Meher Antia

Dr. Meher Antia is responsible for WRF’s grant-making programs, which support innovation at nonprofit research institutions across Washington state. She leads the evaluation of all grant proposals received by WRF, along with the assessment and development of existing and new programs. In addition, she serves in an advisory role for WRF Capital’s startup investments.

Prior to joining WRF, Dr. Antia was the Assistant Director for the University of Washington’s Population Health Initiative, responsible for strategically engaging with partners to help implement the Initiative’s vision. Previously, she worked for the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences, where she developed programs to accelerate early-stage biomedical research to the clinic. Dr. Antia spent several years at the Wellcome Trust in London, where she initially managed strategic research projects in structural biology and advanced microscopy. She subsequently moved to Wellcome’s Innovations department, where she gained experience in evaluating novel biomedical technologies for their potential to fulfil unmet medical needs, and was responsible for oversight of a portfolio of funded projects in medical devices and drug development. She also led two major medical engineering funding initiatives at Wellcome.

Dr. Antia holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in physics, and a Ph.D. in bioengineering. She has worked as a freelance science writer for The Economist, Science magazine and others.