My time with the JHTV commercialization academy has been, quite frankly, life changing. Prior to joining, I was interested in startups, venture capital, and technology transfer when I joined the chemical engineering Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins, and quickly looked for opportunities to get my feet wet. The Commercialization Academy seemed like a great way to understand the industry-academia bridge, gain a background in technology transfer, and explore a potential career path.
I began as a fellow, performing diligence on technologies coming out of labs at Johns Hopkins that were unfamiliar to me. I quickly became an “expert” on the disclosure at hand, a skillset in itself, and researched how the new technology fit within an academic, market, and IP landscape of similar works. The ability to learn quickly, determine how to use available resources, and draw conclusions both helped me to complete evaluations at JHTV and with my Ph.D. research.
Eager for a new challenge after a year with the Commercialization Academy, I was brought into a corporate partnerships project where I researched to find companies that were well-suited for a women’s heath focused collaboration at Johns Hopkins. Because my Ph.D. work focused on drug delivery for women’s health applications, this project was particularly was fascinating for me to work on. I was able to discover companies that inspired me, ideate through potential sponsored research opportunities, and participate in meetings to explore these projects together.
“Interfacing with founders and business leaders, both at women’s heath companies and JHTV, was an experience crucial to my development as a researcher and budding professional.”
My time at the Commercialization Academy opened my eyes to a myriad of careers that exist for Ph.D. graduates – from venture capital to business development to IP law. During my work with the corporate partnerships team, I learned about fund allocation, scoping of new projects and initiatives, and negotiation skills. All which I will take with my as I move into my post-Ph.D. role at Genentech in San Francisco in the portfolio rotation program.
“The Commercialization Academy provided me with the confidence to led organizations like Hopstone Capital, apply for fellowships like the venture fellowship at Angelini Ventures, and ultimately secure a post-grad job that I am unbelievably excited to start.”