Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area
If you’re wearing a modern wearable device, there’s a good chance you’re wearing a little bit of my work. For more than two decades, I’ve been building the technologies behind wearable biomedical sensing, especially motion-tolerant photoplethysmography (PPG) and optical sensor systems. I hold more than 200 granted patents, and my inventions are embedded in hundreds of millions of consumer and clinical devices worldwide, including earbuds, hearing aids, smartwatches, rings, armbands, wristbands, and sensor-integrated apparel. As President and Co-Founder of Valencell, I helped pioneer the modern wearables movement, building core sensing technologies and partnerships with many of the world’s leading technology, audio, medical, and health electronics companies. Valencell’s patent portfolio became one of the most widely licensed and cited in wearable PPG sensing, implemented across more than 100 wearable device models. Before Valencell, I was a Senior Scientist and Biosensor Project Lead at General Electric, where I worked across solid-state materials, multiwavelength optoelectronics, nanostructured devices, high-power electronics, and biochemical sensing systems. Over time, my work in solid-state devices became increasingly focused on biomedical applications, and my career evolved from solid-state scientist to biomedical sensing innovator. After Valencell was acquired in 2024, I co-founded Quellios in March, 2025 to take the next step: transforming the standard of care through food as medicine/food is medicine (FAM/FIM), physiological monitoring, and personalized health insights grounded in clinical rigor. My focus now is helping turn everyday physiological data into practical, actionable guidance that can improve chronic disease care, extend healthspan, and make better health easier to achieve in daily life. I’ve spoken at more than 50 international events and have been widely cited in patents, trade publications, and industry analysis related to wearable sensing and digital health. I hold a PhD in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University, where I was inducted into the ECE Hall of Fame, and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Louisiana Tech University. [Fun fact: As a Cajun-Creole swamp boy from Louisiana, my first scientific experiment was at age-3. I thought if I could somehow reverse the flow of a small stream of bayou water, then maybe I could reverse time. Makes sense, right? But alas, the experiment didn't work... Or did it?]
Quellios exists to make inflammation visible and actionable. Our name comes from ‘quell’– to calm, reduce, and control. We empower people to understand and manage their health by quelling inflammation before it takes a toll. The Quellios Solution: Real-time food-response tracking – Snap & Sense™ technology uses just your smartphone to track your body’s physiological response to food – no blood tests, no guesswork. Personalized dietary profiling – Pinpoint the foods, stresses, and behaviors that trigger inflammation for you–and the ones that help calm it. Symptom prevention support – See how your body responds to everyday choices so you can act early and stay ahead of discomfort.
Consumer health and wellness products and services
Valencell was founded with the vision of empowering people to live longer, healthier lives through validated physiological insights. To this end, Valencell develop consumer-friendly digital health solutions that aim to improve cardiovascular health outcomes and prevent chronic disease for hundreds of millions of people world-wide. At the heart of these digital health solutions is the company's biometric sensor technology and machine learning analytics, protected by 150+ awarded patents, which enables medical-grade physiological monitoring and health management via wearable devices in popular consumer form-factors. A key advancement spearheaded by Valencell was the development of the world’s first cuffless, calibration-free blood pressure monitoring solution that can provide a robust, comfortable, and convenient over-the-counter alternative to the traditional blood pressure cuff. Valencell pioneered advancements in numerous accurate biometrics for wearables and hearables: • Motion-Tolerant Heart Rate (If you're wearing an optical HRM, our inventions are in it.) • Calories Burned (TEE & PEE) • VO2 & VO2max • Distance • Speed • Pace • Cadence • RR-interval (RRi for use with HRV analysis and medical diagnostics) • Breathing Rate (Respiration Rate) • Blood Pressure • SpO2 • Body Temperature • Sweat Rate & Hydration • Blood glucose level categorization Publicly announced Valencell licensees/customers have included: Suunto, Starkey, Sonion, Sony, Scosche, Samsung, SunTech Medical, Mio, LG, Kenzen, Jabra-GN, Intel, Huawei, Huami, BodyTrak, Bioconnected, Gogo Band, Sana Health, Immersion, Mio, and more. Valencell was acquired in 2024.
Dot Metrics Technologies, an innovative spin-off from the engineering research labs of UNC-Charlotte, developed novel UV-LED based technologies for a variety of use cases, including a novel flow cell for water purification. The company was acquired by AquiSense Technologies in 2015.