Establishing a new focus on translational medicine and entrepreneurship

Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 -0500

To help establish a new focus on translational medicine and entrepreneurship in Tulane’s Science and Engineering undergraduate curriculum and extend our influence beyond our IGERT PhD Program, our Program Manager Anne-Marie Job developed a new class this semester, SCEN-4800-01: “Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship.” This course provides a multi-disciplinary exploration of “real world” topics that researchers must consider when translating their innovations from the lab to the medical arena (identifying a need, developing a patent strategy, finding funding sources, navigating a reimbursement and regulatory path). She has incorporated several local biotechnology entrepreneurs and investors as guest lecturers to describe their journey from original idea to current business venture. Their stories strongly resonate with the class, and the students’ enthusiasm has helped to strengthen the relationship between the local biotech startup community and the IGERT Bioinnovation PhD Program.