Distinguished alumni

Dr. John Swart ’90 Distinguished Professional Achievement

John is a scientist, businessman and entrepreneur. Among the companies he co-founded are Exemplar Genetics in Sioux Center and Iowa City, which plays a role in developing treatments for rare genetic diseases, and Novavita Thera in Rochester, Minnesota, a preclinical gene therapy company. John is currently the co-founder and CEO of Cytotheryx, a platform technology company; Ponte BioSciences, which is developing a liver assist device; and Axothera, a cell therapy company utilizing genetically engineered liver cells to treat rare pediatric metabolic disease. John earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Nebraska after graduating from Northwestern with a degree in chemistry. In 2017 he received the Iowa Biotech Leader of the Year Award from the Iowa Biotechnology Association.

Award year: 2023