Draft:Joseph Hernandez (entrepreneur)

Joseph Hernandez is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, healthcare executive and biotech executive. He is the former Founder and CEO of several healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, including Innovative Biosensors, Ember Therapeutics, Noachis Terra and Blue Water Biotech. Currently, Joseph serves as Founder and Senior Managing Partner of Blue Water Venture Partners LLC.

In addition to creating biotechnology companies, Joseph has several years experience serving on various company corporate Board of Directors.

Education
In a 2017 short bio for the Association of Hispanic Alumni, Hernandez is quoted as saying that he "attributes much of his success to the mentorship received at UF".

Early career
Joseph Hernandez began his career in December 1998 when he was hired at Merck & Co. His experience at the pharmaceutical giant has been described as the "foundational development to his biotech and pharmaceutical career".

In 2005, Hernandez went back east and began working for Digene Corp, a molecular diagnostics company focusing on the area of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). It was here that Hernandez assisted in developing the first test for HPV, leading to the company's acquisition by Qiagen in 2007.

Entrepreneurship and leadership
Hernandez then founded Microlin Bio, a development stage biotechnology company focused on developing microRNA-based therapeutics for cancer. In 2013, the company partnered with Ohio State University in a license agreement for the University's cancer portfolio of microRNA patents in researching and developing more effective ways to diagnose and treat prostate, ovarian, colon and lung cancers. The company went on to be publicly traded in 2015.

In 2018, Hernandez founded Blue Water Vaccines, a company dedicated to manufacturing a universal influenza vaccine, in collaboration with the University of Oxford. In 2022, Hernandez successfully led the company to launch an IPO. Members of the corporation, along with Hernandez, rang the closing bell on February 18, 2022.

While developing Blue Water Vaccines, Hernandez was also setting up another company. Founded in 2020, Noachis Terra was a biotechnology company focusing on developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Hernandez successfully navigated the company's acquisition by Oragenic just five short months after its official incorporation.

Hernandez, known for his ability to work several projects simultaneously, founded Blue Water Special Acquisition Corp. in 2020. In April of 2021, Blue Water Special Acquisition Corp. merged with Claris Therapeutic Holdings Inc.

Philanthropy
In 2017, Hernandez committed a donation of $10 million dollars to the University of Florida. The university noted the donation as the largest received from someone under 50 years old.

Beyond his contributions to the University of Florida, Hernandez's commitment to advancing scientific knowledge extended to funding the sequencing of the dodo genome at the University of Oxford. The research, which started in 2020, focused on gaining scientific insight into the genetic mechanisms in hopes of understanding the evolution of extinct island birds losing the ability to fly.