Case 1
Name: Sasha Thomas, PhD
NPCs include a journalist interviewer. from Entrepreneurs in Biotech, a fictional publication
Description: 31-year-old Sasha Thomas is a molecular geneticist who founded a company with several partners she met during a post-doc.
Part 1 – Case Example: Sasha Thomas, PhD and Entrepreneur
Topic: Women as Life Scientists and Entrepreneurs
Subtopic: Overview
Scenario, Part 1: Dr. Thomas is being interviewed by Entrepreneurs in Biotech, a fictional publication as part of an article on women business founders in the biotechnology industry.
Part 2 – Case Example: Applicant Assistance Program (AAP)
Topic: Early Funding
Subtopic: Writing and Submitting SBIR/STTR Proposals
Scenario, Part 2: Dr. Thomas is being interviewed by Entrepreneurs in Biotech, a fictional publication as part of an article on women business founders in the biotechnology industry.
Case 2
Name: Monique Aster, PhD
NPCs:
Mentor: Mandy Jones, PhD, a more senior scientist who does a similar type of research in the same lab Monique uses at night, and who already has an SBIR. Plays a role in Parts 1, 2, 4
NIH Program Officer in the SBIR Office of an NIH Agency: Jane Stevens, PhD. Plays a role in Parts 2, 3
Description: Monique has been doing research to develop a treatment for a metabolic disease that runs in her family. She has worked on it on the side for 5 years while working full time in a biotechnology startup on an unrelated product. Her family and the local biotechnology organization funded her original work, as well as a non-profit foundation that raises money for research on the disease. She saved money on research and development of the concept by using lab space in an incubator after hours.
Part 1 – Case Example: Before Starting an SBIR Proposal
Topic: Early Entrepreneur: Seed Funding
Subtopic: SBIR/STTR: A Major Source of Seed Money
Scenario, Part 1: Monique believes she now has enough data to found a company of her own to develop a unique treatment. She is ready to try for SBIR funding to complete proof of concept. She has been talking to Mandy Jones, a scientist who does a similar type of research in the same lab during the day, and who already has an SBIR.
Part 2 – Case Example: Getting Started with the NIH
Topic: Early Entrepreneur: Seed Funding
Subtopic: Starting an SBIR/STTR Application
Scenario, Part 2: Monique wants to identify the right NIH Agency to contact as she starts preparing an SBIR proposal. She found instructions on an SBIR/STTR Infographic on the NIH website along with examples of applications that were funded. She discusses these with her mentor, Mandy Jones. Monique believes her proposal is best addressed to a specific NIH agency. So, she contacts a program officer there and contacts Jane Stevens, PhD.
Part 3 – Case Example: AAP Program Application
Topic: Early Entrepreneur: Seed Funding
Subtopic: Writing and Submitting SBIR/STTR Proposals
Scenario, Part 3: Monique wants to apply for the Application Assistance Program for help with writing her SBIR proposal. She writes the program officer and asks whether she should first set-up and register her company. And the NIH PO, Dr. Stevens, responds by email.
Part 4 – Case Example: Monique Post Proposal Review
Topic: Early Entrepreneur: Seed Funding
Subtopic: Peer Review Process
Scenario, Part 4: Monique submitted a Phase I SBIR proposal, which was not scored. She contacts her mentor, entrepreneur Mandy Jones, PhD, to let her know and get advice.
Case 3
Name: Leslie Bowen, PhD
NPCs:
Mentor: Laila Robinson, technology transfer officer at the university. Plays a role in 3A Parts 1, 2, and 4, and 3B Part 1
Mentor: Mandy Jones, PhD (See case 2), Plays a role in 3B: Part 2
Description: 41-year-old Leslie Bowen is an associate professor and neuroscientist at a university with a research idea for a product she thinks is marketable.
Leslie started as an assistant professor in the tenure track at this university at the age of 30, following a postdoc at another university. She built a renowned research lab with NIH career awards and RO1 funding and became an associate professor by age 38. Since reaching those goals, she finds herself restless and ready for a new challenge.
This case is found in two Topics, designated A and B.
