# Melanie Matheu

> Melanie P. Matheu is a scientist, inventor and entrepreneur who founded Prellis Biologics in 2016 and co-founded Lyric Bio with Kayj Shannon in August 2024. Her work connects laser microscopy, three-dimensional printing and biomanufacturing. She earned her doctorate at UC Irvine, received the 2023 VIB Alumni Award, and also writes and teaches science through LIL Science and social media.

- **Role:** Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer at Lyric Bio; board member at Prellis Biologics
- **Organizations:** Lyric Bio, Prellis Biologics, University of California, Irvine, University of California, San Francisco, VIB / Ghent University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Stanford University
- **From:** Redwood City, United States
- **Education:** BS, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, PhD, Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine
- **Known for:** Inventor named on US patent 10,933,579 for methods and systems for printing biological material., Founded Prellis Biologics and co-founded its spinout Lyric Bio., Recipient of the 2023 VIB Alumni Award.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Graduated from UC Santa Barbara.
- **2009** — Earned her doctorate at UC Irvine.
- **2016** — Founded Prellis Biologics in October after leaving academia.
- **2017** — Prellis joined IndieBio and the True Ventures portfolio.
- **2021** — US patent 10,933,579, naming Matheu as inventor, was granted March 2.
- **2022** — Prellis announced Mike Nohaile as CEO and Matheu’s transition to CTO alongside a $35 million Series C.
- **2023** — Received the VIB Alumni Award in May.
- **2024** — Co-founded Lyric Bio with Kayj Shannon in August.
- **2025** — Lyric announced a $6.6 million seed financing on December 3.
- **2026** — Listed as a speaker on the September 25 BioProcess International leadership panel.

## Achievements

- Inventor named on US patent 10,933,579 for methods and systems for printing biological material.
- Founded Prellis Biologics and co-founded its spinout Lyric Bio.
- Recipient of the 2023 VIB Alumni Award.

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — UC Irvine published an alumni interview about her two startups and interest in an eventual academic return.
- **2025-12** — Lyric Bio announced a $6.6 million seed round led by The Venture Collective.
- **2026-09** — BioProcess International listed her for its Women in Bioprocessing leadership panel on September 25.

## Links

- Website: https://lilscience.substack.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniematheu/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/melanie_matheu
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lilscience.bsky.social
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanie_matheu_phd/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laughterinlight

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/melanie-matheu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11