Kelli Luginbuhl to Step Down as Isolere Bio General Manager, Dion Aviki Tapped as Successor
Durham, NC (Aug 1, 2025) – Kelli Luginbuhl, PhD, will step down as General Manager of Isolere Bio, a Donaldson Life Sciences business, effective Aug 1st. Luginbuhl’s planned departure marks a thoughtful transition to allow for additional time to focus on family and consider her next career opportunity. The Isolere Bio team is excited to welcome Dion Aviki as her successor. With a background in engineering and general management, Dion is a continuation of our commitment to diverse leadership and empowering women at the forefront of science and business.
The Isolere Bio Team (pictured above with Kelli, 2025)
Luginbuhl steps down after providing nearly eight years of leadership at Isolere Bio. An original co-founder of the biotech start-up in 2017, she has served as CSO, CEO, Director of Business and, most recently, General Manager, leading the company through many different stages of growth and development, including the acquisition by and integration into Donaldson Company, Inc. Her innovative vision for utilizing the company’s novel IsoTag™ reagent technology to simplify the manufacturing of advanced therapeutics, and her mission to enable global access to life-changing therapies will remain at the core of Isolere Bio long past her departure.
Kelli Luginbuhl
“Founding and leading Isolere has been a profound journey for me. Like our IsoTag™ technology, which relies on phase transition, I feel with conviction that Isolere is ready for a new leader like Dion who will bring fresh perspective and commercial expertise to drive success in this next chapter, while maintaining the culture of innovation, inclusion, and integrity that have defined us from the start. Dion will be supported by an incredibly talented and capable team. While I’m looking forward to reflecting on this experience and focusing on family, I will remain Isolere’s greatest cheerleader and champion.”
Dion Aviki joins Isolere Bio with more than 20 years of leadership experience, most recently serving as General Manager of the Bio Production Chemicals and Services business at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Her background spans sales, commercial excellence, product management, business development, and strategy—bringing a well-rounded and people-focused approach to leadership. Based in Research Triangle Park, NC, Dion will oversee all aspects of the business, with a focus on establishing IsoTag™ as a high-growth, high-margin, best-in-class purification solution for advanced therapeutics.
Dion Aviki, GM of Isolere Bio
“I’m honored to join Isolere Bio at such a pivotal moment in its commercial journey,” said Dion Aviki. “Kelli and the team have built something special—a culture rooted in scientific excellence, collaboration, and purpose. I’m excited to build on that foundation and help expand the reach of IsoTag™ technology to more customers and partners. Through these collaborations, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in bioprocessing and aim to make life-changing therapeutics more affordable and accessible worldwide.”
Isolere Bio has established itself as an innovator in bioprocessing solutions for the next generation of medicines through its novel IsoTag™ reagent technology. It will continue to apply this technology to address critical biomanufacturing bottlenecks, particularly for advanced therapies, while also exploring additional applications. The business remains focused on scaling production for IsoTag™ reagents to meet diverse customer needs across all stages of development and continuing to validate the technology and expand thought leadership on phase separation as a critical bioprocessing tool.