Alan Young | Chief Technology Officer
Medgene Labs

Alan John Young, PhD Chief Scientific Officer, VST/Medgene Labs LLC, Professor and Research Leader, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences South Dakota State University Dr. Young?s career has focused on the application of domestic animal models to biomedical applications.  Dr. Young received his BSc and PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto, focusing on the role of the migratory immune system in defense against disease.  Following postdoctoral training in lymphatic physiology, Dr. Young took a position as Scientific Member of the Ruminant Immunology Laboratory at the Basel Institute for Immunology.   Following closure of the Institute, Dr. Young accepted a faculty position in the Department of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, prior to moving to his current position at the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at South Dakota State University.  Dr. Young has served as the lead on acadmic initiatives designed to promote cross-institutional and academic-industry collaborations, including founding the Multistate Research Committee to deal with BSE in the United States and as a Co-PI for development of a Rift Valley Fever vaccine through the Center of Emerging Zoonoses and Animal Diseases at Kansas State University.  His training as an Immunologist focuses much of his work on the response of domestic animals to zoonotic diseases, and the application of animal models to development of new therapies, diagnostics, and research models for human disease.  Since 2004, Dr. Young has been an active participant in translational technology development, authoring and supervising several successful Phase I and Phase II SBIR projects in collaboration with Federal Laboratories and Academic Institutions within the United States and Canada.  In 2011, Dr. Young founded VST/Medgene Labs to assist in the translation of early stage technologies to the marketplace and to develop new vaccine and diagnostic tools for human and veterinary medicine.   Current joint projects involve Federally Funded Centers of Excellence, Kansas State University, US Centers for Disease Control, Department of Homeland Security, and the University of Toronto.   Lead vaccine candidates in pre-licensing scaleup include Rift Valley Fever Virus, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, as well as several monoclonal antibodies specific for the diagnosis and research of animal diseases.