Innovators of the Year 2025: Julian Mulia and Megan Leslie are Creating Affordable and Accessible Wound-Care Technology

by Kendall Bistretzan

As we age, our body’s ability to heal weakens. That can lead to a host of issues including chronic health conditions, amputation and even death. Chemical and software engineer Julian Mulia lost both his parents to chronic health conditions, a challenging experience that inspired him to help others. In 2020, Mulia teamed up with his spouse, Megan Leslie, a former management consulting colleague, to launch NanoTess — a values-based social enterprise that creates affordable and accessible catalytic medical innovations.

Mulia explains that treating chronic conditions at home can drastically increase quality of life for people with limited access to hospitals. It also helps minimize the shame associated with these conditions. “It’s a silent pandemic because you’re not going around telling people [about your condition],” says Mulia. “It’s a very personal problem, which, left untreated, can cascade into worse comorbidities.”

NanoTess’s award-winning NanoSALV Catalytic advanced wound-care treatment matrix targets persistent skin wounds that are injured, inflamed or infected. Now used in Alberta’s health system, the salve has helped achieve a 46-per cent reduction in wound-care costs and a 56-per cent increase in healing rate for patients with chronic wounds that had not healed in almost two years. Paramedics with Alberta Health Services’ Mobile Integrated Health division found that, when patients experiencing homelessness were given the salve, their wounds significantly healed within weeks.

“We design products for the 99 per cent, not just the one per cent,” says Leslie. “That means getting them into the hands of people who need them.”

Need to know: NanoSALV Catalytic was used to successfully close a 13-year-old open wound.