1. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?
 
I converted my dining room into a home office and the $100 purchase was a set of curtains for the large window. Now, I can work without the sun glaring down on me and my laptop. It’s funny how small things like that can make such a big difference. For more than $100, I added doors and closed off another opening to convert the dining room into a home office, which was really important to give me space away from my children so they could Zoom for school, and I could work!
 
2. Have you been pleasantly surprised by anything (or anyone!) recently?
 
At Brandeis, we built an interdisciplinary fellowship program that brings together STEM and business students to explore the commercialization of inventions developed here. This spring’s cohort of fellows were fully remote, never met in person, and struggled in the beginning to find their voice. By the final pitch, they were one of the best cohorts we’ve ever had. They impressed not only me, but our external judges, who are very experienced industry experts. This experience re-energized me and our team. It also served as a reminder that you should never judge the success of a commercialization project team before they’re finished.
 
3. Have you rediscovered any old hobbies in quarantine?
 
Yes - one of my favorite hobbies is designing and renovating my home. The time working remotely allowed a complete kitchen remodel, down to the studs,  and I was also able to involve my teenagers  in the design and materials. They were great, even when it was a bit noisy!  They both contributed good ideas, one with the style aspects and the other with the functionality.  As I was there to manage the process, the project moved faster and was completed on time.
 
4. What’s one book you think should be ‘assigned reading’ for everyone?
 
My favorite (and easy-to-read) book is “The Mom Test,” by Rob Fitzpatrick. This book is one of the most practical, truthful, and useful business books for budding entrepreneurs. It coaches you to find the real customer pain points through a counterintuitive style of questioning, using a playbook to learn and understand what your potential customers want and will buy. We see the value of this book and provide it to all of our I-Corps Fellows when they begin the program.
 
5. You majored in biology, focusing on chemistry, and received your MBA. Tell us about your path to where you are today.

I had planned on becoming a physician since I was a child, and entered into a pre-med program in college. As I moved through the program I realized that I was not comfortable with the responsibility of making major life and death decisions, but I still wanted to be part of helping patients. With this in mind, I set out to explore careers in the biotech space, which was booming and innovative, and I wanted to be part of that culture. I secured a position with a biotech company soon after graduating and worked on projects including an HIV vaccine and a treatment for autoimmune disease.
 
While working at the company, I was approached by a colleague to see if I was interested in joining a start-up. I went for it! I was the fourth person hired and was given my own department to run. As you know about start-ups, everyone contributes and wears many hats. While troubleshooting a project for a potential customer, I discovered a new way to get results more quickly than before, which led to a large savings. We secured that customer and I received two patents for that discovery. With this (and other successes) we actively sought to be acquired. I played a key role in the negotiations that led to a successful acquisition.
 
My experience in this start-up was the turning point for me to move away from the bench and to explore the business side of biotech. I earned my MBA and jumped into the business world, working at a large company in mergers and acquisitions and becoming a patent agent to help with managing our ever-growing intellectual property. As I moved further into this world, I realized I missed being close to the research, so I made a significant decision to move to the other side of the table, and joined a tech transfer office. It was in this position that all of my experiences came together, I had finally found where I truly fit!
 
6. You speak frequently on tech transfer topics at conferences, startup events, and as a guest lecturer. What’s the most-often asked question during these talks, and what’s your best advice?

I frequently speak to students, faculty, colleagues, industry representatives, etc., on startup formation and licensing for technologies coming out of university research and the role that tech transfer needs to play to ensure that deals are structured in a way that supports the startup as well as the university. I most often get asked to share how I have structured deals, and the challenges that I faced.
 
My best advice is to remember that licensing technology involves more than negotiating a contract. To get to that point, you must first foster a good relationship with the company to build trust. From that trust, the deal comes together more quickly, with a better outcome, because you both understand each other’s priorities.
 
7. You’ve been a champion of diversity and inclusion for the tech transfer program at Brandeis University. Tell us more about the strides the program has made, and why this is so important.
 
 
On an already diverse campus, our startup teams reflect even greater diversity than the campus as a whole: we have conducted several impact and outcome studies, including the diversity of inventors we serve. Women and BIPOC are represented in higher proportions in our startups and among our inventors than on campus. Diversity also means a diversity of experiences as well as backgrounds. We purposefully bring together interdisciplinary teams in our Virtual Incubator because it is diversity, including different viewpoints, that sparks the best thinking.
 
We actively structure teams by taking into consideration how people work to complement each other using external tools and resources. We also have a panel of diverse mentors and judges from the Brandeis alumni network. It’s so important for emerging entrepreneurs to see people who look like them.
 
8. What are your top tips for building a strong tech transfer team?
 
Teams are all about the ability to work together across disciplines in a dynamic environment:

• Look at both Hard and Soft Skills.
• It is equally important for potential hires to have confidence in what they know, and who know how to communicate with researchers, companies, and each other. 
• Reassess the team dynamic whenever you hire someone new.
• Search for and hire people whose skills and work style complement those of the rest of the team.
• Ensure that goals for the individual, team and office are clearly communicated and source ideas from the team, both in spoken and written word,
• Provide and support opportunities for further growth for each team member and work closely with them to achieve their larger, life-long goals.
• Communicate the deeper impact in ways that the entire team can connect with.
• Reinforce that the researchers are our clients and to actively forge strong relationships across the university. This connection to researchers allows our team to better understand the research and to identify opportunities early.

9. How do you encourage new or young members of the profession? What have you seen that will help them most?
 
Find internship opportunities, learn as much as you can about patents, and the process of commercialization. Have informational interviews with those in the profession. Develop your communication and networking skills. Know that business skills can be learned, and that your STEM skills make you extremely valuable. Make sure that whoever you are working for will provide you with the necessary training to be successful.