Nicholas Culbertson

Nick served eight years in the U.S. Army where he trained and deployed as Special Operations “Green Beret”. What stuck out most to Nick in his military career was the power of teamwork to build something from nothing and rewarding sense of helping others in need.  

Since departing the military in 2012, Nick started medical school at the Johns Hopkins University. Before earning his MD, Nick’s academic career took pause when a research project with a fellow classmate turned into a startup opportunity. While on leave of absence, Nick co-founded Protenus, an analytics firm that uses cutting-edge data science techniques to immunize patient data from privacy breaches and other cybersecurity threats. Within a year of its launch, Protenus sold it’s technology to the Johns Hopkins Health System and several other premier health systems.  

In his free time, Nick serves as co-chairman of The 6th Branch (T6B), a veteran-led community service organization in East Baltimore. Founded by the notion that veterans can help their home communities through the same selfless service they carried overseas, T6B’s mission is to create opportunities for all people to serve, lead, and thrive in their community through revitalization projects. In addition to grabbing a shovel or sledgehammer whenever he can, Nick has operationalized the financial and administrative backbone of the non-profit using experiences gained from his military service and entrepreneurial endeavors.