Troy Lionberger is the Associate Director of Technology Development at Berkeley Lights, an Emeryville startup that has created the Beacon platform, a high-throughput, fully automated, microfluidic system capable of performing quantitative assays from cultured cell populations. Dr. Lionberger invented applications on the Beacon platform that overcome a central problem faced by most cell biologists: in order to make high-confidence measurements of cellular behavior, it is often the case that most of the time in a given experiment is spent waiting for cells to grow to an appropriate density and volume to make conventional measurements (e.g., using shake flasks, benchtop fermenters, etc.). This theme cuts across most areas of cell biology and often limits the numbers of experiments that can be completed for practical reasons (not enough time, people, money, and/or capacity). Dr. Lionberger’s technical contributions to the Beacon platform technology make it possible to accelerate the pace of science by making high-precision and relevant measurements from only a few cells. In his current role at Berkeley Lights, he is currently applying Beacon technology to impact a wide number of areas that use cell biology to create high-value products, ranging from cellular therapies and biologic pharmaceuticals to food and textiles. Dr. Lionberger completed postdoctoral training in Biophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, before which he earned his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.