Stephen C. Ekker, PhD is a genome engineer, entrepreneur, and innovation leader with over three decades of experience in gene editing. He serves as Associate Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Dell Medical School, where he develops health and life science innovation programs across UT Austin. Ekker is a Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Biosciences, Director of the Center for Rare Disease, and leads the Dell Med Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, including the Texas Health Catalyst.
Previously, he was Dean of the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and founded the Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship. An NIH-funded investigator with 180+ publications, he has pioneered DNA editing tools and rare disease therapeutics. As an entrepreneur, Ekker co-founded biotech companies including Immusoft and LEAH Labs, and advised OpenTrons as it grew into a unicorn. He continues to advance AI-driven protein design and cloud-lab startup models for rapid health tech innovation.