# Clay Nolan

> Clay Nolan is the founder and CEO of CoLabs Medical, a medical-device company developing the VENTOR airway and ventilation system. A paramedic and named inventor on a long-running patent family, Nolan has framed the company around a problem he encountered in emergency care: complex airway work can consume skilled attention during cardiac arrest. He also co-founded Watershed Medical and serves on its board. CoLabs' VENTOR study began in April 2025 and was listed as recruiting at Stony Brook University Hospital in the latest public ClinicalTrials.gov update.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at CoLabs Medical
- **Organizations:** CoLabs Medical, Watershed Medical
- **Known for:** Founded and leads CoLabs Medical., Named inventor on multiple granted U.S. patents in CoLabs' assisted-ventilation patent family., Principal investigator on a completed NSF SBIR Phase I project for a CPR-integrated airway and ventilator system.

## Career timeline

- **2012** — CoLabs was founded to develop an integrated emergency airway and ventilation system.
- **2015** — A CoLabs assisted-ventilation patent application naming Nolan as inventor was published as US 2015/0265790 A1.
- **2018** — Nolan presented CoLabs to the Band of Angels; its newsletter reported earlier financing and a Series A-1 raise in progress.
- **2019** — Nolan co-founded Watershed Medical and began serving as a director.
- **2022** — He presented VENTOR at LSI USA '22; the NSF records a CoLabs SBIR Phase I award running from June 2022 to May 2023.
- **2023** — Nolan returned to LSI USA to present CoLabs' product design, clinical strategy and recently closed Series B.
- **2024** — A further CoLabs assisted-ventilation patent naming Nolan as inventor was granted on April 30.
- **2025** — The VENTOR clinical study began on April 4; U.S. Patent 12,364,827 was granted on July 22.

## Achievements

- Founded and leads CoLabs Medical.
- Named inventor on multiple granted U.S. patents in CoLabs' assisted-ventilation patent family.
- Principal investigator on a completed NSF SBIR Phase I project for a CPR-integrated airway and ventilator system.
- Co-founded Watershed Medical and serves on its board.
- Advanced VENTOR from concept and preclinical development into a registered clinical study that began in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — U.S. Patent 12,364,827, assigned to CoLabs Medical and naming Nolan as inventor, was granted for assisted-ventilation technology.
- **2025-06** — ClinicalTrials.gov listed the VENTOR study as recruiting at Stony Brook University Hospital, with estimated enrollment of 25 and Nolan as study contact.
- **2025-04** — The registered VENTOR clinical study recorded its actual start on April 4, 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://www.colabsmedical.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clay-nolan-6b6a8079/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/colabsmedical
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gjqIjdmXp0

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/clay-nolan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18