Robb Akridge

treated. Though I may appear Caucasian, my background and experiences have granted me an intimate and nuanced understanding of the ways in which individuals from marginalized communities are often overlooked or discriminated against. My academic diversity is just as unique as my personal background. I have a BS from UT Austin in Biology/Marine Biology, an MS from Texas State University in Botany/Mycology, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology (Infectious Disease/Immunology). My most rewarding and frustrating work was done during my post-doctoral fellowships (Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and the UW/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute), where I spent many years working on HIV-1 and AIDs vaccine projects. During my career, I also set up a global network of labs to help test experimental AIDs vaccines as part of the HVTN (HIV Vaccine Trail Network). Although rewarding, the pace of discovery and success was minuscule. After academic burning out, I moved to the private sector with a startup that was making a sonic toothbrush, sonicare. As a senior scientist at sonicare, I worked on oral health and became very knowledgeable about plaque biofilms. Once sonicare was sold to Philips, several of us started a new company where we created Clarisonic (a sonic brush for daily skin cleansing). I was VP of Clinical Research at Clarisonic, the brand ambassador, and the QVC guest host. After the acquisition by L’Oreal, I became the global head of the brand. After 6 years at L’Oreal, I became bored and wanted to create something extraordinary, risky, extreme, and addictive. OPULUS Beauty Labs is that something. It is an extension of me. My diverse upbringing and my scientific knowledge are all rolled up into OPULUS.