The Connect Current

In this episode of The Connect Current, we sit down with Hala Madanat, Vice President for Research and Innovation at San Diego State University, to explore how universities can play a larger role in helping founders build and scale companies. The conversation dives into SDSU’s growing strengths across AI, National Security, technology, workforce development, and applied research, along with how startups can better engage with university talent, research, and partnerships. Hala also shares her perspective on connecting innovation to real-world impact and why stronger collaboration between academia, startups, and industry is critical to San Diego’s future innovation economy.

This episode was recorded in Kiln Rancho Bernardo.

Learn more about the Kiln at https://kiln.com/communities/rancho-bernardo/

Learn more about San Diego State at https://www.sdsu.edu/

In this episode of The Connect Current, we sit down with Dr. Garrett Smith and Dr. Nick Mourlas of Reef Haven Ventures to unpack what it really takes to move from strong science to a scalable, investable company. The conversation is built for founders, offering a clear look into how early-stage investors evaluate opportunities, what separates compelling research from a real business, and how teams can position themselves for meaningful conversations with capital. From first impressions to pitch strategy, this episode provides practical insight into how venture firms think, what stands out, and where founders most often miss the mark.

This episode was recorded at UC San Diego Park & Market.

Learn more about Reef Haven Ventures: https://www.reefhavenventures.com/

In this episode of The Connect Current, host James Zanewicz sits down with Denise Bevers, Co-founder, President and CEO of VETmAb BIO, to explore what it really takes to build an animal health biotech company in one of the world’s leading innovation ecosystems.

Denise brings decades of experience in drug development and company building, and she shares why animal health remains an underexplored but critical frontier for innovation. From identifying unmet needs in veterinary medicine to making key decisions around timing, capital, and execution, this conversation offers a candid look at the realities of building a science-driven startup.

The discussion also highlights how San Diego’s strength in human biotech can extend into adjacent fields like animal health, and what it will take for the region to continue creating new categories of impact.

Whether you’re a founder, operator, investor, or simply curious about where innovation is heading next, this episode is a reminder that some of the most meaningful breakthroughs happen in places people aren’t looking yet.

This episode was recorded at UC San Diego Park & Market.

Learn more about VETmAb Bio:
https://www.vetmab.bio/

In this episode of The Connect Current, host James Zanewicz sits down with Rupak Doshi, Co-founder and CEO of OmniSync, to explore how better systems can accelerate innovation. Rupak shares how OmniSync is helping founders and organizations navigate funding, market intelligence, and commercialization through AI-powered tools, and why the path from idea to traction is still more fragmented than it should be. He also offers insight into where innovators lose the most time and how smarter infrastructure can unlock faster progress.

This conversation is a focused look at the systems behind innovation and what it takes to move more ideas from concept to real-world impact.

This podcast was recorded at UC San Diego Park & Market.

In this episode of The Connect Current, host James Zanewicz sits down with Debbie Chen, Founder and CEO of Hydrostasis, to explore how nontraditional journeys are shaping the next generation of innovation. Debbie shares how Hydrostasis is advancing hydration science through wearable technology, and why better understanding hydration as a vital sign could unlock new opportunities in health and performance. She also reflects on her own path into entrepreneurship and what it means to build from outside the traditional mold. This conversation is a thoughtful look at how lived experience, access, and perspective are expanding who gets to innovate and what gets built next in San Diego and beyond.

Episode was recorded at UC San Diego Park & Market.

Learn more about Hydrostasis:
https://hydrostasis.com/

In this episode of The Connect Current, host James Zanewicz sits down with Adam Jacobs, President of Xzom, to explore how early disease detection and accessible diagnostics are shaping the future of health innovation.

Adam shares how Xzom is building point-of-care solutions designed to make diagnostics faster and more accessible, and what it takes to stand out in a complex, competitive space. Drawing from his background in athletics and entrepreneurship, he also reflects on balancing commercial reality with mission-driven impact. This conversation offers a concise look at building meaningful health innovation in San Diego and turning big ideas into real-world solutions.

Recorded at UC San Diego Park & Market.

Learn more about Xzom:
https://xzom.com/

In this episode of The Connect Current, host James Zanewicz is joined by Courtney Young, PhD, Co-founder and CEO of MyoGene Bio, one of Connect's 2026 Cool Companies. MyoGene Bio is developing MyoDys45-55, an AAV-delivered CRISPR gene editing therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare and devastating muscle wasting disease with no cure. Courtney traces her path from a high school moment, when her cousin Christopher was diagnosed with Duchenne, through graduate research at UCLA to co-founding MyoGene Bio alongside her advisors, Dr. Melissa Spencer and Dr. April Pyle. The conversation covers what makes the company's gene editing approach different, the realities of building a life science company led by three women scientists, and where gene therapies like this one most often get stuck on the path from lab to patients. The episode also looks at what MyoGene Bio's next chapter as a Connect 2026 Cool Company means for San Diego's life science ecosystem, and what kinds of partners, investors, or collaborators would be most helpful right now.

Recorded at KILN Rancho Bernardo.

Learn more about MyoGene Bio:
https://www.myogenebio.com/

Learn more about Connect's 2026 Cool Companies:
https://connect.org/

In this episode of The Connect Current, we sit down with Graeme Rae, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of HyperKelp, to explore how the company is turning the ocean into a sensing network. Graeme shares how HyperKelp’s Kelp Smart Buoy is designed as an open marine platform that can carry a wide range of sensors and deliver ocean data in near real time for environmental, commercial, port, and defense applications. The conversation dives into Graeme’s journey from ocean engineering and Surfline to HyperKelp, what it takes to build hard technology that can survive at sea, and why the company’s next chapter as one of Connect’s 2026 Cool Companies reflects San Diego’s growing strength in ocean technology, dual-use innovation, and the blue economy.

Recorded at Kiln Rancho Bernardo:
https://kiln.com/communities/rancho-bernardo/

Learn more about HyperKelp:
https://www.hyperkelp.com/

In this episode of The Connect Current, we sit down with James Mackay, Ph.D., President and CEO of Crystalys Therapeutics, to explore how the company is advancing a new treatment path for people living with gout. James shares how Crystalys is developing dotinurad, a next-generation, once-daily oral URAT1 inhibitor, and what the company’s recent $130 million Series B financing enables as it moves through late-stage global clinical development and commercialization preparation. The conversation dives into why gout remains an underserved treatment area, what it takes to execute at this stage of biotech development, and how experienced leadership, strong science, and committed capital can help move promising therapies closer to patients.

Recorded at Kiln Rancho Bernardo:
https://kiln.com/communities/rancho-bernardo/

Learn more about Crystalys Therapeutics:
https://crystalystx.com/