Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Whiles.
Hi Austin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The origin of Mokan Labs and the Evolve Consortium didn’t begin in a boardroom—it began at the bedside.
As a practicing urologist, Dr. Bristol Whiles spent years treating patients with recurrent and complicated urinary tract infections. Again and again, she saw the same frustrating pattern: despite advances in molecular PCR testing that rapidly identified pathogens, patients weren’t consistently getting better. The missing piece wasn’t detection—it was direction. PCR could name the organism, but too often it couldn’t reliably guide which antibiotic would actually work in the real world.
That gap had real consequences. Delayed effective therapy. Persistent infections. Increased resistance. And mounting costs across the healthcare ecosystem.
Rather than accepting this as a limitation of modern diagnostics, Dr. Whiles set out to solve it. Drawing directly from her clinical experience, she identified a fundamental pitfall in molecular testing for UTIs: without a phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) component, clinicians were still being asked to make critical treatment decisions without seeing how pathogens truly respond to antibiotics.
That insight led to innovation. Dr. Whiles invented a novel phenotypic AST method designed to complement molecular diagnostics—bridging the divide between rapid identification and actionable, patient-specific therapy. To steward and advance this breakthrough, the Evolve Consortium was formed as the home of the intellectual property, ensuring the technology could be rigorously developed, protected, and scaled globally.
Mokan Labs was built alongside this vision. A next-generation clinical laboratory founded by clinicians and innovators, Mokan exists for one reason: to meaningfully improve patient outcomes. The lab is focused on closing critical gaps in today’s diagnostic landscape—transforming advanced science into faster, more clinically relevant tools that directly inform care.
Together, Mokan Labs and the Evolve Consortium reflect a shared passion to clinically change outcomes for patients, providers, and payors alike. At a time when healthcare depends on innovation to improve quality while controlling cost, our work is rooted in practical impact—not innovation for innovation’s sake, but solutions that shorten time to targeted therapy, combat antimicrobial resistance, and ultimately save lives.
This is what happens when clinical frustration meets purpose-driven innovation—and when diagnostics are reimagined through the lens of those who care for patients every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mokanlabs.com/ and https://evolve-consortium.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evolve-consortium/
