Karl Kiser

New York

I build controlled biological systems — turning experimental biology into reliable, manufacturable processes across biomaterials, cultivation, custom sensing, and closed-loop control. I turn experimental biology into manufacturable processes. Co-inventor on aerial-mycelium cultivation IP and first author on peer-reviewed research, I design and build custom sensors and closed-loop control, develop cultivation processes, and transfer them to partner facilities in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands — taking direct control of partner lines during start-up and bringing material to commercial spec. Earlier, first-author quantitative-MRI research. Based in New York. Open to R&D and process-engineering roles building controlled biological systems — biomaterials, cultivation, sensing, and scale-up.

karl.j.kiser@gmail.com LinkedIn
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I build controlled biological systems.

Turning experimental biology into reliable, manufacturable processes — across biomaterials, cultivation, custom sensing, and closed-loop control.

Open to R&D and process-engineering roles building controlled biological systems — biomaterials, cultivation, sensing, and scale-up.

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Projects

Selected Work

Aerial Mycelium Process Development

Ecovative Design

2023–2026

Turned experimental aerial mycelium growth into a repeatable, manufacturable cultivation process. Owned process development end to end — media design, pre-colonization optimization, and aerial growth-phase control — and built the instrumentation behind it: custom sensors and microcontrollers feeding real-time data acquisition, with closed-loop feedback holding environmental setpoints (temperature, CO₂, airflow, mist rate). Contributed to a platform with observability over 25 real-time conditions and AI-model-informed decisions, improving the reliability and repeatability of the controlled process. The work led to co-inventorship on a patent covering the growth media compositions and environmental conditions.

Mycelium Cultivation Process Development Closed-loop Control Instrumentation Real-time Sensing Data Acquisition Patent

Partner Technology Transfer & Field Process Engineering

Ecovative Design

2023–2026

Scaled the aerial mycelium process to outside partners — transferring it to domestic and international growers and standing up production at their facilities (Ontario, Canada; Kennett Square, PA; Ammerzoden, Netherlands). Ran full technology transfer — process recipes, environmental control programs, and sensing/control systems — plus operations training and hands-on troubleshooting, often taking direct control of partner lines during start-up. Built data pipelines to ingest partner-facility data into internal systems and models, closing a tight bench-to-scale feedback loop. Karl led a Pennsylvania site's conversion from agaricus mushroom production to full mycelium production within a year, resolved a novel contamination event, trained operators in their primary language, and authored documentation that outlasted each engagement.

Technology Transfer Field Process Engineering Operations Training Data Pipelines International Partners Scale-up

Quantitative MRI for Tumor Treatment Response

Weill Cornell Medical College / NYU

2020–2023

Built and validated novel MRI methods to measure cellular water exchange and treatment response in glioma models without a biopsy. As first author in Scientific Reports, Karl showed that a two-flip-angle DCE-MRI approach can quantify intracellular water lifetime (τᵢ), yielding a metabolic biomarker that correlates negatively with FDG-PET uptake — bridging imaging physics, computational modeling, and translational cancer biology.

DCE-MRI Pharmacokinetic Modeling Cancer Biology Quantitative Imaging Scientific Reports

Image Texture Analysis & Reproducibility in Preclinical MRI

Weill Cornell Medical College

2021–2023

Quantified how image resolution affects the reliability of texture features derived from pharmacokinetic parameter maps — a reproducibility problem for radiomics. As first author in Tomography, Karl demonstrated that 3D isotropic resolution is critical for reproducible radiomics analysis, informing how preclinical imaging protocols are standardized and making quantitative biomarkers more robust across studies.

Radiomics Image Analysis Reproducibility 7T MRI Preclinical Imaging Tomography

Active Contrast Encoding (ACE) MRI Development

NYU / Weill Cornell

2020–2022

Helped develop and validate ACE-MRI, a method for simultaneous estimation of contrast-agent kinetics and tissue relaxation parameters, enabling more efficient characterization of the tumor microenvironment than conventional DCE-MRI. Karl's contributions were presented at multiple ISMRM annual meetings and published in a collaborative journal article.

ACE-MRI Method Development Tumor Microenvironment ISMRM Collaboration

CV

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Curriculum Vitae

Summary

Builds controlled biological systems — turning experimental biology into manufacturable processes. Co-inventor on aerial-mycelium cultivation IP and first author on peer-reviewed research. Designs and builds custom sensors and closed-loop control, develops cultivation processes, and transfers them to partner facilities in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands — taking direct control of partner lines during start-up and bringing material to commercial spec. Earlier, first-author quantitative-MRI research. A strong translator between lab experimentation, model-based analysis, and reliable production.

