Please join us for the next Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Enrichment Seminar on March 14 from noon-1 p.m. Rana Quraishi, PhD, will discuss “Overview of Drug Development and UMB Resources.”
Link to Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CfF1-aAdTLyK9xNKjLCZmA
Dr. Rana Quraishi is director of New Ventures at UMB. The New Ventures Team at UMB is an initiative that brings together management expertise, business formation strategy, a physical office and laboratory space, and early-stage capital for success for new startups based on University technology. Team members can take senior management roles in our companies until exit or a strategic partnership. Over the last three years, we have launched three companies with our scientific co-founders. The first was a CAR T-cell company, Living Pharma, Inc. which was acquired. The second was a laparoscopic surgical device company, Surgigyn, Inc. which received strategic investment from a large medical device company and was ultimately acquired by that company. The third is Isoprene, which has $2 million SBIR Direct Phase II.
Quraishi has both a strong scientific and business background. She received her PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry at Columbia University and following that worked in the U.S. Senate as a congressional science fellow and legislative assistant on health care and science. She then joined the private sector in a variety of increasingly senior roles in finance, acquisitions and divestitures, and private equity. She was an executive at Citicorp, American Express, J.E. Seagram & Sons, and GE Capital. She eventually rose to be part of the leadership team as commercial quality leader for all of GE Capital. Over 15 years later, she returned to biotech working with Cold Spring Harbor Labs as an advisor and CFO to develop and fund Helicon Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on memory and cognition. Helicon was ultimately acquired by Dart Neuroscience. After getting Helicon successfully funded, Quraishi worked for the New York City Partnership and Investment fund writing a major report titled, "Market Demand Study for Commercial Biotechnology, Biomedical, and Bioinformatics Facilities in New York City," which laid out the strategy for New York City's successful diversification into biotechnology and related fields. She then worked at two global private equity funds, Conning Capital Partners/SwissRE and The Chatterjee Group, focusing primarily on the management of the life science and health care part of their portfolios. Because of her very broad background, she also sat several portfolio company boards.