Vanessa Burns

Using advanced light therapy, the Lumos smart sleep mask allows people to control their sleep cycle and wake up rested, restored, and ready to take on the day. As CEO of Lumos, I managed a cross-functional team of engineers, scientists, designers, and marketers to ensure we have a product that customers love to use. I’ve raised more than $1M from venture investors, hired an experience team, driven business strategy and product development, established external partnerships, and tested user acquisition and product fit in our first market.

The Allied Minds Fellows Program is a unique opportunity for STEM advanced degree scholars to learn and develop skills on the business side of science and early-stage technology commercialization. Working alongside the Allied Minds investment team, I gained hands-on experience with technology scouting, diligence, market discovery, and investment analysis.

Working in the lab of Dr. Karl Deisseroth (D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, HHMI), I studied system-level circuits underlying disease. Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects nearly 1 in 10 Americans, yet our treatments fail in approximately half of MDD patients for unknown reasons. Using novel brain imaging techniques and data-driven analytics, I analyzed the response of 80,000+ neurons in a model organism for depression. This work led to the discovery of new neural regulation networks underlying the depressed state – results that will enrich our understanding of the risk factors, neural mechanisms, and possible treatments of depression.

The ADVANCE Summer Institute is an intensive 8-week transition program for incoming graduate students from diverse backgrounds, and seeks to prepare students for a successful graduate career at Stanford. ADVANCE is motivated by the Biosciences’ commitment to be fully inclusive and supportive of all students, and by the belief that a diverse graduate student body enhances the quality of the educational experience for all students. As a leader in this program for two years, I planned workshops and activities to promote academic, professional, and leadership skills.

I worked as a student tutor during my entire undergraduate career, mentoring special needs students and assisting with writing, scientific communication, and grants.

Caltech Undergraduate Research Journal (CURJ) is Caltech's award-winning undergraduate research journal, dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments of the numerous undergraduates conducting research at Caltech during the SURF program and throughout the academic year. As an editor, I oversaw the selection of and reviewed articles to be published in quarterly journal issues.

I conducted research during my entire tenure at Caltech. @Elowitz Lab, Biology, Caltech Using light-based gene control in a microfluidic device, I was able to dynamically control action selection in individual bacterial cells and influence population dynamics. @Heath Lab, Chemistry, Caltech I characterized the dynamics of protein catalyzed peptide capture agents, such as specificity and affinity, toward a common biomarker, Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). This project advanced our current methods for early cancer detection and demonstrated peptide capture agents could be used in on-chip diagnostics for inexpensive and reliable detection of protein biomarkers.

Exchange Student (Caltech-UCL)