Ben Hwang, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

From his early exposure as an undergraduate research fellow at the lab of Leroy Hood at Caltech, where the automated DNA sequencer was developed, to bringing cutting edge life sciences tools to the market at Life Technologies Corp. (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.), Ben has seen first-hand the transformative impact that science and technology have to change our world. Prior to Profusa, Ben served in a variety of leadership roles at Life Technologies Corp., including President of the Asia Pacific Region and Head of the qPCR Division. A former management consultant at McKinsey and Company, Ben earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University.

Bill McMillan, Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer

Bill was initial driving force to start Profusa. Together with Natalie, he built the company road map, enlisted top talent and secured seed funding. A co-inventor of Profusa’s biologically integrated sensor and optical reader, Bill is a biotech pioneer who’s career has spanned more than three decades in the development of next-generation diagnostic and medical device technologies and products, the last 20 years as an entrepreneur. He was the co-founder and Senior Vice President of R&D at Cepheid, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPHD), a global leader in developing and commercializing easy-to-use molecular diagnostic products. Bill earned a B.S. in Chemistry an M.S. in Microbiology from San Jose State University, and later became a certified public health microbiologist before moving to the medical technology industry.

Kit Yee Au-Yeung, Ph.D., Vice President of Products

Kit is responsible for developing Profusa’s novel biosensor technology into consumer and clinical products. She enjoys observing and working closely with patients and clinicians to identify unmet needs and to bring product insights back to the engineering team. Prior to joining the company, Kit had cross-disciplinary roles at Proteus Digital Health that evolved from engineering to clinical research and market development. She was a Stanford University Biodesign Innovation Fellow, and was part of a team that identified and developed a product concept that later formed the basis for iRhythm Technologies. Kit holds a Ph.D. and B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University.