Primary Job Title CIO & Co-Founder Primary Organization Finless Foods
Location Bridgewater, New Jersey, United States Regions East Coast, Northeastern US Gender Male
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Brian Wyrwas Chief Innovations Officer and Co-Founder, Finless Foods
While growing up in Bridgewater, New Jersey, as the son of Polish immigrants, Brian Wyrwas never pictured becoming a co-founder of an innovative biotech company. He spent much of his youth working alongside his father in the construction business, getting his hands dirty with
manual labor and building assignments. It wasn’t until he went to college (the first in his family to attend) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst that he was inspired to consider Science as a career path.
As a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology double major, Brian was exposed to incredible coursework concerning biological concepts, and the course that stood out the most was called “My DNA”. It was there when he first recognized Science to be the most efficient way to turn “nothing into something.” It was action-oriented and similar to his experience in construction. Brian embraced it as a rewarding path where he could truly witness the fruits of his labor. After graduation, Brian took his talents to Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, where he worked as a research technician at the school’s cutting-edge endocrine oncology department. He worked extensively to grow human cells for medical purposes and assisted in both the laboratory and clinic. This gave him a holistic understanding of how their experiments directly impacted patients.
Brian was reading applications for his Ph.D. in 2016 when his career took a sudden, exciting turn. He had dinner with his college friend, Michael Selden, who pitched him on a start-up idea based around cell-cultured seafood. After quickly educating himself on the degradation of ocean ecosystems, he knew he wanted to be a part of the cell-cultured revolution. Alongside Selden, the two started out by researching and specifying the fastest depleting fish populations, landing on bluefin tuna. Brian then traveled across the globe to harvest the best bluefin cells for experimentation and cultivation of lab-grown fish filets, and Finless Foods was officially born.
At Finless Foods, Brian is in charge of the lab operations behind the cell-cultured and plant-based production. He is a patient leader with his team, encouraging them to achieve their own version of greatness. When he is not inventing the newest cell-cultured phenomenon or tagging along with tuna fishermen to analyze their catches, Brian is an avid learner and thrill seeker. He enjoys snowboarding, scuba diving, and woodworking, and he also makes it a priority to dance daily.