Case 3A (Topic Pre-Entrepreneur)
Part 1 , Case 3A – Academic Case Example: Considering Entrepreneurship
Topic: Pre-Entrepreneurship: Self-Evaluation
Sub-topic: Entrepreneurship: A Potential Career Path ,
Scenario Part 1, Case 3A: Leslie wishes to learn about the feasibility of entrepreneurship as a career path for her. She calls to make an appointment to talk to her university’s Technology Transfer (TT) office. She has an idea for a business but first wants to learn more about entrepreneurship. She has some doubts about whether it is the right path for her. She talks to Laila Robinson, a member of the TT support staff. Leslie connects with her university’s Technology Transfer Office.
Part 2 , Case 3A – CaseExample: Risk-Taking
Topic: Pre-Entrepreneurship: Self-Evaluation ,
Subtopic: Case-Self Evaluation
Scenario, Part 2, Case 3A: In this scenario, she self-evaluates her risk-taking tendencies. Leslie completed the Financial (F), Social (S), and Recreational (R) domains of the Domain Specific Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking scale (DOSPERT) (Blais & Weber, 2006). Her responses follow each question. (The Health/Safety and Ethical domains were not included since acting risky in these domains is not generally considered part of prosocial entrepreneurship).
Part 3, Case 3A – Case Example: Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE)
Topic: Pre-Entrepreneurship: Self-Evaluation
Subtopic: Case-Self Evaluation
Scenario Part 3, Case 3A : Leslie completes assessments with the TTO. In this assessment, Leslie self-evaluates her entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
Part 4a – Case Example: Entrepreneurial Intent
Topic: Pre-Entrepreneurship: Self-Evaluation ,
Subtopic: Case-Self Evaluation
Scenario, Part 4, Case 3Aa: In this assessment, Leslie self-evaluates her intention to engage in entrepreneurship. Laila Robinson from the Technology Transfer Office sends Leslie the Entrepreneurial Intention part of the Entrepreneurial Intent Questionnaire (EIQ) (Liñán & Chen, 2009) to complete prior to their next meeting.
Case 3B (Topic: Starting a Business)
Part 1 Case 3B – Case Example: Leslie Bowen, PhD, Early Market Research
Topic: Starting a Life Science Business
Subtopic Early Market Research
Scenario, Part 1, Case 3B: After presenting her idea to Laila Robinson in the Technology Transfer Office, Laila describes several areas of research for Leslie to pursue that are needed to assess the business potential of Leslie’s idea.
Part 2 Case 3B – Case Example: Commercialization Advice
Topic: Starting a Life Science Business
Scenario, Part 2, Case 3B: The TTO recommended that Leslie reach out to entrepreneurs who are a few steps ahead of her in the entrepreneurial process to learn tips on how to develop a commercialization plan. She reaches out to Mandy Jones, PhD (see Case 2)
Case 4
Name: Bonita Morales, PhD
NPCs include a patent attorney
Description: During a post-doc position at her university, Bonita helped develop a disease-resistant grapevine cultivar and currently works in the ag-biotech industry as an expert in non-transgenic gene editing. She has grown concerned about the availability of diverse cultivars as climate change threatens to impact grape production in her area. Her close colleague at work is an engineer who really wants to use his robotics background, but their company has no use for it at this time. Through their informal conversations outside of work, she thinks that she may be able to speed up the process of developing hardy grapevines that will benefit the grape production industry. They have generated many high-throughput ideas on this topic, from plant transformation to maintaining the plants and collecting data. In addition, Bonita’s husband is an IT expert and has given her support for ideas in data collection, storage, and mining as well.
Part 1: Case Example of a Pitch Deck
Topic: Communication Skills for Women Scientists
Subtopic: Pitch Skills
Scenario 1: Bonita has set up an appointment with a contact at Capital Fund Investing Services. She has her pitch deck ready to present. The slides below are an excerpt of her pitch, representing about a third of her complete pitch deck. How do you think Bonita did with her pitch deck?
Part 2: Case Example: Agriculture Patent
Topic : Basics of Intellectual Property
Subtopic: Patents
Scenario 2: Bonita wants one of their more robust plants in preparation to use it for a new business venture she has been working on. Bonita needs to speak with a patent attorney to make sure her cultivar is unique enough to not be considered prior art. She located an attorney with an advanced science degree and experience with plant patents and set up an appointment.
