Dr. Asel Sartbaeva, a Chemistry researcher at the University of Bath and CEO of EnsiliTech, has spent over a decade developing ensilication— a technology that stabilizes vaccines without refrigeration. By encasing active components in a silica shell, vaccines remain intact even at high temperatures, addressing critical challenges in vaccine distribution to remote and resource-limited areas.
With 20 years of expertise in silica-based materials, Dr. Sartbaeva has received multiple grants and awards. In 2020, after winning the RSC Emerging Technologies Competition, she decided to commercialize ensilication, recognizing its potential during the COVID-19 pandemic to eliminate reliance on cold-chain storage. She has participated in programs supporting academic entrepreneurship, including Spin Up Science Ventures. In 2022, EnsiliTech spun out from the University of Bath, securing £300k from Innovate UK ICURe and later raising £1.2M in a pre-seed funding round led by Science Angel Syndicate (SAS) and QantX.
Dr. Sartbaeva is also a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow.
