About us

Rob Kimmerling is the Chief Technology Officer and a co-founder of Travera.

He received his B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Stony Brook University, where he first started working on microfluidic device development for single-cell analysis applications.

Rob continued in the same field at MIT where he earned his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering. His graduate work focused on developing novel microfluidic platforms for collecting linked measurements of single-cell biophysical and transcriptional properties.

After graduating, he continued developing these projects as a Research Scientist at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, where he led a team utilizing these approaches to characterize transcriptional signatures associated with single-cell drug susceptibility in various malignancies.

Selim Olcum is the VP of Engineering and a co-founder of Travera. Previously, he was a research scientist at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. During his tenure at MIT, he invented several techniques enabling the rapid assessment of single-cell growth.

Dr. Olcum received his post-doctoral training at the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. During this time, he developed high-precision, real-time measurement methods for the attogram-level analysis of cell-derived vesicles and nanoparticles in suspension.

He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees all in Electrical Engineering from Bilkent University, Turkey. His dissertation work focused on MEMS-based ultrasound transducers for biomedical applications. He has co-authored over 40 journal papers and conference proceedings and is the inventor of several patents.

Dennis Watson joined Travera in 2022 as the Vice President of Business Development. He brings 15 years of extensive sales and management experience in the oncology molecular diagnostic space.

Dennis spent nearly 10 years with Agendia, beginning as a field-based sales professional, working his way up to gain experience in multiple facets of the business, receiving top-tier awards and recognition throughout his tenure. He served 4 years as a Regional Director in the Central US, before moving on to lead the US commercial sales organization in January of 2018.  During his 4-year tenure as the VP of US Sales over the US and PR, he led Agendia to record-breaking years of growth and expansion resulting from a shifted strategic focus and relaunch of key product lines through enhanced product positioning.

Prior to his work with Agendia, Dennis spent 5 years with the Breast Oncology division of Myriad Genetics. Before Myriad Genetics, he also held positions in the pharmaceutical, industrial services, and web services industries. Dennis has a Bachelor of Science degree from Ball State University, where he graduated with honors and was a National Honor Society member.

Scott Manalis is a co-founder of Travera and the David H. Koch (1962) Professor in Engineering at MIT with faculty appointments in the biological and mechanical engineering departments.

Scott is the associate department head of the biological engineering department and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and MIT’s Center for Precision Cancer Research. His research group develops novel instrumentation for cancer research.

Dr. Manalis was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the Department of Defense. He was previously selected by Technology Review magazine as one of the 100 innovators under the age of 35 whose work and ideas "will have a deep impact on how we live, work and think in the century to come." He received a B.S. degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. degree in applied physics from Stanford University.

Steve Wasserman is a senior lecturer in the Biological Engineering Department at MIT, where he teaches hands-on lab courses in the area of bioinstrumentation (20.309 and 20.345) that demand building, debugging, iteration, and understanding of complex systems and processes. His classes teach how to create mental models of complex systems and apply those models to achieve breakthrough performance.

Steve is the Consulting Director of Engineering at Q-State Biosciences, and he also develops instruments for academic and industrial labs. Previously, Steve developed high-tech products in the Silicon Valley, working at Apple, Microsoft, WebTV, and 3DO.

David Marguiles is a co-founder of Travera. David funded, co-founded, and participated several companies in the clinical computing, molecular diagnostics, and biotechnology fields.

In the early 1980s, he co-founded and led BRS Medical, later acquired by WB Saunders and Elsevier North Holland. In the mid-1980s, while CIO at Boston Children’s Hospital, he led the design of software acquired by Cerner to be the basis of Cerner’s EMR. He became EVP, Chief Scientist, and a BOD member at Cerner in 1990. In 1996, he co-founded and was a Director of CareInsite, later acquired by WebMD in 2000. In 2000, he became co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of Correlagen Diagnostics, which was acquired by LabCorp in 2011 to be its genomic center of excellence.

Dr. Margulies returned to Boston Children’s Hospital in 2011 as VP of Strategy and led the development of the institution’s genomic medicine strategy. In 2013, he co-founded and was Chairman of Q-State Biosciences, a Cambridge-based biotechnology company.

Over the years, Dr. Margulies has served on numerous other public and private boards, including D2 Hawkeye (acquired by Verisk), ObMedical (acquired by Philips), Circulation (acquired by Logisticare), Generation Health (acquired by CVS), Claritas Genomics (acquired by Q-State Biosciences), Variantyx, and Commonwealth Care Alliance.

Dr. Margulies received his B.A. from Amherst College and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his clinical training and board certification in Internal Medicine at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Margulies recently retired from the faculties of Genetics and Bioinformatics at the Harvard Medical School.