The Witmeyer Dean's Colloquium invites distinguished alumni back to campus to discuss their careers and professions with students.
2025 Speaker: Dr. Trivia Frazier
Dr. Trivia Frazier, a New Orleans native, is an experienced adult stem cell researcher and biotech business professional with 15+ years of experience in biomedical sciences and management. She holds bachelor’s degrees in physics (Dillard University ‘07’), Biomedical Engineering (Tulane ‘08’), an MBA (Tulane ‘18’), and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Tulane ‘12’). Dr. Frazier completed her postdoctoral work under an NIH R21-funded fellowship in adipose biology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and in tissue engineering at the Tulane Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine. She has collaborated with national and international key opinion leaders, received international recognition, and federal funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the National Institutes on Aging to support the development of a bio-entrepreneurship curriculum in New Orleans, and to commercialize research-enabling products at Obatala Sciences. She held Academic Chair appointments prior to founding the company in 2017 and Abstract Ventures Consulting in 2024. Her team has secured over $8M in capital in the form of federal funding and venture capital to commercialize the Obatala suite of human-derived stem cells and 3D cell culture products. These products are used to model human tissue from patients of varying demographics to accelerate development of the next generation of therapies targeting obesity, diabetes, cancer, and related metabolic disorders.
Dr. Frazier is passionate about promoting diversity in research and she is recognized as a civic leader. She has received numerous awards, including the Key to the City of New Orleans, and induction into the Tulane University School of Medicine Black Alumni Hall of Fame. Dr. Frazier continues to serve in various leadership advisory roles within academia, including the Tulane University Board of Trustees, the University of New Orleans Research and Technology Park Foundation Board, and she served as an Advisory Board member for the New Orleans Task Force in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Frazier is proudest of her role as a companion to her spouse, Anthony Wiltz, Jr., and as a mother of three wonderful young men.
