Dr. Burris brings a deep background in clinical research, having previously served as president and chief medical officer of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute. His work in expanding early-phase drug development into community oncology settings is widely recognized, earning him a 'Giant of Cancer Care' designation from OncLive in 2014. Currently, he chairs Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation.

Elephas aims to address a critical gap in modern oncology: only one in five patients currently responds to immunotherapy. The company’s elive platform attempts to solve this by assessing live biopsy tissue to measure tumor behavior in real-time. By preserving the native tumor microenvironment, the technology seeks to provide clinicians with functional insights that were previously unavailable. Maneesh Arora, founder and CEO of Elephas, noted that Burris’s experience in translating research into clinical practice is essential as the company moves to make these insights accessible to a broader range of medical providers.