The trillions of microbes living in your gut have been called a “second brain” — and on Saturday, November 14, they’ll also be a business plan. The Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum’s next session, “The Microbiome Connection to Aging,” looks at where gut science is heading as a way to diagnose and treat neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s — and at the companies and investors trying to get there first.
The keynote speaker is Sarkis K. Mazmanian, Caltech’s Luis B. and Nelly Soux Professor of Microbiology and Merkin Institute Professor, whose lab has been central to showing how gut microbes influence the brain. Mazmanian is not only a researcher but a founder, and the Forum pairs his keynote with a panel that brings the commercial perspective: Ajay Kshatriya, a partner at Wilson Hill Ventures, and Jennie Starr of Nestlé Health Science, where she leads market insights and brand planning for pharma. The session is produced by Lynn Foster of Z-Field Technologies and Russell M. Frandsen of The Business Legal Group, and it closes with an extended Q&A and networking.
The details
When: Saturday, November 14, 2026. Coffee and networking start at 9:00 a.m.; the program runs 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (note the Forum’s new start time — sessions now begin at 10, not 9).
Where: Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1216 E. California Blvd., Pasadena. Underground parking is free — turn at the signal on the east side of Cahill, by the tennis courts.
Cost: General admission is $30 in advance ($40 at the door). Caltech students attend free with a current ID. Advance ticket sales end Friday, November 13 at 1:00 p.m. Register on Luma, and questions go to infoentforum@caltech.edu.
About the Forum
The Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum has been running since 1984, sponsored by Caltech’s technology transfer office with a simple mission: encouraging the growth of technology-based ventures in Southern California. Its Saturday sessions mix a research keynote with entrepreneurs and investors who can talk about what it actually takes to bring a technology to market. Recent topics have ranged from humanoid robots and AI agents to space-based energy — Pasadena’s deep-tech scene in one room.
If the science itself is what draws you, Mazmanian returns to the same subject three weeks later across campus: his Watson Lecture, “Trust Your Gut: Microbiome Influences on Brain Health and Disease,” is Wednesday, December 2 at Beckman Auditorium — free, though advance registration is already full and the standby line is the way in. We’ll have the full Watson season rundown on AltaPasa as well.
Sources: Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum (entforum.caltech.edu); event registration page on Luma; Alliance for SoCal Innovation.
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