Harvard-trained scientist (and physician) leveraging my medical & scientific training to advise early-stage biotech companies. I founded Quant Life Sciences in 2016 when I noticed the challenges scientists face when entering the business world. I offer my services to scientist-entrepreneurs familiarizing them with the business mindset and assisting them in preparing the business pitch (scientific/clinical communication, competitive landscape analysis, healthcare economics, developing business plan etc) as well as mentoring them on how to pitch. Besides my start-up clients I'm frequently invited by various organizations (including MassBio's start-up mentoring program & Cambridge Innovation Partners) to mentor and provide feedback to start-ups’ pitches. Before launching my company, I served as a BD associate for an early-stage biotech start-up based at Dana Farber as well as an analyst at PureTech Health where I worked on a variety of neuroscience projects. As of recently I've started a collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital tech transfer office (TIDO) regarding working with faculty who their research has commercial potential (BioVenture Blitz program).

Text Abi brings thirty years of experience in supporting technology innovation and innovation ecosystems. She is the managing partner of Cambridge Innovation Partners, a firm that coaches entrepreneurs and connects them to the resources they need to make their companies successful.

Prior to starting Cambridge Innovation Partners, Abi was the founding director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, supporting commercialization activities of more than 30 research organizations and helping inventors take their ideas out of the lab and into the commercial world. Simultaneously, she served for several years as interim executive director of the Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures at the University of Massachusetts. Previously, she was the founding managing director of the ‘von Liebig Center’ at the University of California, San Diego, and held several positions at CONNECT.

In other capacities, Abi currently serves as Board Chair of the national organization VentureWell; is a member of the Program Committee of BIO (the Biotechnology Industry Organization); advises several universities on commercialization issues and has served on the New York State Energy Research Agency Advisory Board. Abi received a Ph.D. and B.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh.goes here

John designs all of his programs using principles derived from neurobiology, so your COMMUNICATION ​is as​ MIGHTY as YOUR IDEAS​. 

John Bates is a TED and TEDx speaker, Leadership Communications Executive Coach, Author, and Keynote Speaker. He is also one of the world's most prolific TED format coaches. Executives from organizations like Johnson & Johnson’s JLABS, NASA (including the Astronauts), US Navy Special Operations, GE Aviation, Boston Scientific, and more recommend him to their colleagues as the best leadership communications coach working today. He helps people leave their speaking anxiety behind, gain an excellent leadership presence and create trust, loyalty, and connection with all of their communication. 

As well,  John provides high-level pitch coaching for entrepreneurs, startups and organizations​. He is the official pitch coach for many prestigious groups, including Johnson & Johnson Innovations JLABS, The Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge, ION Houston Accelerator, Starburst Aerospace Accelerator, and more. He has assisted clients in winning million-dollar pitch competitions, raising millions in VC, winning millions in grant money, and more.

John designs all of his programs using principles derived from neurobiology, so your COMMUNICATION ​is as​ MIGHTY as YOUR IDEAS​.

Originally a French national, Dr. Joel A. Berniac has lived in the US for nearly 30 years. Over 24 years of experience in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, and business development in Life Sciences (Pharma, Biotech, Diagnostics, Medical Devices, MedTech, and Digital Healh) enabled him to cultivate an extensive network of trusted personal, professional, and scientific contacts. Joel has a particular interest in innovation and expertise in scouting novel technologies for collaboration and alliance purposes, and in creating value as a scientific, strategic, and business development asset, especially to the benefit of early-stage innovative companies (including in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore).

Joel co-founded Akrivis Technologies, LLC in 2009, a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then InnoZoa, Inc. in 2018, focused on veterinary products and animal health. Prior to that, Joel became in 2008 Associate Director of Business Development at Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Boston, where he oversaw the company’s preclinical research portfolio and out-licensing activities for rheumatoid arthritis. In 2005, Joel earned a High-Tech M.B.A. from Northeastern University in Boston while rising to the position of Principal Scientist at Paratek where he had been involved since 2001 in the discovery of pre-clinical drug candidates for a variety of therapeutic areas such as antibacterial, malaria, multiple sclerosis (MS), and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neuromuscular genetic disease. Prior to that, Joel had started his career as a medicinal chemist in 1999 at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Connecticut, where he was involved in the design and synthesis of preclinical drug candidates in the CNS (obesity) and diabetes therapeutic areas. Joel earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1999 from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and his Engineering Degree in Organic Chemistry from ESCIL, a French Engineering School in Lyon, France (Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon, now CPE Lyon).

Joel won in 2010 the Young Entrepreneurs Initiative (YEi) Business Award, organized by the Office of Science and Technology of the French Embassy and Akrivis was a Silver Winner at MassChallenge in 2012. Akrivis has been awarded multiple SBIR contracts from the NCI in collaboration with top research institutes such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA) and Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO). Joel is also currently a volunteer Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France (CCEF, French Foreign Trade Advisor) and is fully fluent in French, English, Spanish, and French Creole, and is currently learning Japanese.

Christa is the Founder and Managing Partner of MassGlobal Partners, a firm that supports US market access and expansion as well as training and mentoring of innovative international companies. Her special focus is on value proposition, pitch practice, financing & finding key resources as well as facilitating partnering at senior levels. Christa also works with international governments and multinational organizations to employ open innovation strategies as part of broader economic development programs.

