Nicole Wagner - Board Member

Dr. Wagner obtained her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut under the advising of Dr. Robert Birge.  Nicole entered the graduate program in 2007 and spent the majority of her graduate career working on optimizing retinal-containing proteins for application in devices.   During the course of her PhD research, she played a critical role in the proof-of-concept experiments, which helped to found LambdaVision in May 2009.  Through the use of site-directed mutagenesis, site-specific saturation mutagenesis, and directed evolution, Nicole was able to genetically engineer the protein, bacteriorhodopsin, for a variety of device applications, including protein-based holographic and 3-dimensional memories, a chemical detection sensor, and, most recently, a protein-based retinal implant.

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Nicole is an accomplished scientist and entrepreneur with numerous peer-reviewed publications, and has presented her research at both National and International meetings.  In 2012, Dr. Wagner received the Connecticut Technology Council’s Women of Innovation “Collegian Innovation and Leadership Award” for her work with LambdaVision, and was listed as one of CT Magazine’s 40 under 40 for the class of 2015.  Nicole is on the Board of the New England Women in Science Executive’s Club, a peer-to-peer women’s CEO group in Boston, and will serve as Chair of the group for 2019.   Nicole has been with LambdaVision since inception, and is LambdaVision’s President and CEO.  Since taking on the role of CEO, Dr. Wagner has been successful in securing $3M in local, state, and government funding to accelerate the research, development, and commercialization of LambdaVision’s retinal implant.

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LAMBDAVISION

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LambdaVision is a UConn startup company founded to develop and manufacture a protein-based retinal implant to treat those blinded by macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

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