Taking ideas from concept to reality in the life sciences setting calls for a leader that can identify therapeutic targets, drive experiments to de-risk those targets and leverage new tools to speeden preclinical research. Importantly, working across teams to horizon scan promising AI use cases in the life sciences requires a leader that can navigate across the research pipeline, organize teams quickly and identify opportunities for intervention.
Throughout my scientific career, I’ve thrived in translational environments where preclinical disease models have face validity with their human counterparts. This closeness between theory and application makes our disease models better. From behavioral or biological disease correlates, linking our models with human symptoms speedens our ability to make inferences about new therapeutics. The faster we do that the more lives we can save.
This role calls for prioritizing areas where AI can accelerate life sciences research. For that you need a person who can stand up an enterprise that brings the life sciences closer to the patient. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I co-founded New York City’s first walk-up COVID-19 testing lab.
While other labs were shutting down, I led a group of 200+ volunteer scientists to start up and operate a fully functioning BSL-2 lab in Brooklyn. The Life Sciences Operator, Lead role calls for a leader that keeps us oriented towards the North Star—to ultimately ensure we eliminate disease and bring care to people like I did.
Co-founding New York’s first COVID-19 testing lab, I developed the first saliva based test in the tri-state area, brought the cost of testing down from $8 to less than $1 per person and delivered 25,000 tests, for free, at the height of the pandemic.
Being in this translational environment extends to my current work. Leading emerging technology policy in Governor Kathy Hochul’s office, I introduced New York’s first quantum technology strategy. Like the COVID lab, there was no playbook. I am comfortable navigating tech ambiguity and narrowing on priority areas with the greatest upward potential. My entrepreneurial spirit and urge to translate the sciences into real world uses manifested this budget cycle when I led the passing of a new $360 million quantum hubs commercialization program. Like AI, quantum will also have profound impacts on our ability to speeden life sciences research.
Foundational to my entrepreneurial spirit is my scientific training. Building my career as a neuroscientist studying neurodegeneration, I led biotechnology therapeutics research at Regeneron, Genentech, and Astellas. Moving life sciences research out of the lab and into commercial settings helps us bring care to patients, faster.
Now, within New York State government, I lead a portfolio of $360 million across our innovation, ventures, and commercialization teams. It’s here where I have built a team that can efficiently spot investment opportunities for New York, and seek technology demonstrations that benefit New Yorkers and our economy.
I believe, with all my heart, that AI will be the tool that finally shortens therapeutics research from decades to days. One day, eliminating all disease. I feel this role calls for a risk tolerant leader that isn’t afraid to explore safe and ambitious AI use cases. Through leading our ventures team in New York State government, co-founding scientific enterprises, and living in biotechnology industry settings, I feel I have all the skills needed to succeed in this role.