One-third of biotech executives are women, a statistic that shows progress toward gender diversity in industry leadership. This trend, however, is juxtaposed against a stark reality: In the U.S., only 13 percent of venture capital funding goes to startups with a woman on the founding team. These figures reflect the persistent challenges faced by entrepreneurs, particularly women, in getting funding to bring their ideas to fruition.
Some other challenges entrepreneurs face: How do you grow an idea into a thriving business? What strategies fuel success in biotech? How do you navigate a highly regulated sector like biotech? What advice can innovators give to entrepreneurs?
In honor of Women’s History Month, the next installment of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences’ Lab-to-Table Conversations will explore the landscape of biotech entrepreneurship with an all-female panel.
Join Margaret Read, general manager of corporate alliances/scientific collaboration director for Ancora Innovation, Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization, and an expert panel to explore these topics and more.
The virtual event will be Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. CT and will feature:
- Elizabeth Ann Stringer (PhD’10): chief scientific officer of Nashville Biosciences, founding member of axialHealthcare
- Karrie Dudek (PhD’21): CEO of Eupalinos Inc., ASPIRE to Innovate Postdoctoral Fellow, consultant to the nascent medical device company Gait Guide through the Wond’ry Innovation Consulting Program
- Shabnam Eghbali: co-founder of Theia, a nonprofit that empowers women to change health care, CTTC innovation ambassador, resident physician of internal medicine at VUMC
This virtual event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.