I served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Scientist at Applied Biomedical LLC. With over two decades of experience in research and development within the medical diagnostics field, he previously worked at prominent companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific. Dr. Murtaza holds Ph.D. and MS degrees in chemistry from leading central universities in Delhi, India, and was granted a National Fellowship by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, which led him to the USA.

During his academic journey, he conducted groundbreaking research at institutions like UNC Chapel Hill and UC Berkeley, collaborating with renowned experts such as Professor John Hurst and Professor Joe Lackowicz. At UC Berkeley, he pioneered a fluorescence technique for determining DNA size using FRET. Later, at the Center of Fluorescence Spectroscopy at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland, helped to secure a $6 million NIH grant for utilizing metal complexes in medical diagnostics.

He boasts a remarkable track record as a co-inventor of more than 5 patents and several provisional patent applications, focusing on biomarker detection and DNA hydrodynamics using metal complexes. Dr. Murtaza has also authored over 30 research papers in prestigious journals and has delivered presentations at various international, and national scientific meetings.

In his role at Applied Biomedical LLC, Dr. Murtaza spearheaded the relocation of the company to Southern California in 2010, overseeing operations related to quality assurance, regulatory affairs, research and development, and cleanroom manufacturing. Under his leadership, the company achieved FDA registration and a License to manufacture medical devices from California Human & Health Services. Dr. Murtaza successfully navigated multiple FDA and California state HHS audits without any citations. His significant contributions include the development of rapid diagnostic tests on lateral flowbased immunoassays for a range of infectious diseases including COVID-19, Zika, Dengue, Malaria, Anthrax, Ebola, and HIV among others including prion protein, pregnancy, PSA, Cholesterol, and Lactic Acid. Notably, he conducted a clinical trial for the patented Confidence™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System and Confidence™ COVID-19 test and obtained FDA 510(k) approval for home use. Additionally, he obtained Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the COVID-19 antibodies (IgG/IgM) test from the FDA.

Dr. Murtaza remains dedicated to democratizing access to affordable, accurate, and high- quality diagnostics through cutting-edge technologies. His commitment to enhancing healthcare sustainability both locally and globally underscores his mission to revolutionize the field of diagnostics for better outcomes for healthcare for the masses.