How This Scientist Beat His Illness and Built a Company Around It

Momo Vuyisich was running out of time. The scientist had spent years battling a mysterious auto inflammatory disease. His joint pain was getting progressively worse and doctors couldn’t explain why. They told him he could end up in a wheelchair within 10 to 20 years.

For Vuyisich, that prognosis was unacceptable. “I really needed to do something about it,” he says. “I read every paper in the world that was ever published on low grade inflammation and joint pain.”

What he discovered not only changed his health but eventually inspired him to co-found Viome, a health technology company focused on personalized nutrition and the human microbiome. He joined the One Day with Jon Bier podcast to talk about how he found a cure to his debilitating condition, growing up dirt poor in a communist country and how he built his company.

Experimenting on himself

After diving into the research, Vuyisich became convinced his condition was not genetic but something related to his diet. He tried low-carb, vegetarian, and keto menus, but none of them provided relief. Then, he came across a scientific paper that caught his attention.

The research involved Neu5Gc, a sugar molecule found in mammalian foods such as red meat and dairy. Humans don’t naturally produce the molecule, and research suggested it could provoke an immune response. Vuyisich eliminated all red meat and dairy from his diet. After two months, he noticed a dramatic improvement. Over the following months, he says his symptoms continued to disappear.

To test his theory, he reintroduced meat and dairy on three separate occasions over several years. Each time, he says, his symptoms returned.

“My body cured itself,” he says. 

His experience was anecdotal evidence, not clinical proof that eliminating these foods can cure autoimmune diseases. But for Vuyisich, it raised a much bigger question: What if more chronic health problems could be addressed by identifying their underlying biological triggers?

From Yugoslavia to El Paso

Vuyisich’s drive was shaped long before his health problems began. Growing up in communist Yugoslavia, he was used to food being scarce and opportunities even scarcer.

“I basically lived for 20 years in crushing poverty, where every day a decision had to be made about whether we had enough money to buy food,” he says.

At 20, he left for the U.S., eventually landing in El Paso, Texas. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas, pursued a PhD in biochemistry and built a scientific career that took him to Los Alamos National Laboratory.

But his personal health experience changed his professional priorities. Vuyisich became increasingly frustrated with a healthcare system that offers few incentives to prevent disease before symptoms appear. Instead, the system seemed largely designed to treat people once they were already sick.

In 2010, he decided to redirect his career toward identifying the root causes of chronic diseases. “We needed to create an organization that is 100% focused on identifying root causes of chronic diseases and figuring out a way to cure people.”

Focusing on prevention

Over the next six years, he developed technology at Los Alamos that would eventually become the foundation of Viome, which he co-founded with entrepreneur Naveen Jain.

The company uses RNA sequencing technology to analyze activity within the gut microbiome and other biological systems. Unlike conventional DNA-based microbiome tests, which identify which microorganisms are present, Viome’s approach examines what those microorganisms are doing.The goal is to translate that information into personalized dietary recommendations. 

Vuyisich compares the approach to maintaining an airplane. Aviation technicians inspect thousands of components to catch potential failures early before a plane is allowed to fly. He believes healthcare should operate on a similar principle. “At Viome we’re testing thousands of pieces of human physiology that are driving that engine and identifying upstream exactly which part is broken in you.”

Educating the public

For Vuyisich, the biggest hurdle in building his business has been educating the public. “The vast majority of the general population and medical professionals do not understand the importance of microbes in our lives,” he says. “They are absolutely required for our health.” 

He says there’s a parallel to where we are now and the late 19th century, when the scientists discovered that infectious diseases were caused by microorganisms. “The medical community literally rejected that. They were treating people with mercury,” he says. “It took 20 years for them to accept the fact that microbes caused infectious diseases.”

He’s hoping that this time it won’t take so long for the world to catch on. “These kinds of structural and fundamental shifts in the health care system, education system, academic system — they’re going to take time. And that’s our biggest challenge.” Perhaps the market will move things along.

Momo Vuyisich was running out of time. The scientist had spent years battling a mysterious auto inflammatory disease. His joint pain was getting progressively worse and doctors couldn’t explain why. They told him he could end up in a wheelchair within 10 to 20 years.

For Vuyisich, that prognosis was unacceptable. “I really needed to do something about it,” he says. “I read every paper in the world that was ever published on low grade inflammation and joint pain.”

What he discovered not only changed his health but eventually inspired him to co-found Viome, a health technology company focused on personalized nutrition and the human microbiome. He joined the One Day with Jon Bier podcast to talk about how he found a cure to his debilitating condition, growing up dirt poor in a communist country and how he built his company.