# Nicholas Geisse

> Nicholas Geisse is the CEO of Curi Bio, a Seattle biotech building human-relevant tissue platforms that make lab-grown muscle and heart cells behave more like the real thing. A Cambridge-trained pharmacologist who learned to wire up tiny instruments in Kevin Kit Parker's cardiac engineering lab at Harvard, he spent years at Asylum Research selling and designing atomic force microscopes before joining Curi Bio as Chief Science Officer in 2017. He led development of the Mantarray 3D engineered-muscle-tissue platform and the company's NIH-backed R&D program, then stepped up to chief executive in 2023. His work has collected an Xconomy 'Big Idea' award, an SBA Tibbetts award, and an Edison Award.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Curi Bio
- **Organizations:** Curi Bio, Kinea Bio, Asylum Research, Oxford Instruments, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Boston University
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boston University, Ph.D., Pharmacology (under Dr. R.M. Henderson), University of Cambridge, Postdoctoral Fellowship, cardiac cell and tissue engineering (under Prof. Kevin Kit Parker), Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- **Known for:** Led development of the Mantarray 3D engineered muscle tissue platform, Directed Curi Bio's R&D program backed by customer partnerships and NIH SBIR grants, Xconomy 2020 'Big Idea' award

## Career timeline

- **~2012** — Held scientific, commercial, product development, and management roles at Asylum Research (acquired by Oxford Instruments in December 2012)
- **2017** — Joined Curi Bio as Chief Science Officer, leading scientific strategy and product commercialization
- **2017-2023** — Co-founded Kinea Bio, a University of Washington spin-out; led development of the Mantarray 3D engineered muscle tissue platform
- **2023** — Named Chief Executive Officer of Curi Bio (effective February 14, 2023)

## Achievements

- Led development of the Mantarray 3D engineered muscle tissue platform
- Directed Curi Bio's R&D program backed by customer partnerships and NIH SBIR grants
- Xconomy 2020 'Big Idea' award
- U.S. Small Business Administration 2020 Tibbetts award
- 2021 Edison Award
- Co-founder of Kinea Bio, a University of Washington spin-out

## Latest updates

- **2023-02** — Promoted from Chief Science Officer to Chief Executive Officer of Curi Bio.

## Links

- Website: https://curibio.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-geisse

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nicholas-geisse
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-10
