Draft:Niamh O'Hara

Niamh O'Hara is an evolutionary biologist and the CEO and cofounder of Biotia, a health tech company that leverages sequencing-based technology and AI software to identify microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance.

Education and Early Career
O’Hara attended New York University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences in 2005. In 2014, she received her Ph.D. in evolutionary ecology and genomics at Stony Brook University. Next, in 2015, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in bioinformatics at Fordham University. In 2018, O’Hara completed a postdoctoral fellowship in metagenomics and business from Cornell Tech.

O’Hara co-founded Biotia in 2016, together with Dr. Chris Mason from Weill Cornell.

Biotia and GeoSeeq Foundation
During her postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell Tech, O’Hara launched a health-tech startup, Biotia, to develop novel technology to diagnose and control infectious diseases and drug resistance. Biotia is located in Brooklyn, NY.

In 2018, Biotia partnered with Bumrungrad International Hospital with the goal to help reduce clinical processing time from three days to six hours. Bumrungrad was the first hospital in Asia-Pacific where Biotia expanded its international collaboration network.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Hara brokered a partnership with Twist Bioscience and received FDA emergency-use authorization for a Next-Generation Sequencing assay to determine genetic variants for SARS-CoV2.

In 2022, O’Hara raised an $8M Series A financing round for Biotia, led by OCA Ventures.

While at Biotia, O’Hara cofounded the GeoSeeq Foundation, a nonprofit supporting pathogen biosurveillance efforts by researchers and public health officials in low- and middle-income countries.

United Nations
On February 7, 2023, O’Hara briefed the United Nations General Assembly in a panel on the “Challenges and Opportunities in Creating an Early Warning System for Global Pandemics.”

She appeared on behalf of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Biotia, alongside presenting scientists from The Rockefeller Foundation, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and Institut Pasteur, and City University of New York.

Research
O'Hara has published peer-reviewed articles in the fields of metagenomics, genomics , evolutionary biology and ecology.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, O’Hara conducted research to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and facilitate pathways toward tracking and treatment. This included specific research on vaccine development, variant discovery , and detection methodology.

O'Hara has also conducted research on the effects of climate and temperature change on specific biological ecosystems. This included an analysis on the impact of the Mt. St. Helens volcanic event.

Her research includes evaluating ways to protect astronauts and future space travelers from potential biological threats and understanding the effects of space on evolutionary processes.

She has also conducted research to better understand and treat urinary tract infections and skin diseases while focusing on improving privacy measures and cleanliness standards for patients.

O'Hara also wrote a chapter in the Skin Microbiome Handbook.

Awards and Honors
O’Hara was a winner of the 2013 Graduate School Awards at Stony Brook University. She was also named a TedMed Hive Innovator of 2020. She was later asked to be a keynote speaker at the 2022 Caldwell University Research and Creative Arts Day.