1. April 25, 2016

2. We are all interested in translational biotech.
Last year, we founded the MIT Biotech Group by uniting the community of people who are interested in translational biotech.
This was clearly an unmet need within the community, as we have recruited several hundred members to our group since last April.

3. The purpose of the MIT biotechnology group and our mission is to help our members find their place in the biotechnology ecosystem
This includes developing programs that let students explore career options available to to them, learn about nonacademic parts of the biotech ecosystem, meet like-minded students and industry professionals, and ultimately access opportunities to begin or advance in careers in biotech

4. Diversity in the MBG Community
One unique component of the MIT Biotech Group is the diverse communities we bring together. While may departments have events and programs focused on life outside of academic research, the biotechnology industry does not operate with these divisions. Instead, industry focuses on bringing together people with diverse skills to solve complex problems that span many disciplines. The diversity of the MBG community reflects the broad appeal of biotechnology, and unites us in our common interest to solve important problems and bring these solutions to the world.

5. MIT at Heart of Biotechnology Cluster
It is no coincidence that MIT sits at the center of of the most vibrant, growing biotechnology cluster in the world. We are literally surrounded by top academic research institutions, exciting new startups, international biotech giants, and deep-pocketed venture capital and financial firms. MIT as an institution has strong ties to many of these institutions, but our mission was to build connections between these companies and the students who will one day work with them.

6. We have integrated with the biotech community…
In the past year, we’ve hosted over 20 events with companies in the Boston biotech community. We’ve highlighted roles from high level executives to entry-level scientists and everything in between in companies ranging from small startups to big pharma. We have built strong relationships with many of these companies, which have been fruitful for both groups. Companies get to meet excited young scientists, and our members are learning to orient themselves in the biotechnology ecosystem.

7. And created new programs of our own!
But in addition to connecting students and companies, we’ve created a few new programs from the ground up. Today, I’d like to briefly introduce you to two of them. First off, I would like to introduce Tony Kulesa, who has worked very hard for the last year on creating the new MBG Blog: Synapse.

8. “
In our lifetimes the world will be fundamentally changed by engineering biology.

9. “
Synapse is an online biweekly report on Boston area biotech for students with advanced training in life science.

10. SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEWS
Synapse sits down with successful biotech founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs to bring you their stories and advice for success.
Amy Schulman
CEO, Lyndra and Arsia Therapeutics
David Lucchino CEO, Entrega
Richard Heyman
CEO, Seragon and Aragon Pharmaceuticals
Bernat Olle CEO Vedanta Biosciences
Christian Bailey
Founder, Curated Innovation
COMING MAY 9

11. COMING SOON
COMPANY PROFILES
START UP RESOURCES
COME TALK TO US

12. A new educational model to give students hands-on industry experience

13. Barriers to Internships
Advisor attitudes
Funding restrictions
And we’ve created a few new programs from the ground up. Today, we’re going to briefly introduce you to two of them. First off, I would like to introduce Tony Kulesa, who has worked very hard for the last year on creating the new MBG Blog: Synapse

14. Solution: Academic Course
Funding Restrictions
Course enrollment doesn’t compromise funding
Free to companies
Advisor Attitudes
Manageable time commitment
Accessible to students in many fields
Added Benefits
MIT partnership
Student discussion
Networking opportunity

15. 20.S947: Research Experiences in Biopharmaceutical Industry
12 units = 12 hours/week
On Site Research Experience
Class HW

16. MBG Founding Team 2015-2016 James W. Weis President Nathan Stebbins
James W. Weis
President
Nathan Stebbins
President
Andrew Warren
Secretary
Vyas Ramanan
Treasurer
Katie Bodner
UG President

17. MBG Executive Team 2016-2017 James W. Weis President Raven Reddy
James W. Weis
President
Raven Reddy
President
Minsoo Khang
Secretary
Tony Kulesa
Treasurer
Anika Gupta
UG President

18. Investment Initiative Industrial Initiative Entrepreneurship
And so we created the MIT biotechnology group and our mission is to help our members find their place in the biotechnology ecosystem
Industrial
Initiative
Entrepreneurship
Initiative

