Charles Cathlin,

An interdisciplinary engineer and life science entrepreneur with a vision to modernize mental health care. Charles served 20+ years as a military and public health engineer, assessing public health hazards and deploying technological solutions to protect and advance human health. He led scientific teams within the US Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Health, FDA, and TBI Center of Excellence.

Inspired by his work with first responders at Ground Zero and fellow military service members impacted by the conflicts that followed, Charles pivoted his career towards understanding the current approaches and solutions driving mental health outcomes. In 2017, Charles founded Polaris Genomics, leveraging genomics and machine learning to catalyze the discovery of mental health biomarkers. He currently leads a team of clinicians and researchers that has developed a platform to advance the development of psychiatric drugs and objective diagnostic tools.

Born and raised in Brooklyn by a NYC subway mechanic and immigrant, Charles studied engineering at the Air Force Academy, public health at Uniformed Services University, and entrepreneurship at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.