Erwin Berthier: 2024 Early Career Award recipient

PhDBME ’11 (Diplôme d’Ingénieur ’04, ENSTA Paris; MS ’07, University of Canterbury)
CTO, Tasso

A biomedical engineer and healthcare entrepreneur whose patient-centric blood-collection technologies are transforming the traditional approach.

In the earliest days of Tasso, before any regulatory approvals, rounds of financing or major contracts, Erwin Berthier, Ben Casavant and another friend huddled to decide whether to put their own money behind their fledgling idea.

They each chipped in $300, a tiny sum in retrospect, but enough to 3D-print prototypes to show funding agencies.

“It got us the traction that we needed to get to the next level,” says Berthier. “For me, it’s a reminder of no matter how much money you have, look at what you can do with what you have. There might be a way.”

More than a decade later, Tasso is now a thriving medical device company specializing in tools for at-home blood draws. The company, co-founded by Berthier and fellow alum Ben Casavant in 2012 based on their work in the lab of Professor David Beebe, has raised more than $100 million in private financing while shipping out more than 1 million devices. Tasso devices are used to gather data for clinical trials for new drugs and research studies, as well as drug testing.

Berthier credits Tasso’s success, in part, to the two partners’ experience in Beebe’s lab.

“It’s a lot of the values that we took out of Dave’s lab,” he says. “It’s this idea of listen to the data. A lot of people get into startups with the mindset of build it and they will come. And that is tempting. We’re taking the right risks at the right time based on the right kind of learnings from the data.”

In addition to his role at Tasso, Berthier is an affiliate assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington. He co-authored the book Open Microfluidics and has written more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Which engineering professor made the greatest impact on you?

There are two aspects of Dave (Beebe) that I thought were really nice. One is take calculated risks. I see that in the way he accepted me as a student. I didn’t have a classical CV, and he took a calculated risk, and it paid off, I think—I hope. The other one is just listen to the data. We oftentimes want to see some things be real or true, and reality is not necessarily what we hope or expect. Question the assumptions.

How did your engineering education enable your success?

I think the best, most competitive edge of UW, beyond it just being a really good school, is actually the ability to speak to anyone. UW fosters a culture where you can knock on any door, no matter how famous the person is, and you can get 15 minutes with that person. And that’s amazing. If you’re trying to build something and you need to generate ideas very, very quickly, there’s no better place.

Which do you prefer?

Winter or summer in Madison?
Obviously summertime is nice, but there aren’t many places in the world where you can talk about ice fishing with as much enthusiasm as Wisconsin.

Fun on the Terrace or fun on Lake Mendota?
The Terrace is unique. It’s just so cool.

State Street or the Lakeshore Path?
State Street, just because the year I arrived was the last year of the real Freakfest, before it became tame. And that was something I’ve never experienced in my life, ever.

UW Arboretum or Picnic Point?
Picnic Point is awesome.

Flamingoes or badgers?
I have to go with Badgers, because Tasso’s name in Italian is badger. But it’s hilarious—the flamingoes.