# Niamh O'Hara

> Niamh O'Hara is the co-founder and CEO of Biotia, a New York healthtech company that pairs next-generation DNA sequencing with AI to identify pathogens causing hard-to-diagnose infections. An evolutionary biologist by training, she spun the company out of Cornell Tech with Weill Cornell geneticist Christopher Mason, runs a CLIA-certified metagenomics lab in Long Island City, and is building what she calls a global microbial sequence database to catch outbreaks before they spread.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at Biotia
- **Organizations:** Biotia, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Cornell Tech, Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine (affiliated)
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree, New York University, PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Stony Brook University, Postdoctoral fellow, Bioinformatics, Fordham University, Postdoctoral fellow, health tech / entrepreneurship, Cornell Tech (Runway Startup Postdoc Program)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Biotia and raised approximately $10.4M in total funding, Built a CLIA-certified high-complexity clinical metagenomics laboratory in New York City, Led large-scale metagenomics work on the microbiome of US ambulances, hospital environments, urine, and SARS-CoV-2 samples

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Graduates from NYU
- **2014** — Completes PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Stony Brook University
- **2015** — Bioinformatics postdoc at Fordham University
- **2016** — Joins Cornell Tech's Runway Startup Postdoc Program
- **2017** — Co-founds Biotia with Dr. Christopher Mason
- **2018** — Completes Cornell Tech postdoc; Biotia spins out of Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute
- **2022** — Biotia closes oversubscribed $8M Series A
- **2024** — Biotia announces partnership with Mayo Clinic on an isolate assay for difficult-to-diagnose infections

## Achievements

- Co-founded Biotia and raised approximately $10.4M in total funding
- Built a CLIA-certified high-complexity clinical metagenomics laboratory in New York City
- Led large-scale metagenomics work on the microbiome of US ambulances, hospital environments, urine, and SARS-CoV-2 samples
- Research assistant professor at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
- Peer-reviewed publications in journals including Molecular Ecology, Microbiome, and Evolution
- Forbes Business Council member
- Work featured at the United Nations and in outlets including WIRED, Popular Science, GenomeWeb, and Huffington Post

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Featured on the Venture Everywhere podcast (Episode 94) with host Cristian Ponce, discussing Biotia's metagenomics stack and expansion into women's health diagnostics.
- **2024** — Biotia expanded its women's health testing portfolio and announced a Mayo Clinic partnership on an isolate assay for hard-to-diagnose infections.
- **2022-08** — Closed an oversubscribed $8M Series A; hired 14 additional staff.

## Links

- Website: https://biotia.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niamh-b-o-hara/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Niamh_Oh
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiotiaNYC/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/niamh-o-hara
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-09