UVA Student Transforms Personal Experience into Life-Saving Wearable Inhaler
After witnessing a teammate's asthma attack during track practice, biomedical engineering student Miles Lanham founded Métopi to make rescue inhalers more accessible through innovative wearable technology.
From Track Practice to Tech Startup
When third-year UVA biomedical engineering student Miles Lanham witnessed a teammate struggle to access their medication during an asthma attack at track practice, it sparked an idea that would change his life—and potentially save others.
"I grew up with asthma and could relate to those things, but I never really thought about it until that happened. Track practice was a wake-up moment," Lanham told UVA Today.
Introducing Métopi
That moment led Lanham to create Métopi, a company focused on making lifesaving medication easier and faster to access. The company's innovative inhaled drug-delivery platform transforms a traditional rescue inhaler into a compact, wearable device designed to improve both accessibility and drug efficacy in respiratory and neurological emergency care.
An Entrepreneurial Journey
Lanham's entrepreneurial spirit started early—from building projects in a friend's garage to launching SorboStrap in high school, a waist belt designed to reduce strain from carrying backpacks. Now at UVA, he's channeling that drive into building and scaling Métopi.
The journey hasn't been solo. Lanham has leveraged key UVA resources including:
The i.Lab Incubator at Darden School of Business, which provided grant funding, legal guidance, and mentorshipThe Foundry, UVA's center for student entrepreneurshipThe Entrepreneurship Cup, where he placed second and won the Audience Choice Award plus $20,000
Proven Success
Lanham's hard work has paid off with impressive results:
2nd Place at UVA's 2024 Entrepreneurship Cup plus Audience Choice Award ($20,000)Winner of Washington University in St. Louis BIG IdeaBounce ($50,000)Grand Prize and Student Pitch Award at the Accelerate Investor Conference at George Mason University ($5,000)Nearly $200,000 raised in total funding
He's also spoken with over 400 patients and healthcare providers to ensure the product meets real-world needs.
What's Next
With a demanding engineering courseload and a growing company, Lanham remains focused on closing his next round of funding by spring.
"When you start a company, you work super hard for weeks and nights, and nothing happens. Then all of a sudden, everything changes," he said.
Read the full story on UVA Today.