Scientific Sales and Communications Specialist (Therapeutic Ultrasound & Biophotonics)
Openwater
Company Overview
Openwater is pursuing a fundamentally unique open-source approach to creating next-generation medical technologies with the goal of dramatically increasing access to therapeutics and diagnostics that can treat cancers, mental disease, COVID/Long COVID, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and beyond. The company has demonstrated strong clinical feasibility results on a single device that could enable treatment across this broad spectrum of diseases. The company’s core technology was developed under Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, who is a tech pioneer, executive, and entrepreneur in physics, photonics, and consumer electronics. Openwater’s underlying platform uses modulation of light and sound waves to create dramatically higher performing therapeutic ultrasound and diagnostic imaging than possible before.
Importantly, in 2024, Openwater announced that it was becoming the world’s first for-profit open-source, open-patent, open-clinical data, and open-safety-sharing company. This decision was made primarily because it represents a less risky, more compelling business model: rather than spending decades and hundreds of millions of dollars developing a singular device for a single disease, open sourcing their technology allows Openwater to generate revenue by selling hardware and services, all the while spurring collaborators to test treatments across hundreds of diseases simultaneously. Similarly, by mirroring the impact of Moore’s law in the consumer electronics industry, expanding access to the technology will enable Openwater to capitalize on the efficiencies that come with high volume production – every 10x increase in production corresponds roughly to a 10x decrease in costs. Thus, a semiconductor-based platform with adaptable software for each disease and treatment could yield million-fold cost savings per treatment, spread across numerous diseases using the same hardware and software platform. The open-source model also allows the company to fulfill its mission to improve human health at unprecedented scale and dramatically increase access to life saving therapies. As such, Openwater is not just developing new technology, but pioneering an entirely new approach to healthcare.
Opportunity - The Position
This is an associate level position. It requires a background in therapeutic or focused ultrasound and/or biophotonics and decentralized clinical trials + strong writing, web and sales skills. We are currently not FDA approved and are selling devices for use in clinical trials - both standard and decentralized - as well as other research uses. We need to educate the research community about our open-source platform and products. Responsibilities:
• Reach out to the many groups funding clinical trials in therapeutic ultrasound, diffuse correlation spectroscopy, biophotonics / FNIRS and the ilk to make them aware of our work. This includes going to small conferences and bringing literature and demos for a small table or booth showing the work and talking about it attendees. A background in the science of ultrasound and photonics is key here.
• Distilling the key work going on our discord group, github and at our company into a regular blog that updates what we are doing weekly. This will be written by you.
• Tracking sales and community metrics plus suggesting - based on data - where to concentrate our efforts.
• Targeting specific diseases where our early clinical data is compelling: so far in Stroke, Severe Depression and Glioblastoma but rapidly poised to expand to all cancers, mental diseases, neuro degenerative disease, COVID/Long COVID and cardiovascular diseases as well as longevity treatments.
Additional responsibilities for the role include:
• Providing input to define product specifications to fit target indications for our customers
• Supporting and growing the rich open source community development of solutions
• Articulating the strength of Openwater’s platform and refining it in the open to solve real problems and to build a following for the organization’s technology
Individual
• a background in therapeutic or focused ultrasound and/or biophotonics and decentralized clinical trials + strong writing, web and sales skills