19. Investment Initiative Industrial Initiative Entrepreneurship
And so we created the MIT biotechnology group and our mission is to help our members find their place in the biotechnology ecosystem
Industrial
Initiative
Entrepreneurship
Initiative

20. Investment Initiative
Understand the translation of biomedical technology
What makes a technology valuable / worth commercializing?
What makes a good team?
What makes a good company?
Understand a critical component of the biomedical ecosystem
Venture Creation
Venture
Capital
Private
Equity
Hedge Funds
Private
Public

21. Investment Initiative
Current projects:
Forming Healthcare-section of MIT Alumni Angel Group
Building proprietary database of biomedical events
Conducting deep-dive research on biomedical companies
Consulting for venture capital firms
Forming investment group

22. Investment Initiative Team
Cheryl Cui
Graduate student
Health, Sciences, & Technology
James Weis
Graduate student
Computational & Systems Biology, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Jonathan Coravos
Graduate student
Biology
Sam Huang
Undergraduate student
Chemical Engineering

23. Investment Initiative Industrial Initiative Entrepreneurship
And so we created the MIT biotechnology group and our mission is to help our members find their place in the biotechnology ecosystem
Industrial
Initiative
Entrepreneurship
Initiative

24. Upcoming Events and Speakers
May 16th - Panel on “virtual biotech” and contract research organizations (CROs)
Sept 19th- Isaac Kohane
Director, Bioinformatics at Harvard Med
Founder, NIH i2b2
Oct 4th – Stephane Bancel
CEO Moderna Therapeutics

25. Upcoming Events and Speakers
Fall 2016 – Tillman Gerngross
CEO, Adimab
Founder, GlycoFi
Professor, Dartmouth College
Fall 2016 – Greg Verdine
Founder & CEO, FogPharma
Founder, Warp Drive Bio
Professor, Harvard University

26. Novartis Translational Curriculum
Collaboration with Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research – NIBR
Novartis sharing its established training curriculum for new hires with MIT
Big question – what are the areas of biotechnology and pharma that MIT courses do not cover?

27. Novartis Translational Curriculum
No coverage Some coverage Deep coverage

28. Industrial Initiative Team
Alison Tisdale
Graduate Student
Biological Engineering
Brett Geiger
Graduate Student
Biological Engineering
Jiapei Chen
Undergraduate
Biological Engineering
Sunandini Chopra
Graduate Student
Mechanical Engineering

29. Investment Initiative Industrial Initiative Entrepreneurship
And so we created the MIT biotechnology group and our mission is to help our members find their place in the biotechnology ecosystem
Industrial
Initiative
Entrepreneurship
Initiative

30. Co-Director of the SPARK Translational Research Program
Speaker Series
Kevin Grimes
Co-Director of the SPARK Translational Research Program
Stanford University
Bruce Booth
Partner
Atlas Venture
Ailis Tweed-Kent
CEO and Founder
Cocoon Biotech Inc

31. Entrepreneurship Initiative
Our goal is to make the process of translating biotech and healthcare technologies at MIT easier, faster, and more likely to succeed.
Roadmap – Synthesis of all available resources at MIT to assist healthcare entrepreneurs
Survey – Inward and outward facing to determine greatest demand and need
New Programming – Supplement the existing infrastructure in the areas of greatest need

32. Entrepreneurship Initiative Team
Greg Ekchian
Graduate student
Materials Science and Engineering
Tony Kulesa
Graduate student
Biological Engineering
Ashvin Bashyam
Graduate student
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Paige Omura Undergraduate student
Chemical Engineering
Rachit Neupane
Graduate student
Biology
Felix Moser Postdoctoral researcher
Biological Engineering
Gi Hun Choi Undergraduate student
Biological Engineering

33. Opportunities to Get Involved!
Chairs for Industrial, Investment, Entrepreneurship Initiative
Writers for Synapse
Website/Database Developer
Events and Communications Team
Sign Up Outside

34. Acknowledgements

35. Join us for pizza in the Broad Lobby!
Raffle winners announced in 30 minutes!
Subscribe to our new calendar!
@MITBiotechgroup
biotech.mit.edu
MIT Biotech Group