10 Questions w/ Gordana Vunjak-Novaković — University Professor @ Columbia
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Gordana Vunjak-Novaković is a University Professor @ Columbia University (First engineer in the history of Columbia to receive this highest distinction), Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering & Medical Sciences, Professor of Dental Medicine, Directs the Tissue Engineering Resource Center, and Columbia’s Center for Dental & Craniofacial Research. Vunjak-Novakovic’s research interest is focused on tissue engineering, where her lab has pioneered the development of innovative technologies for engineering functional human tissues and organs.
Vunjak-Novaković’s diverse team of engineers, clinicians, and scientists is developing innovative tissue engineering technologies for improving human health. Her Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering is interested in whole organ engineering for regenerative medicine, tissue models for biological research, and “organs-on-a-chip” platforms for disease modeling and drug development. To this end, her team directs the human cell differentiation and assembly into functional tissues using a “cell-instructive” approach based on tissue-specific scaffolds (providing templates for tissue formation) and advanced bioreactors (providing environmental control, molecular and physical signaling).
Vunjak-Novaković’s laboratory is a home to the national Tissue Engineering Resource Center that is funded by NIH to foster tissue engineering for medical impact, and is actively collaborating with colleagues at both campuses of Columbia University, nationwide, and around the world. Vunjak-Novakovic is also part of CELL-MET, a multi-institutional National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in Cellular Metamaterials that is based at Boston university. CELL-MET aims to grow functional and clinically relevant heart tissue while simultaneously developing a talented and diverse workforce to tackle future challenges in tissue engineering.
To translate their science into new therapeutic modalities, her lab has launched four biotech companies: epiBone, Tara (Acquired by Valo Health), Xylyx Biosolutions, & Immplacate.
We sat down with Gordana Vunjak-Novaković to ask her viewpoints on everything from entrepreneurial lab culture, what she looks for in new research topics, to advice on building companies…
1
What advice would you give to founders working with University Tech Transfer looking to spinout out a company?
“Your University’s Tech Transfer Office can be incredibly helpful at every single step of the process. They are professionals working for you. They know how to coordinate the filing of IP with publications, and provide you and your lab with the training workshops, market/regulatory support and valuable networks of investors and professionals. The founders should understand how exactly this office works and develop a good working relationship. I always seek and follow their advice.”
2
Can you describe your process for vetting new ideas to pursue in your lab?
“Our lab is highly translational, meaning that we always think about how we can benefit medicine and society. This is true both for our scientific studies and entrepreneurial efforts. My approach is to get the best people I can and to help them pursue their own passion for science. Such creative freedom results in many ideas that we are vetting by evaluating their potential impact, feasibility to meet one of the real needs, and the competitive edge of our team. In doing this, we try to get as much advice as possible from experts and prospective users.”
3
How do you establish an effective entrepreneurial lab culture?
“Our role is to provide a collaborative lab environment that encourages creativity and supports trainees in pursuing their own ideas. This way, our trainees have the intellectual ownership over their research, with long lasting implications. As some of the ideas evolve into candidates for translation, my trainees follow their technologies into the startup companies we founded. Going full circle from being inventors on patents to co-authoring papers and commercializing the resulting technology has made a world of difference in this journey and its outcomes.
I think we will all agree that failing is an integral part of research and translation, and that failing can provide more valuable insights than the experiments that progressed as planned. It is important to make this a fundamental principle for research in our labs. Not failing may also suggest that we are not innovating enough.
It is equally important to encourage finding inspiration in clinical and societal needs. The classical “bench to bedside” paradigm is now evolving to start from bedside (to identify the problem), move to bench (to find a solution) and circle back to bedside (for implementation).
This brings us to the third key component of our lab culture: collaboration. Collaborators, and especially the experts outside our zone of comfort, are invaluable, as they help us formulate the right questions, find new approaches to long-standing problems, and be mindful of implementation constraints and strategies. Collaborations also lead to working at the interfaces of disciplines, where we find some of the most exciting science.”
4
What advice would you give to professors trying to entrepreneurialize their labs?
“Some trainees are born scientists, some are entrepreneurs and some are both. And some do not know right away what their interests and strengths are. Our job is to help the later ones find their perfect match, and to enable and support everyone in pursuing the path they are passionate about. Clearly, it is most difficult for a student, postdoc or clinical fellow to ask the right question and understand what are their greatest strengths. This is where our help is most critically needed, and in an individualized fashion.
There are also many general skills for which we need to provide guidance and opportunities to learn and to practice by doing. Many of my trainees took entrepreneurship-related classes (some of them even completing the MBA), and participated in workshops, bootcamps and other training modalities provided by Columbia, our Technology Ventures Office and NSF funded programs. Summer internships in startup companies and participation in events organized by the local entrepreneurial community are also very helpful.
While we need to prioritize science and training, we also need to play a supporting role in commercialization of technologies developed in the lab. It is critical to separate the two, keep the lab up to date with all efforts, and be mindful of any conflicts of interest that need to be resolved.”
5
Outside of academia, what is one seemingly random activity that helps make you a better researcher?
“Being in academia is the best “job” in the world, it is a lifestyle encompassing a lot of “random activities”. Reading, film, travel and dinners with friends are part of it, with family being most central to everything. I believe that my passion for science makes me a better person, and that my family makes me a better scientist. They are inseparable in the way they support each other.”
6
How do you identify the point at which a scientific discovery is ripe for commercialization?
“There is always a “killer experiment” that rigorously tests the technology. If this experiment is successful and there is clearly an unmet need we can address, it makes sense to proceed. And if you will fail — fail early, before investing too much time and resources,”
7
What advice can you give to academics raising their first round of venture funding?
“It is really important that your investors bring to you more than funding. They should be your partners, share the same ideas and goals, and feel comfortable and passionate about the journey that you are about to undertake. It may take time to find the right partner, but this decision may largely determine if you will succeed or fail.”
8
What advice would you give to business professionals looking to get in contact/help commercialize startups spinning out of academia?
“It is common to find a great team behind a great technology. Looking into people and their track record in translational science is at least as important as evaluating the technology.”
9
What advice would you give to professors in balancing founding a company and continuing to pursue academic research?
“I think we should act as enablers of our trainees in their scientific and entrepreneurial interests, while keeping focus on our science. Running a company is a full-time job, as is running an academic lab. The best we can do is to trust and support our trainees-entrepreneurs. This means being available to advise on science and technology and to help with connections to experts and investors, while staying out of the way.”
10
What has been the most helpful piece of advice you received throughout your career as an academic entrepreneur?
“Find inspiration for your science in unmet clinical and societal needs. Team up with great people. Get expert advice.”
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❤️ Thanks Andrew Yashar for your help in putting this together :)
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