Kelly Cycon, Ph.D., is a virologist and co-founder of Axenica Bioscience with more than 20 years in infectious disease, diagnostics, and commercialization. She spent 15 years leading virology at ZeptoMetrix, sourcing and scaling virus production for products used in assay development, validation, research, and outbreak response, including COVID-19. At Axenica, she is closing a critical gap: many programs rely on virus strains isolated decades ago, while circulating viruses continue to evolve. Axenica produces contemporary, well-characterized viruses from recent clinical isolates that reflect today’s pathogen landscape. A Western NY native, she is building the company where her career began.