Andrea Borns
Andrea Borns, microbiologist and respiratory therapist who holds a Master’s of Public Health is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZEN Clinical and Bioscience. ZEN is a newly-formed consulting and laboratory client-driven research and development (R&D) company in the field of bacteriophage therapy and phage biotechnology to address emerging infectious and neglected tropical diseases. Originally from Brazil, Andrea started her career in Biomedical Sciences and was involved in HIV/AIDS research during the late ’90s in Rio de Janeiro. She is also a former Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education at the University of the District of Columbia, USA, where she worked closely with lung diseases, critical care, and mechanical ventilation before her comeback to the bench. Working on the bedside managing and treating cystic fibrosis and ventilator-associated pneumonia patients who lost their lives to superbugs, inspire her to leave Academia and the hospital environment to work in basic science. Andrea worked as a microbiologist at American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and the Biodefense & Emerging Infection Resource (BEI), and as a research technician at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). Passionate about basic science, Andrea is interested in bringing the knowledge of phage biology from the bench to the bedside so it can benefit patients.