For as long as I can remember I have wanted to pursue a career in science. I have been doing research since high school and worked in labs throughout my college career. I joined the Biomedical Sciences PhD program at Tulane Medical School in the fall of 2014. My goal has always been to become a principal investigator (PI) and run my own breast cancer lab. Going into academia has never been as easy task and in recent years it has been especially difficult. I have seen many friends who graduated with brilliant dissertations and publications and yet still struggled to find a post-doctoral position. Because of this I now plan to apply for positions in industry and pharmaceuticals after I graduate. In addition to considering this, I also have been trying to develop ideas for a company I want to start that focuses on disease modeling and therapeutics.
Anyone who has started a business knows how challenging it is. Chances are high that you will fail. I have no training in business nor do I know the first step in starting a business. In recent months I have networked with CEOS at New Orleans Bioinnovation Center (NOBIC) and met with Tulane’s Tech transfer office. Even though I still have not taken the first steps in starting a company, I feel like I have already learned so much from just having those conversations. But I still felt that I needed a crash course in business and the biotech industry. A friend told me about the BIO Convention which he attended and how it helped him further build connections. He already has his own biotech company and said that the seminars he attended were directed more towards established companies like his but that the conference offered numerous opportunities for prospective entrepreneurs. After researching the conference, I decided to apply for funding to attend it through the Taylor Institute.
The first observation that I made was how much international influence there was. Of course, business is a global affair and a third of all the attendees were from outside the United States. The conference had 15-min “bioinnovation hub” seminars that showcased numerous cities across the globe that are becoming centers for bioinnovation and why future entrepreneurs should start companies there. Many of the talks also focused on global innovation and advice for how companies should navigate international markets.
The conference took place in San Francisco, possibly the largest biotech hub in the U.S. I’ve always loved this city and thought that if you want to start a company, San Francisco is the best place to be. Many companies that are based in San Francisco were at BIO and one of my favorite features of the conference were the “company spotlight” presentations that took place every day and all day long. Hundreds of companies were featured and CEOs had 15 minutes to highlight the successes of their companies and how they got started. This not only gave me further insight into how to start a business but gave me an idea of what has already been done in the disease modeling field. Every year BIO has special seminars highlighting an emerging trend or hot new field in biotech that is gaining success. This year that topic was cancer immunotherapy – how to harness the body’s immune system to fight cancer. I am not that familiar immunotherapy but it was interesting to see what companies have already been started with that as their focus.
When I spoke to people in NOBIC, many advised me to start seeking out legal advice and information. Patent law and intellectual property can be tricky and confusing topics. BIO had a whole seminar series on just patent law, commercialization and intellectual property. Most of the talks, were too advanced for me and I think were more beneficial to those who were already in the first few years of starting their company. But I do feel like I left BIO having a better grasp on how the patent process works. My favorite talk was one entitled “How to start-up?” which was perfect for people like me who just had ideas but have not done anything yet. It was not a formal talk and members of the audience had the opportunity to have one-on-one time with the speakers afterwards. The speakers were well experienced in starting companies having each started several themselves. One of speakers came from an academic background and had advice for those of us who were in academia to bridge academia and business together. All in all, I found the four days I spent at BIO to be incredibly useful and eye-opening. I don’t think I would have gained that same information, or at least not gained it as quickly, than if I had not attended. I think I now have much more tools and knowledge at my disposal that I am a few steps closer to starting a company. I would definitively want to attend this conference in the future, hopefully by then as a CEO of my own company, instead of just as a student.