April 2025: Thiago Brasileiro Feitosa

Education

B.S. Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, B.A. Business Management Economics - UCSC (2019); M.S. Biomedical Engineering - Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship - Columbia University (2024)

Where are you from?

Brazil!

What drew you to the field of Biomedical Engineering?

Initially, I aspired to be a professional fighter and dedicated myself to rigorous training. However, a lack of understanding about biomechanics and cell recovery led to chronic injuries. This experience ignited a desire to comprehend the human body more profoundly. I sought to blend scientific precision with lived experience to optimize human performance and healing. Biomedical Engineering offered the interdisciplinary approach I needed to explore these connections.

What is your current role?

Start Up Founder

Why did you choose Columbia BME?

Columbia's Biomedical Engineering program stood out for its practical rigor, visionary thinking, and interdisciplinary culture. The curriculum emphasized real-world applications and systems thinking, aligning perfectly with my goal to understand and improve human health comprehensively. But what Columbia gave me wasn’t just technical knowledge—it was a mindset. A belief that you can figure anything out if you’re willing to work long and hard enough. That belief became foundational not only in academics but in how I live and build solutions beyond the lab. I remember having the childhood dream of studying here, so when that materialized into practice I just couldn’t believe it. All my high expectations built up were not only met but far surpassed.

What were some of your favorite projects/memories from the program?

One pivotal moment was in Dr. Clark Hung’s Tissue Engineering class, where I learned that the principle of knee replacement surgery is to restore lost mobility, not necessarily to slow down arthritis progression. That insight combined with the understanding of mechanotransduction of cartilage tissue and galvanotaxis capabilities of cells in tissue remodelling reshaped my understanding of injury recovery. Further on, Dr. Megan Heenan’s year-long class of Biomedical Innovation gave me practical understanding of FDA approval procedures and a chance to work in a group to solve a real world problem through neurofeedback technologies. It is so satisfying to now see all those experiences being directly applicable to the current ventures I’m pursuing.

What was your proudest moment at Columbia?

My proudest moment wasn't a single achievement but the realization that Columbia's interdisciplinary, human-centered education equipped me with the tools to build solutions that change lives. The program's integration of engineering, business, and design allowed me to create my start up that bridges my interests in longevity, AI, and equitable access. Being comfortable with discomfort is something Columbia taught me daily. This mentality allowed me to bridge two seemingly separate ventures: a longevity start up in New York; and a California-based AI B2B workflow automation start up. For that to happen, I repaired an old truck, installed solar panels and built a camper on it to serve as my mobile base, all with no proper training or previous mechanical understanding of cars. This was only possible with the grit mindset fostered at Columbia, which equipped me with practical skills that enabled my goals to progress. This journey captured the spirit of problem-solving and self-reliance that Columbia instilled in me: figure it out, no matter how complex it seems.

How has your experience with Columbia BME contributed towards your goals?

I will try to exemplify through some of my classes: In Lab to Market with Mr. Dennis Purcell & Dr. Megan Heenan, I learned to ethically commercialize medical technologies through practical translational medicine experience; Dr. David Sable’s Biotech Entrepreneurship class offered insightful start up analysis, investor conversation simulations, and connections into the venture capital world; Dr. Harry West’s Human-Centered Design emphasized starting with human needs rather than technology, which is what guided my start up ideation; Dr. Zoran Kostic’s Deep Learning course enabled me to comfortably develop and implement models with large datasets; Dr. Michael Tippett’s Applied Linear Algebra helped me to better understand the abstraction involved in feature dimensions in those ML implementations; Dr. Santiago Correa’s Special Topics in BME, focused on immunology, provided foundational insights applicable to aging and disease prevention. All of these experiences directly pivoted the direction of my health optimization startup. The health optimization routines we develop aren’t about changing everything. They’re about finding the fewest, smallest, most independent variables that, when changed, unlock the biggest improvements. That minimal-but-impactful approach is at the core of how we operate. My experience with Columbia BME also inspired me to pursue a medical degree to further my understanding of the human system, and to apply that to treatments essential to longevity.

What are your thoughts on the strength of Columbia BME's alumni network and how has that influenced your career path?

The Columbia BME alumni network has been instrumental in my journey. It offered mentorship, guidance, and a community of visionaries who continue to support me across disciplines and continents. This network has been a compass, pointing me toward real-world impact and collaboration. My start up would not have started as solid without choosing Columbia. There, I wasn’t just exposed to science—I was surrounded by people who believed in application, translation, and impact. That belief stayed with me. Most importantly, I will carry the close friendships and bonds I built through the interdisciplinary projects in the program for the rest of my life.

Any words of wisdom or tips for prospective BME students?

Don't just memorize formulas—learn to see problems differently. Understand the properties and nuances of systems rather than just their names. Let your failures become fuel, and let discomfort sharpen your intuition. When no solution exists, build one. Embrace the interdisciplinary nature of BME to create meaningful, human-centered solutions. And never let complexity stop you from trying—as beautifully said in class: don’t fear it, steer it.

What are you excited about?

I'm extremely excited about launching our health optimization platform and eventually integrating it with clinical protocols. For that, I decided to pursue medical education to further enhance my understanding of healthspan. Lastly, I want to tie it back to my earliest work in iGEM, where we pioneered local, distributed biological medication production for equitable access in resource constrained communities. Our goal is to vertically integrate that with our longevity startup, applying knowledge that matters directly into patient’s routines. This journey represents the beginning of making a meaningful impact in the field I am most passionate about.