The Unplanned Journey: From the Bench to University Leadership to Biotech Company CEO

Abstract

My journey as a scientist started as most do. Beginning in graduate school followed by a postdoctoral position and then my first tenure-track position at a major medical school, my path was familiar to most reading this. But I realized fairly early on that my passion for building large research teams to address some of the grand challenges in biomedicine was what I really enjoyed. It became clear to me that the joy I found early on as a graduate student in discovery of new knowledge could be amplified 100-fold when I put effort into growing new research and discovery opportunities for not just my research interests but for my colleagues as well. The work of creating new research institutes and growing the university research enterprise—including navigating and influencing federal policies and priorities, matching scientific talent and passion to federal and state funding opportunities, learning and leading large university research building construction processes, and then seeing those efforts come to fruition—is hard and far afield from the day-to-day activities of running one’s own laboratory, but the rewards are tremendous. I hope my story inspires other young biomedical scientists to find their own original path full of rewards and new opportunities.