Case 5
Name: Sarah Johnson, PhD
NPCs she learns from:
- Monique Astor: A friend and PhD candidate (See case 2)
- Mentor: Mandy Jones, PhD (See case 2), Plays a role in 3B: Part 2
- Mentor: Sasha Thomas, PhD, a molecular geneticist with a successful company (See Case 1)
Description: Sarah Johnson completed a PhD research project while a graduate student several years ago. She completed a post-doc at another university followed by two years working in an established biotechnology firm. A protein scientist who engineers proteins and peptibodies at a large biotech firm.
Part 1 of 2: Case Example: Invention Disclosure
Topic : Basics of Intellectual Property
Subtopic: Disclosure of Inventions
Scenario: Sarah longs to start her own business and feels the research she completed while getting her PhD could provide the foundation. She would like to get more involved in using them in clinical applications.
Part 2 of 2: Case Example: Early Steps for Finding Investors
Topic: Starting a Business
Subtopic: Financial Skills, Planning, and Funding
Description: Continuation of Sarah Johnson case as she starts her business, she uses networking and free seminars to learn more about different types of investors and get advice from experienced bioscience entrepreneurs.
Scenario: Sarah continued to work on the side to develop her unique process for rapidly developing peptibodies that recognize and destroy RNA viruses. She has been slowly learning about investors for her business in her spare time. The pandemic brought new interest in antiviral biologicals, accelerating the timing for launching her business. So, she is trying to learn all she can about investors, reaching out to the biotech community for advice on how to find them and learning which type of investors she should engage first.
Case 6
Name: Sue Grabowski, PhD
(Only found in group cases in online content and Narrative Script.)
Description: Finishing a PhD in Microbiology and interested in founding a company in fermentation science. Her degree is taking longer than she anticipated. She works part-time in the lab of early entrepreneur, Dr. Bonita Morales so that she can learn about both science and starting a business.
Groups
Group 1
Group Case: Women Scientists Discuss Barriers, Bias, and Unfair Treatment
Path: Women as Life Scientists and Entrepreneurs › Women in the Life Sciences: Impact of Bias and Barriers , Women Scientists Discuss Barriers, Bias, and Unfair Treatment
Scenario: The following story is a fictionalized account of a focus group discussion by four women life sciences graduate students and early-career scientists. It is based on common responses in interviews and surveys while conducting research to develop this website.
Participants:
Sue Grabowski: Finishing a PhD in Microbiology and interested in fermentation science. Her degree is taking longer than she anticipated.
Monique Aster, PhD: Genetics researcher with 5 years of experience working at Regenuvate, a cell and gene therapy start-up.
Sarah Johnson, PhD: A protein scientist who engineers proteins and peptibodies at a large biotech firm, she would like to get more involved in using them in clinical applications.
Bonita Morales, PhD: An expert in non-transgenic gene editing, she is starting a business using a disease-resistant grapevine cultivar that she developed.
Group 2
Group Case: Early Career Women Life Scientist Discussing Assertiveness
Path: Communication Skills for Women Scientists › Self Promotion, Confidence, and Assertiveness , Early Career Women Life Scientist Discussing Assertiveness
Scenario: The following is a fictional discussion among several women life sciences PhD candidates and early-career scientists who are participating in a break-out discussion group following a talk on assertiveness at an event put on by a Biotechnology Center. This is a fictional dialogue inspired by comments made by real-life women scientists participating in research for the creation of this website.
Participants:
Sue Grabowski: Finishing a PhD in Microbiology and interested in fermentation science. Her degree is taking longer than she anticipated.
Monique Aster, PhD: Genetics researcher with 5 years of experience working at Regenuvate, a cell and gene therapy start-up.
Sarah Johnson, PhD: A protein scientist who engineers proteins and peptibodies at a large biotech firm, she would like to get more involved in using them in clinical applications.
Bonita Morales, PhD: An expert in non-transgenic gene editing, she is starting a business using a disease-resistant grapevine cultivar that she developed.