Experience

Senior Scientist, Research Engineer

Ecovative Design — Green Island, NY

2022 – 2026

  • Co-inventor on patent application covering growth media compositions and environmental conditions for improved aerial mycelium cultivation
  • Process development for aerial mycelium production including media optimization, environmental programming, and growth condition tuning
  • Designed and built novel sensors for closed-loop system control — programming microcontrollers, wiring custom hardware, and integrating real-time sensing into the cultivation environment
  • Contributed to cultivation platform supporting 25 real-time environmental conditions and AI-model-informed process decisions
  • Deployed on-site to domestic and international partner facilities (Netherlands, Canada, Pennsylvania) to transfer cultivation process, control systems, and operations training — often assuming direct control of partner lines during start-up and troubleshooting
  • Led conversion of a partner site from agaricus mushroom production to full mycelium production within a year; built data pipelines integrating partner operations into internal models and brought material to commercial spec

Research Associate

Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Health & Weill Cornell Medical College — New York, NY

2019 – 2022

  • First-author publications in Scientific Reports and Tomography on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI methods
  • Designed and executed quantitative experiments on tumor treatment response using active contrast-encoding MRI
  • Developed methods for cellular water exchange measurement, pharmacokinetic parameter estimation, and image texture analysis
  • Presented research at ISMRM (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) annual meetings

Skills

Biomaterials & Cultivation

Aerial mycelium cultivation Fungal growth optimization Media design Substrate optimization Environmental programming Controlled-environment experimentation Pilot-scale process development

Quantitative & Analytical

Experimental design (DOE) Statistical analysis Pharmacokinetic modeling Image texture analysis Data-driven process optimization Reproducibility analysis

Instrumentation & Controls

Sensor development Microcontroller programming Hardware integration Closed-loop control Embedded systems Real-time data acquisition

Research & Communication

Scientific writing Peer-reviewed publication Patent documentation Conference presentation Cross-functional collaboration Technical translation

Education

Pitzer College — Claremont, CA

B.A. in Biophysics

2016

Publications

Journal Articles

Conference Abstracts — ISMRM

Tumor intracellular water residence time measured by DCE-MRI negatively correlates with the standard uptake value of 18F-FDG-PET

1st Author

Karl Kiser, Jin Zhang, S. Gene Kim

2021

Significance of 3D Isotropic Resolution for Image Texture Analysis of Pharmacokinetic Model Parametric Maps

1st Author

Karl Kiser, Jin Zhang, S. Gene Kim

2021

Whole tumor pharmacokinetic model analysis with 3D isotropic high resolution using 3D-UTE-GRASP sequence at 7T

Jin Zhang, Karl Kiser, Chongda Zhang, Ayesha Bharadwaj Das, Sungheon Gene Kim

2020

Fast 3D T1 mapping with isotropic high resolution using ultrashort TE MRI

Jin Zhang, Karl Kiser, Sungheon Gene Kim

2020

Comparison of tumor cellular-interstitial water exchange rates measured by DCE-MRI and diffusion time-dependent diffusion kurtosis imaging

Jin Zhang, Karl Kiser, Ayesha Bharadwaj Das, Chongda Zhang, Sungheon Gene Kim

2020

Repeatability of contrast kinetic parameters of whole tumor with isotropic resolution measured by 3D-UTE-GRASP method

Jin Zhang, Ayesha Bharadwaj Das, James Tranos, Karl Kiser, Youssef Zaim Wadghiri, Gene Kim

2021

Simultaneous estimation of longitudinal relaxation time and intracellular water lifetime using Active Contrast Encoding MRI

Jin Zhang, Karl Kiser, Ayesha Bharadwaj Das, Sawwal Qayyum, Gene Kim

2022

Assessment of subtle BBB disruption using Focused Ultrasound: comparison between the contrast agent exchange rate and the water exchange rate

Jonghyun Bae, Jin Zhang, Mihaela Stavarache, Ayesha Das, Sawwal Qayyum, Karl Kiser, Sungheon Gene Kim

2022

Patents

Growth Media Compositions and Growth Environmental Conditions for Improved Aerial Mycelium

Publication
US 2024/0352400 A1
Application
18/642,656
International
WO 2024/226467 A1 (PCT)
Priority
63/498,003 · 63/505,675 · 63/516,425
Filed
April 22, 2024
Published
October 24, 2024
Inventors
Jacob Michael Winiski, Karl John Kiser
Assignee
Ecovative LLC (formerly Ecovative Design LLC), Green Island, NY

Claims center on preparing mycelium growth media with defined nutrition profiles and cultivating aerial mycelium under controlled temperature, CO₂, airflow, mist rate, mist composition, and related parameters. The application covers both pre-colonization and aerial-growth phase optimization. This patent addresses the core challenge of making aerial mycelium production more controllable, reproducible, and scalable.

View on Google Patents

Additional patents may be pending or in preparation.