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Our Nanotechnology Experts

In our Danville, Virginia facility, Luna has assembled an extraordinarily talented business and technical team with decades of development, commercialization and manufacturing expertise. Additionally, the company is supported by a scientific advisory board consisting of recognized experts in the field of nanotechnology and nanomaterials, including Dr. Harold Kroto on the team of scientists who achieved the Nobel prize in the discovery of the Buckminster fullerene, or "buckyball".

A picture of Dr. Robert Lenk, President of Luna nanoWorks.
Robert P. Lenk, Ph.D., President, nanoWorks Division - Dr. Lenk is the founder of three companies, has been involved with two initial public offerings, and is experienced in bringing new pharmaceuticals to market. He has served as President of Oncovector Inc., a biopharmaceutical company and is also a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Therapeutics 2000, an inhalation pharmaceutical research company. Dr. Lenk holds a doctorate in Cell Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



A picture of Dr. Dr. Kenneth Walker, Executive Vice President of Luna nanoWork.
Kenneth L. Walker, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, nanoWorks Division - Dr. Walker is a founder and former President of Specialty Photonic Devices, a business unit of OFS Fitel which focused on the development of proprietary materials and which was purchased from Lucent Technologies, Inc. He is also a former head of optical fiber research at Bell Laboratories. Dr. Walker received a bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology and a doctorate from Stanford University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and holds more than 50 patents.



A picture of Dr. Krishan Kumar, Director of ...
Krishan Kumar, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development, nanoWorks Division - Dr. Kumar is an accomplished pharmaceutical manager and scientist with extensive pharmaceutical industry experience. Prior to joining Luna nanoWorks, he held several management positions with Merial Ltd. (a Merck and sanofi-aventis Co.), including Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology and Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Product Development. Dr. Kumar received his doctorate in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemistry from Agra University.



A picture of Dr. Stephen R. Wilson, Chief Scientific Officer at Luna nanoWorks.
Stephen R. Wilson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, nanoWorks Division - Dr. Wilson is a pioneer in fullerene chemistry and a founder and former Chief Scientific Officer of one of the first pharmaceutical companies specializing in creating therapeutics from fullerene technology. He is also a founder and former Director of the Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at New York University. Dr. Wilson holds 16 patents and received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Rice University.



A picture of Charlie Gause, Vice President of Corporate Development at Luna Innovations.
Charles B. Gause, Vice President, Corporate Development, Luna Innovations - Mr. Gause is an instrumental part of the team that made the Luna nanoWorks division a reality. He established the operations, business development, and manufacturing processes for the Danville-based nanomaterials facility. With an extensive manufacturing and engineering science background, Mr. Gause works to identify and develop technologies into market opportunities based upon Luna's nanotechnologies. Mr. Gause is active in nanotechnology policy initiatives such as the NanoHealth Enterprise Initiative and serves on the Northern Virginia's Technology Council's Nanotechnology Committee and Virginia's Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) Nanotechnology Advisory Committee. Mr. Gause received his engineering degree from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.



A picture of Dr. Chris Kepley, nanoImmunology Group Leader.
Chris Kepley, Ph.D., nanoImmunology Group Leader, nanoWorks Division – Dr. Kepley was previously Assistant Professor with the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine. For almost 20 years, Dr. Kepley has devoted his research to studying the mechanisms of allergic disease — the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the U.S. Dr. Kepley was the first U.S. recipient of the Henning Lowenstein Research Award, given annually to a scientist under the age of 40 for excellence in allergy research. Dr. Kepley received his doctorate in Philosophy, Microbiology & Immunology from the Medical College of Virginia, and his master's degree in Business Administration from the College of William & Mary.



A picture of Dr. Brian Holloway, Director of Contract Research at Luna nanoWorks.
Brian Holloway, Ph.D., Director, Nanomaterials Research Group, Luna Innovations - Dr. Holloway is formerly a tenured associate professor in the Department of Applied Science at The College of William and Mary, where his research group patented carbon nanosheets. Throughout his career, Dr. Holloway has been actively involved in developing faster and less expensive ways to produce carbon nanotubes. With three patents related to nanotechnology, Dr. Holloway specializes in the synthesis of new materials and characterization of thin films, surfaces and interfaces. Presently, Dr. Holloway is working on solutions in alternative energy using Luna's exclusive TRIMETASPHERE®. He earned a master's degree and doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida.



A picture of Dr. Steven M. Joslin, Director of Contract Research at Luna nanoWorks.
Steven M. Joslin, Ph.D., Director of Manufacturing, nanoWorks Division - Dr. Joslin is a former Engineering Manager at MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., where he was responsible for technology transfer, development, and continuous improvement of Cz growth processes. Dr. Joslin received his undergraduate, master's and doctorate from the University of Tennessee. He holds two patents.