Amanda Elam, PhD

CEO and Co-Founder, Galaxy Diagnostics, Inc.

Amanda Elam, PhD is CEO and Cofounder of Galaxy Diagnostics, an early stage medical diagnostics company in Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) where she leads an excellent team of scientists leading the development of advanced testing for flea and tick-borne diseases and driving new research and medical education on the clinical importance of infections for chronic disease. Dr. Elam is also a Research Fellow at the Diana International Research Institute at Babson College where she conducts research on gender and entrepreneurship in the United States and around the world. Additionally, Dr. Elam advises several innovative startups in the life sciences and appears regularly on panels and podiums at industry and global research conferences. She has taught courses and shared lectures on women’s leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation at a number of leading business schools in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries.

Her research interests focus on the application of sociological theories to the study of business startup, innovation, and growth across countries and social groups, including gender, ethnicity, and immigrant status. Her research has been published in several top entrepreneurship journals, book chapters, policy reports, and in a book based on her dissertation study, Gender and Entrepreneurship: A Multilevel Theory and Analysis, which was recognized by the Academy of Management for innovative thought leadership in the field of entrepreneurship. She serves on the editorial review board of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and regularly reviews for a number of research journals in addition to performing technical reviews for NGOs like the World Bank, IFC, SME Finance Corporation, and Energia.

She holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in entrepreneurship at Babson College (USA) and the Queensland University of Technology (Australia).