup pioneering 3D-printed purification methods for biological therapeutics.

At Impactful Innovation, Kelli will share the unfiltered lessons of building a biotech company from a university lab all the way to a successful exit, offering founders a practical blueprint for translating impactful science into real-world commercial success.