About Us
INSTAR Lab Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization, IRS-recognized since 2020 and headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. We advance scientific knowledge across disciplines — from AI and quantum computing to health, energy, and materials — by bringing together rigorous researchers and structuring the institutional conditions in which important science can happen. Gifts to INSTAR are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law (EIN 85-0845517 · SAM UEI XUFYFB1KU1B3 · CAGE 8QFS6 · NAICS 541700).
Our Mission
INSTAR Lab exists to expand the frontiers of human knowledge through rigorous, evidence-driven research — and to translate those discoveries into applications that benefit the public. As an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) private operating foundation (NTEE U05: Science & Technology Research Institutes), we are accountable to the public interest, not to shareholders. Researchers who join INSTAR gain genuine intellectual freedom, access to a broad interdisciplinary network, and the institutional support to pursue questions that matter — without the constraint of departmental politics or commercially-driven research agendas.
Our Team
INSTAR's research community spans principal investigators, research scientists, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and technical specialists drawn from diverse institutional backgrounds. Our administrative staff — encompassing grants management, legal counsel, facilities operations, and communications — creates the operational foundation that allows researchers to focus on their science.
Our leadership team and Board of Directors are now publicly introduced — including AI Lead Scientist and Board Member Suzanne Conejos, Board Member and AI Researcher Sean Hackney, AI Physicist Dr. Spoogmay Khan, and Scientist Maha Khan.
Our History
INSTAR Lab Inc. was incorporated and received IRS recognition as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2020, establishing its base in Marietta, Ohio — Washington County, in the heart of Appalachian Ohio. From that founding, INSTAR has built programs spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and technology, and has assembled the INSTAR Consortium: a network of five specialized partners whose methods in R&D prioritization, technology-readiness assessment, creative problem-solving, finance strategy, and pedagogy accelerate research translation. Our growth is measured not in headcount but in the quality of questions we pursue and the rigor we bring to answering them.
OUR PARTNERS
