Doubtful. I knew Ono as an undergrad at Wisconsin. He has far too much integrity for that.

He's always been involved in mentoring high schoolers, undergrads, and, of course, his own grad students. It's not surprising that he's working with a 24 year old.

He's a bundle of energy in math and sports and always looking for the new thing. Jumping in on a new project in a burgeoning field is very much his m.o.

That's an odd thing to say. She is 24 years old and has super impressive academic credentials. She raised almost 70 million which is a huge amount for any startup. The professor probably wants a change in his life and wants to work on something more exciting.