Previously, Christa was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment and President of the Massachusetts International Trade Council, responsible to manage all international business relationships between Massachusetts and regions around the world with special focus on collaborations, partnerships and strengthening economic development through global expansions. more info on our website: https://massglobalpartners.com

Igor is a Data Scientist within Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Cell Therapy Process Development and Automation group, where his main role is the development of process development frameworks for new cell therapy modalities based on multivariate analysis and high throughput screening, as well as establishing data pipelines for increasing visibility of development efforts and streamline design of experiments. He also worked in the Biologics Process development group within the Scale up and tech transfer group leading tech transfer efforts pre-clinical material generation, and scale-up process development for mAbs and Fc Fusion proteins 

Prior to joining Takeda, Igor worked at Merck KgAA in the development of chromatography media for multiple modalities such as mAbs, Viral Vectors (LV and AAV) and Fc Fusions and in the development  mechanistic models to characterize their application across modalities. He also rotated within the Next Gen Platform group developing a strategy and vision for the facility of the future initiative

Robert has advised and mentored US and international companies in life sciences and other leading innovation sectors for more than 30 years. Having worked with well over 150 companies and organizations, from start-ups, to multi-nationals and academic institutions, he has particular expertise in company positioning, external and internal communications strategy as well as preparation for financing and partnering.

In addition to MassGlobal Partners, Robert is the Principal at the communications and strategy consulting firm RMG Associates. Previously, he co-founded the life science communications and business consulting firm Feinstein Kean Healthcare (now part of Ogilvy), served as Biogen’s communications director and as executive editor of F-D-C Reports, “The Pink Sheet.” For the last 20 years has served on the Board of Directors of the industry association MassBio. He is a mentor in MassBio’s programs as well as at MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service, Robert holds a B.A. degree from Trinity College (Connecticut).

Ramin Haghgooie is a senior leader with 20 years of experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries with leadership roles across many functions including product and process development, manufacturing, and program management. Ramin has a history of successful product development from concept through commercial. He has demonstrated success in many sizes of organizations ranging from Founder and Vice President of an early-stage medical device start-up to Director in a public commercial-stage pharma company. Ramin holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master's and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I am a Principal Scientist at Matchpoint Therapeutics, where I am responsible for leading an immunology program. Previously, I was a Principal Scientist at Quench Bio, an early-stage biotech company leveraging new insights into innate immunity to develop medicines for severe inflammatory diseases. Prior to stepping into the biotech industry, I was a junior faculty member at Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital in Boston, where I led multiple research projects on infectious and inflammatory diseases. This includes drug discovery project for a novel immunology target. I received my PhD at Osaka University in Japan and completed my post-doc training at Case Western Reserve University and Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital. I am also a columnist for Nikkei Biotech, a biotech journal in Japan.

Mark is the Sr Product Manager, Data Science at Pax8. He studied Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University and has a MBA from Harvard Business School. Mark is primarily focused on software product management and innovation, but he started his career in the healthcare space working on medical devices, microneedles, and blood extraction, and he holds 8 patents in the medical device space. He also has experience across a wide range of industries, including medical education/CME, FinTech, eCommerce, B2B SaaS, CRM, data and analytics, and EdTech. He has been an entrepreneur and mentor with many programs, including the Harvard i-lab, MassChallenge, MassTech, and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. In his personal life, Mark is a science nerd and podcast fanatic. He has US and EU citizenship and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan. He enjoys mentoring entrepreneurs working on innovative technologies or business models with a social mission to improve society. 

Since 2015, Teegan has been helping companies build content strategy and messaging that resonates with their potential clients, differentiates them from their competition, and gives them a corner on the market. Her strength is in empathizing with the customer and crafting brand language that cuts through jargon and creates trust.

Currently a Principal at New Markets Advisors, Dan works with companies ranging in size from pre-seed startups to F500 enterprises. He has charted a course to market for a number of new products and services, many of which have gone on to become recognized as leaders in their respective fields.

Awarded EU Innovator 35 under 35 by the MIT technology review (2019) and Nova Talent (2021), Ester is a multidisciplinary scientist with a background in biotechnology and biochemistry. At Prof. Robert Langer's lab at MIT, Ester designed an insulin pill in collaboration with Novo Nordisk which is now in clinical trials. After taking a mini-MBA at Harvard and holding several roles in startups, VCs and pharmaceutical companies, Ester is now an Associate Director of Strategic Innovation for Rare Diseases at Chiesi USA. She is passionate about advocating on career development for women and science. Ester remains a lecturer at MIT, speaks seven languages, and is an advisor to international startups. 

David Saxner is a Principal at Longfellow Associates where he works with life science companies' leadership to support business development, partnering, and strategy activities. David has held positions in business and strategy for three medical startups and started his career at Shire Pharmaceuticals as an engineer.

My superpower

I have a rare mix of right and left-brain skills. So I’m both the mechanic and detailer to the car that is your brand. Simply, I help companies that do lots of marketing visually harmonize and effectivize* their content so that it can be better understood by the right people.

My calling

People are exciting, mysterious puzzles. I love to discover what’s different about someone and what they do. Then I love finding the most effective way to show and tell that story so the right people listen, love what they see, and want to buy what you’re selling. 

Mike Valdes is a culture, communications, and change strategist with a focus in social innovation. He is a longtime collaborator of the strategic branding agency Giant Shoulders and previously served on its leadership team as Director of Operations. He has been engaged with public speaking for fifteen years and has over a decade of experience in team and leadership development in both business and non-profit sectors. He has a particular strength in systems thinking and loves making things work better.

Michelle Wu is a senior leader with 20 years of experience in the medical device and life sciences industries with roles in executive leadership, product and process development, manufacturing, and quality. Michelle has a history of successful medical device product development, strategic planning and execution, building teams, process evolution, and managing organizational change. As a Medical Device Development Consultant at Wu Consulting, LLC, she is designed to help start-ups bring their medical device innovation to life; leading them through various stages of organizational development and product development, bringing clarity, alignment, and calm to the chaotic and unknown. She also values a collaborative and diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, believing that diverse perspectives lead to the best ideas, more cohesive teams, and better results.