Alternative Careers in Science, Second Edition: Leaving the Ivory Tower (Scientific Survival Skills)

286 Pages·2005·2.54 MB·English

by  Cynthia Robbins-Roth

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C
ONTRIBUTORS
Numbers in parenthesis indicate the pages on which the author’s con-
tributions begin.
DAVIDAPPELGATE(245), U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 20192
ALEXANDRAJ. BARAN(139), A.J. Baran Consulting Inc., Palo Alto, California
94025
RONCOHEN(97), Acorda Therapeutics, New York, New York 10532
MARK D. DIBNER (47), BioAbility, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
27709
PETERDRAKE(71), Mayflower Partners, Chicago, Illinois 60610
SUEGOETINCKAMBROSE(27), The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas 75214
MARYANNGRAY(79), Gray Strategic Advisors, New York, New York 10023
GENEVIEVEHADDAD(277), Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Bolling Air
Force Base, Washington, D.C. 20332
CAROL HALL (217), BioVenture Consultants, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
02467
PHILIP W. HAMMER (117), The Franklin Center, The Franklin Institute
Science Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
BENTE HANSEN (205), Bente Hansen & Associates, San Diego, California
92130
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x Contributors
GINA LENTO (263), New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Auckland, New
Zealand
ROGER LONGMAN (39), Windover Information, Inc., South Norwalk,
Connecticut 06856
ERIN HALL MEADE (161), Life Alaska Donor Services, Anchorage, Alaska
99507
ELIZABETH D. MOYER (125), M/P Biomedical Consultants, LLC, Mill Valley,
California 94941
DEEPAPAKIANATHAN(61), Delphi Bioventures, Menlo Park, California 94025
RONALDPEPIN(107), Medarex, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08543
CLAYTON R. RANDALL (15), Formerly with PE Applied Systems, Foster City,
California 94404
CYNTHIA ROBBINS-ROTH (1, 291), BioVenture Consultants, San Mateo,
California 94403
ROBERT ROTH (149), THE WEINBERG GROUP INC., San Francisco,
California 94105
TONY RUSSO (191), Noonan Russo, Euro RSCG NRP, New York, New York
10016
GAILSCHECHTER(227), BioIntelligence, San Francisco, California 94115
PAULA SZOKA (177), University of Washington Technology Transfer,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105
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REFACE
When I began my path toward becoming an academic scientist back in col-
lege, I never dreamed that I would stray so far from that expected fate. My
travels took me through worlds I had never even considered—business
development, journalism, publishing, running small businesses, and being
an independent consultant. While I wandered far from my original objective,
science remained the core motivation behind all of these career changes.
Even today, several decades after I began my biology major at Bates College
(Lewiston, Maine), my love of discovery, learning about new areas of sci-
ence, and spending time with scientists is the core driver for all of my activ-
ities. The only real change is that my focus is now bringing that science into
the rest of the world.
When I began this voyage there were few road signs to follow—biolog-
ical scientists simply did not leave the academic lab back in the 1970s and
early 1980s. I had to forge my own path from the bench to the boardroom.
Today, I have the chance to be a mentor to others who are making the same
trip. My fellow “scientists gone bad” and I are deluged with phone calls and
e-mails from graduate students, post-doctorates, tenured professors, and
industry scientists who, for a wide range of reasons, are looking for clues to
life outside the lab. I hope this book inspires them to make the leap.
This book is dedicated to all of those who helped me in my evolution,
and most especially to Dr. Steve Bennett, the M.D./Ph.D. who first led me
into the world of venture capital; Brook Byers, who helped build an entire
new industry around science and who supported my early writing activities;
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos, and academic scientist turned banker who helped
finance that new industry; Joan O’C. Hamilton, who taught me important
lessons about journalism; Dr. Steve Spencer, who watched way too many
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xii Preface
episodes of The A Team with me as I tortured myself over leaving the lab;
Stefan Borg, who bravely turned a bench scientist into a business develop-
ment maven; Dr. Carol Hall, my longtime friend and partner in BioVenture
Consultants, who forced me to see the beauty in finance and the synergy
achieved by two diverse minds working together; and most of all, my hus-
band, Robert Roth, an M.D./Ph.D. whose love and support gave me courage
as I headed into uncharted territory—and who has since made that same
journey himself.