Michael Murphy, MS
About Me:
Western Washington University, BS in Biochemistry
Western Washington University, MS in Biochemistry
Michael grew up in Fall city, WA before moving up North to beautiful Bellingham to attend Western Washington University. The structure-function relationship of proteins and their incredible potential to improve medicine drew him to pursue a B.S. in Biochemistry, seasoned with undergraduate research in Materials Science. After graduating in 2010, he returned to Western Washington University to try his hand at protein engineering under the tutelage of Dr. Spencer Anthony-Cahill. Successful crystallization and structure determination of a rationally designed circularly permuted hemoglobin-based blood substitute formed the basis for his thesis research, which culminated in a M.S. in Biochemistry in 2013. Excited to jump into the biotechnology industry, he joined Iasis Molecular Sciences in Spokane, WA to manage and lead research for the biomaterials startup. His innovations at Iasis produced patented advancements in antimicrobial technologies for surface modification and advanced wound dressings. In 2014 Michael’s advanced wound dressing technology became the basis for a spin-off company, Novion Technologies, where he lead research efforts until transitioning back to academia in 2016.