Oral Genome is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Shuman as Chief Revenue Officer. Shuman brings extensive experience leading high-growth organizations in the dental industry, most recently serving as CEO of Membersy, where he helped build a national footprint and drive commercial performance.
In his new role, Shuman will oversee commercial strategy, enterprise growth, and dental partnership expansion to accelerate the adoption of Oral Genome’s rapid, saliva-based testing nationwide.
“We are thrilled to welcome Michael to Oral Genome,” said Dr. Tina Saw, Founder & CEO. “His track record leading transformational growth aligns perfectly with our mission to bring preventive testing into every dental practice.”
“What drew me to Oral Genome is the mission of empowering providers to catch preventable issues before they start,” says Michael Shuman, CRO. “I’ve spent my career helping dental organizations modernize the way they deliver value to patients, and Oral Genome represents the next evolution of that journey. By combining clinical insight with scalable technology, we’re creating a pathway for every practice to play a proactive role in early detection and whole-body health. I’m excited to help expand access and adoption across healthcare organizations nationwide.”
About Oral Genome
Oral Genome is a health technology company pioneering saliva-based testing for oral and systemic health. Its mission is to advance preventive care by making testing fast, accessible, and impactful for all.
Hepta, a biotech startup using transformer-based AI to detect organ-specific signals of chronic disease, emerged from stealth with $6.7 million in seed funding, according to a press release. Felicis Ventures and Illumina Ventures led the funding round. SeaX Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and AME Cloud Ventures also participated. The company was founded by former Illumina, Grail and Google leaders who are applying the technological, genomic and commercialization knowhow from their liquid biopsy work to chronic disease.
Hamed Amini, co-founder and CEO of Hepta, explained its approach to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
“Our team, which developed next generation sequencing technologies at Illumina and built and scaled the first generation of liquid biopsy platforms at Grail, has now demonstrated that a simple blood draw can replicate tissue-level biology. This establishes a foundation for non-invasive diagnostics that can guide precision therapies in chronic diseases, starting with MASH, a systemic metabolic disease and a global epidemic affecting tens of millions in the U.S. alone, where access to care is tragically limited by invasive, outdated or highly specialized tools. Beyond detection, our platform holds potential as a single source for guiding therapy and monitoring response.”
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Amae Health, a public benefit corporation focused on severe mental illness, has raised a $25 million pre-empted Series B financing to transform how severe mental illnesses are understood, treated, and cured, according to a press release. Altos Ventures led the round with participation from all existing investors, including Quiet Capital, Bling Capital, Cedars-Sinai Ventures, Healthier Capital, and 8VC.
The new funding will be used to support the opening of Amae clinics nationwide, advance its proprietary AI-driven care platform, and support research into schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and treatment-resistant depression. It will also strengthen partnerships with academic medical centers to expand access to Amae’s integrated model of care.
“Severe mental illness devastates families and communities, yet traditional treatment models haven’t moved the needle,” said Stas Sokolin, Amae Health co-founder and CEO. “We’re taking a different path; combining compassionate, in-person care with responsibly deployed AI that helps clinicians determine the best course for each individual.”
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Helex, a therapeutics company developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases, raised an oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed round, according to a press release. Investor pi Ventures led the round with participation from Bluehill Capital, SOSV, and a global syndicate of investors. Helex has raised over $6 million in total funding to date.
Helex wants to transform the treatment of chronic and rare kidney disorders by developing programmable non-viral lipid nanoparticle therapeutics that deliver therapeutic cargo directly to kidney cells. This approach opens the door to a new class of targeted, disease-modifying medicines for millions of patients who currently have no effective treatment options.
Its lead program targets Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, an inherited disorder, caused by mutations in the PKD1 or PKD2 genes. The condition affects more than 12 million people worldwide, leading to gradual formation of kidney cysts and decline in renal function. Patients with ADPKD ultimately face dialysis or kidney transplant. Helex aims to change that with a single dose non-viral gene editing based therapy that could halt or significantly slow disease progression.
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Image: J Studios, Getty Images
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