Dr. Johana Carolina Marisol Vega Leonel is a multidisciplinary scientist, educator, and strategic advisor with over a decade of experience at the intersection of neuroscience, biomaterials, and translational medicine. Trained in neuroengineering, molecular biology, and polymer science, she has led research on neural network formation, revascularization, and clinical neuroimaging across academic, clinical, and global innovation settings. She holds a doctorate in neuroengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Vega Leonel conducted postdoctoral research in neurosurgery at Stanford University, where she developed brain-on-a-chip systems, advanced blood-brain barrier drug delivery strategies, and contributed to clinical trials in pediatric glioma imaging. She designed and taught her own accredited course in neuroengineering at Stanford, where she also served as a lecturer in Civic, Liberal, and Global Education, teaching courses in cancer, biology, and public health. Her early research at the CDC focused on biomarker development for national exposure surveillance programs.

She is the Founder and Principal Advisor of Astute Crew LLC, where she consults for academic teams, MedTech startups, and VC-backed ventures on translational strategy, grant development, and global expansion. As the Advisor at Chaanakya Capital and Board Member at the Aquillius Institute, she supports innovation pipelines and commercialization efforts at the intersection of science and entrepreneurship. Her advisory work spans companies across the United States, India, Nigeria, Turkey, Africa, and Slovenia, to name a few, helping accelerate the development of next-generation neurotechnologies worldwide.

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