Office of Research and Innovation
University of Louisville
Louisville, Ky. 40202
502.852.6512, 502.852.2594 (Fax)
Looking for a unit within the Office of Research and Innovation? Contact information here.
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs)
UofL Inventions Meet Entrepreneurial Muscle
The University of Louisville's “entrepreneurs-in-residence” (EIRs) help guide research-backed inventions to market. The EIRs, under the UofL Office of Research and Innovation, provide guidance on product development, business planning and other activities to accelerate the commercialization of university inventions.
Learn more about our EIRs below. Still have questions, or want to get connected? Fill out the contact form.
Tendai Charasika is a seasoned entrepreneur and leader, previously serving as executive director of EnterpriseCorp of Greater Louisville Inc., the Louisville Metro chamber of commerce, and as CEO of SuperFan U, a mobile platform company that helps colleges and universities engage and communicate with their fans.
Currently, Charasika serves as chief strategy officer with Saling Wealth Advisors, an independent wealth management firm that focuses on comprehensive financial planning for multi-generational families.
Charasika got his start at UofL as a varsity football star and student of both the UofL J.B. Speed School of Engineering, where he earned a bachelor of science in chemical engineering, and the UofL College of Business, where he completed his entrepreneurship MBA.
Jeff Gora is a dynamic entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience across industries including medical device manufacturing, retail, education, and technology. From scaling innovative startups to leading customer-centric retail ventures, Jeff has a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. His diverse background equips him with a unique perspective on business strategy, operations, and technology integration. As an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Louisville, Jeff will leverage his expertise to mentor and guide aspiring entrepreneurs, fostering innovation and sustainable growth.
Nick Phillips is a seasoned healthcare investor and startup operator. After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a Mechanical Engineering degree, he spent the better part of the last decade building startups and leading early stage investment and accelerator programs in partnership with some of the world's leading corporations and international governments.
As the former Sr. Director of Accelerator Programs and Healthcare at Nex Cubed, Nick grew their Digital Health Accelerator Program into a top 10 digital health accelerator in the world. He also served as Principal at Sway Ventures, a multi-strategy asset management firm, where he supported corporate development efforts. Some of Nick’s notable clients include GE Healthcare, Enterprise Singapore, and the Alliance Healthcare Foundation.
Nick enjoys giving back to aspiring entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial community by volunteering with numerous organizations. For the past 6 years, he has volunteered at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) as a business coach for their business school and serves as a founding member of PLNU’s Marketing Advisory Board. Nick is a Selection Committee Member for the Vogt Awards in Louisville and is an External Review Board Member for the Mid-South REACH program, a grant award by the NIH. He also serves as a coach for the University of Louisville's LaunchIt program.
Nick is now the CEO of Mandos Health Inc., a venture-backed men’s healthcare startup, where he is focused on scaling the nationwide digital clinic.
Former EIRs
Charley Miller is a co-founder and the Head of Product Management for TouchCast, a company offering video-based solutions since 2013 for communication, collaboration and learning for enterprise companies. Charley’s background includes game design; software and hardware production; and part-time teaching and consulting with a focus on helping non-game products develop customer growth and retention strategies.
Charley has led product development for toys like Nerf Hoops, mobile games including VR headset titles, training simulations, urban games, and tabletop games. His projects have included work for Intel, Hasbro, Kognito, and the New York City Office of Emergency Management. His game design work has been featured in the NY Times and BoingBoing.
He was commissioned by the NYU Game Center for their No Quarter Exhibition. As a serial entrepreneur, he has launched GiveAndDate, EatingVine, and ShadowMe before TouchCast. Charley has advised startups on product development including Kinsa, FanFeedr, Gilt, Patient Plus, Citia, Louisville’s own Switcher Studio, and currently Revolver Book Reader. Charley is currently producing a mobile game in stealth.
Jeff Cummins is a finance and business development executive with experience in startup and scale-up companies over the last 20 years. Jeff has a background in science and engineering as well as online commercial enterprise and service-related offerings.
Jeff was most recently CFO and Director of Strategic Accounts for a Car Keys Express, a fast growth company in Louisville, where he helped manage growth and expand the business into other industry sectors. He also worked in finance and business development for Networld Media Group and served as the Director of University Commercialization for EnterpriseCorp.
Dr. Josh Nickols is an EIR with LEAP, advising the development of healthcare companies from within the UofL technology portfolio. Dr. Nickols has worked with the CincyTech Life Science team since 2016 following the sale of InvisionHeart Inc. where he served as Founder and CEO. The company built and commercialized a next-generation platform for electrocardiography designed to support non-hospital based care delivery. Prior to InvisionHeart, Dr. Nickols led cross-functional teams at Insight Genetics, Biomimetic Therapeutics and Device Innovation Group.
In his current role, Dr. Nickols is the CEO of Enhale Medical. The company is developing a minimally-invasive neuromodulation technology for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Sleep apnea is conventionally treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), however for many of these patients sleep apnea remains poorly controlled. Health effects secondary to uncontrolled OSA can be depression, cardiovascular changes, and excessive fatigue. The company was founded on proprietary technology and clinical development conducted at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Nickols holds a PhD in molecular neuroscience and MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Alice Shade is the founder of SentryHealth, a Kentucky based technology enabled health management company, specializing in creating and delivering clinical programs to improve the health among those with chronic disease. SentryHealth’s technology platform has been deployed to other healthcare companies.
Prior to SentryHealth, Ms. Shade worked extensively on both the payor and clinical provider side, leveraging financial and clinical delivery knowledge and expertise to develop benefit programs, value based payment models and strategic partnerships to improve health outcomes for patients and members. These include the University of Louisville Physicians, UnitedHealthcare and Passport Health Plan.
Ms. Shade has a master's in health administration from the University of Kentucky. She was recently recognized as the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Emerging Entrepreneur.
