About Us
| About the Company
Rapid Forensic Cell Typing is headquartered in the VA+BioTech Park in Richmond, VA. We are an early stage biotechnology company born out of the research and development efforts of Dr. Christopher Ehrhardt, Professor of Forensic Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Christopher participated in the inaugural VCU Venture Lab where he partnered with Jon Brew, a business executive with science and technology commercialization experience.
Rapid Forensic Cell Typing incorporated in 2019 and is a privately held company.
| Founders
Christopher Ehrhardt, Ph.D.
CTO
Christopher Ehrhardt is an expert in forensic biology, microbiology, and trace evidence analysis. His research has been funded by the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, and the State of Virginia. Christopher has published over 36 articles spanning two decades. A complete list of his work can be found here.
Dr. Ehrhardt holds a B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and received his Ph.D. from UC-Santa Barbara in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. After his Ph.D., he completed two postdoc appointments at the FBI Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Connect with Christopher on LinkedIn
Jonathan Brew, MBA
CEO
Jon Brew is a senior business leader with over 30 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, including a Fortune 150 Science and Technology company. His areas of expertise include marketing, business development, strategy, continuous improvement, and entrepreneurship.
Jon earned a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. In addition to his work, Jon also mentors start-ups and early stage companies through Startup Virginia and Lighthouse Labs, and has served as Vice-Chair for the Richmond area SCORE Chapter of business advisors.
Connect with Jon on LinkedIn
| Team Members
Kate Philpott JD, MS
Technical Advisor
Jessica Gavin
Business Development
Liz Doerr MBA
Advisor, Fractional CFO
William Murphy
Product Engineer
Amanda Gentry PhD