Colleen Cutcliffe has an impressive background leading and managing biology teams. She’s a scientist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Johns Hopkins University and has held senior positions at bioscience and pharmaceutical firms. She’s also a mom, not to mention our CEO.

Colleen and her two co-founders, John and Jim, saw an opportunity to apply next-generation DNA sequencing technologies and microbiological assays to the emerging microbiome science space. Using these data, they could create metabolic maps of the microbiome and use systems biology to make novel insights into the microbiome. This scientific trio was uniquely positioned to bring new products to the world.

It was her role as a mom, however, that inspired her to team up with her two former colleagues and create Pendulum. Colleen’s first daughter was born eight weeks prematurely. That meant instead of heading home that day with mom and dad, Annabella was whisked away to the NICU for four weeks, receiving multiple doses of antibiotics as a precautionary measure due to her fragile state.

Though antibiotics served an important role in the early days of Annabella’s life, they also decimated her delicate microbiome. As she got older, Colleen began to notice distinct differences in Annabella’s metabolism compared to the rest of their family. She had to deal with food sensitivities in elementary school.

This led Colleen, John and Jim on their journey to find a safe solution to help her daughter and many others who struggle with chronic issues that are the result of a disrupted microbiome. And, this set the stage for the vision of the company to create a new generation of natural products that have proven efficacy.

After nearly a decade of research, Pendulum Glucose Control was born and remains a central part of Colleen and Annabella’s wellness.