Meet the BAM team — where experience and knowledge create innovative new products.
Joe Wyse, Ph.D.,
President and CEO
Dr. Wyse is President, CEO and partner at BAM and brings over 28 years of business experience in the life science to the BAM team. Dr. Wyse’s business background includes intellectual property management, patent landscape analysis, technology valuation and strategic options assessments. Dr. Wyse’s scientific background in chemistry gives him a unique perspective to craft targeted business strategies.
Formerly, Dr. Wyse founded Wyse Innovations in 2010, a consultancy focused on assisting clients in maximizing the value of their intellectual assets. Dr. Wyse served as CEO of Coldstream Laboratories, Inc, a contract pharmaceutical development and licensing company, in 2007 as a spin- off of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Under his leadership Coldstream Laboratories achieved FDA approval for commercial manufacture of a generic injectable drug product.
Dr. Wyse served five years at PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he was Director and founding member of PwC’s Intellectual Asset Management practice. During that time led the effort to develop and apply proprietary data-mining tools that provide strategic insights into a client’s and competitor’s intellectual property portfolios.
Dr. Wyse received his bachelor degree in Chemistry from Asbury College. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Thomas Dziubla, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
Dr. Dziubla is a founding partner in BAM where he showcases his research in oxidative stress as a tuning mechanism for the control of biomaterial compatibility. Materials developed by BAM will utilize technology invented by Dziubla.
Dr. Thomas Dziubla is a Gill Professor and Director of graduate studies in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Kentucky.
He received his Honors B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Purdue University in 1998 and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in 2002. He was an NRSA postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Environmental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine at the Institute for Environmental Medicine, where he worked on the design of degradable polymeric nanocarriers for the delivery of antioxidants.
J. Zach Hilt, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
Dr. Hilt is a founding partner in BAM ground by developing state of the art biomaterials. Materials developed by BAM will utilize technology invented by Dr. Hilt.
Dr. Hilt is the Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Hilt’s research laboratory focuses on the design of novel hydrogel biomaterials, the development of novel methods to synthesize and characterize the hydrogels at the micro- or nanoscale, and the application of these materials as biomedical devices or functional components of biomedical devices.
Dr. Hilt received his bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Physics from Miami University (Ohio). He completed his Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from PurdueUniversity and his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Anastasia Hauser, PH.D.
Director of research
Dr. Anastasia Hauser has over 4 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, focused on product and process development. Currently, Dr. Hauser works as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Kentucky teaching the Capstone Design series. She is currently taking an Entrepreneurial Leave to serve as the Director of Research at Bluegrass Advanced Materials.
Dr. Hauser received both her Bachelor and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.
Robert Burden, MEng, EIT
Operations Manager
Robert Burden brings over 24 years of experience in biomedical research and medical device manufacturing to Bluegrass Advanced Materials (BAM). His background in mechanical engineering provides a unique perspective on developing and scaling new technologies from the research phase to production.
With a decade of experience in human medical research and 14 years in medical device design and manufacturing, Robert’s expertise spans academic research, patented intellectual property, product design and testing, and cGMP manufacturing. He is also skilled in maintaining regulatory compliance, performing audits, and managing process development in the medical device industry.
Before joining BAM, Robert was a founding member and Director of Engineering at Vivorté, Inc., where he played a critical role in developing two orthopedic medical devices, securing FDA 510(k) clearances, and establishing a cGMP-compliant manufacturing facility. His contributions were instrumental in bringing innovative products to market.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisville.
Claire Rowlands, PH.D.
Scientist
Dr. Claire Rowlands has four years of experience working with polymeric sustained release systems for the delivery of different pharmaceutics. Her experience working with polymers plays a crucial role in developing BAM’s technology. Dr. Rowlands also received a certificate in Biopharmaceutical Engineering during her undergraduate studies giving her valuable knowledge on drug formulation and development as well as the processing and manufacturing of pharmaceutics.
Dr. Rowlands received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 2020 from the University of Kentucky followed by her PhD in chemical engineering in 2024.