Lu and his team have faced challenges and produced encouraging, yet complex results. Learn about his journey and his passion.

Lu Alleruzzo received a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and an MBA from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He is a co-founder and the COO of Immunophotonics, a biotech company that has developed inCVAX, an in situ autologous cancer vaccine for the treatment of advanced solid tumor cancers.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Hi! My name is Ryan Neal. When I was in 6th grade I told my teacher I was going to one day be a part of a team that make a big difference in the fight against cancer (I actually used the c word, but that’s not allowed here). I remember she shrugged her head and looked at me like yeah right. I guess every sixth grader has huge dreams. But I was a little different. I never forgot about that dream and so when I met Lu Alleruzzo from Immunophotonics I didn’t waste any time. I can still remember meeting Lu as if it were an out of body experience. Our whole MBA class was there and Lu was explaining his vision of fighting cancer. After his speech, I asked him questions for 10 minutes – perhaps completely oblivious to everyone else around. I was so enthralled by what he wanted to do that everything around me disappeared. It amazed me that he thought not only about developing a drug, but also about how to bring the drug to patients. Two years later, when he asked me to be apart of the company I was staying in a hotel preparing for a job interview that was going to pay me a considerable salary, but I knew there was no way I was going to take it. I wanted to be a part of this team. I have been thankful everyday since. Everyone on the team is willing to sacrifice to play a little part in the battle against cancer. Our rockstar researcher helps with marketing materials. The leader…