The veterinary epidemiologist has raised $ 6.2 million to launch an essential fatty acid supplement

As a veterinary epidemiologist, Dr. Stephanie Ben Watson said that dolphins can age like humans, develop the same disease, and have high cholesterol, chronic inflammation, and even prediabetes. I found it while I was working. She received this discovery and scrutinized it along with the molecules in the blood of the dolphin to discover the essential fatty acid C15: 0. It provides nutrients that the human body does not make, and when it is in food, it is present in trace amounts. After years of research, publications, and health monitoring of these dolphins, Venn-Watson has added essential fatty acids to vegan-friendly dairy-free dietary supplements so that humans can also get these nutrients on a daily basis. I decided to incorporate it.

Thus, what began with a passion for treating animals and improving dolphin health has led to an entrepreneurial journey to bring science from the bay to the lab and ultimately to the market. And we have developed products that people can take to improve their health. Cell level. Benefits include strengthening cell membranes, strengthening mitochondria, and improving metabolism and immune system homeostasis. Basically, it provides excellent ingredients while cutting the unhealthy saturated fat contained in all-fat dairy products.Studies show that daily doses of this fatty acid lower pro-inflammatory biomarkers, which Low risk of type 2 diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and pancreatic cancer. According to a Venn-Watson study, C15: 0, which she discovered, was the first essential fatty acid discovered 90 years later. Launched today by the Venn-Watson company as fatty15, the supplement is designed to be taken once daily, like vitamins. Venn-Watson launched its product through San Diego, California-based company Serafina Therapeutics, raising $ 6.2 million in Series A funding in May, led by Domain Associates.

Venn-Watson spent many years on the beach before working with dolphins. After graduating from the University of California, San Diego, she earned a veterinary degree from Tufts University in Boston. Her goal was to become an epidemiologist, so she started working at the CDC in Atlanta and earned a master’s degree in public health from Emory University. Venn-Watson was also involved in disease tracking at the World Health Organization. About 20 years ago, she was hired by the US Navy’s Marine Mammals Program to work as a civil servant in San Diego, helping to launch a program to continuously improve the health and well-being of Navy dolphins. It was then that Ven Watson witnessed the amazing similarity between the elderly and the old dolphins and shared it with the world of human health.

“It really led to this discovery path that allowed us to apply advanced techniques such as metabolomics to study the thousands of small molecules present in dolphin blood throughout our lives, because dolphins lived through their lives. Because we archived all the blood, “Venn-Watson said. “And we were able to examine these archive samples to find out which small molecules in the blood predicted dolphins that were protected from these age-related diseases. That’s where C15: 0 comes from. . ”

< position="inread" progressive="" ad-id="article-0-inread" aria-hidden="true" role="presentation"/>

10 years after publication Peer-reviewed science She and her husband, Dr. Eric Ben Watson, now a doctor at the company’s COO and co-founder of the MBA, have realized that this can also affect human health. “We need a certain level in our body to say we are healthy,” she said of fatty acids. “Lower these levels impair our health.” They involved chemists when they started working to get the right level of C15: 0 for their supplements. It aims to keep the supplement pure, sustainable and non-animal source.

Venn-Watson recognizes her military family career by empowering her to overcome the hurdles faced by startup founders in establishing the company and selling ideas. Her husband was sent to Afghanistan in 2010 while he had a toddler at home. Ven Watson said that period taught her perspective.

“When you experience the war and all the challenges that military families have during the war, it’s all about perspective,” she said. “The ups and downs of startups are nothing compared to how we became stronger as a family through the military. And the other part is the military background we have, translation, research, understanding of the problem, And it’s very focused on fixing it, and if you’re heading in a direction that you don’t plan to solve the problem right away, start looking in the other direction.

However, she felt weak at the onset because of the potential stigma of “fatty acids,” but they laid the foundation and overcame prejudice. “A female dolphin veterinarian stepped into a room full of VCs and found the perfect saturated fat for you. We didn’t have the option to say we had a crazy idea. Just fine. Let’s go, “said Ben Watson. “To step into the VC room and build teams, science, data, and peer-reviewed publications so that you can say this is a very crazy idea and how it worked. I had to spend years. ”

Venn-Watson hopes that fatty15 will have a positive impact on many lives. “I know there is something that can help improve the foundations of global health, obesity and diabetes, and all of this puts the population at great risk. Something we think we can help. Knowing that there is a really exciting driver at other difficult times. “