Beaker List – Columbia Edition
Top Entrepreneurial Life Science Professors @ Columbia University
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By:
Alix Ventures: Supporting Early Stage Life Science Startups Engineering Biology to Drive Radical Advances in Human Health
Overview
Behind every transformative technology is a team of brilliant scientists and researchers. Academic research in particular is a driving force for technological innovation. Here, we have identified a ‘Midas List’ of researchers who have pioneered highly transformative technologies that have translated to the clinic. Using venture backed startups as a primary guide along with other impact metrics such as patents, citations, and thought leadership, the following professors have demonstrated patient impact, providing significant contributions to the startup ecosystem.
Columbia University, as one of the top life science universities in the world, has a rich history of biotechnology and pharmaceutical leadership. Alumni and faculty of the school include Roy Vagelos, the legendary Merck executive, George D. Yancopoulos, co-founder of Regeneron, one of the most successful biotechnology companies of all-time, and Richard A. Freisner, co-founder of Schrödinger, one of the most prominent and earliest computational biotech companies. Columbia continues this storied tradition of life science excellence to this day, and we’d like to highlight 10 prominent scientists who made significant contributions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the school. We’d also like to note that this is by no means an exhaustive list and many other professors at Columbia have made significant contributions to the biotechnology industry in a wide variety of capacities.
We asked Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic for comment on how Columbia fosters an entrepreneurial environment & what entrepreneurship means to her:
“In biomedical research, the most exciting science tends to happen at the interfaces of disciplines. This is why the spirit of collaboration and entrepreneurship is so important for advancing biomedicine and bioengineering, and why Columbia is a perfect place for translating discovery all the way to patient care.”
—Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic is a University Professor (the first engineer in the history of Columbia to receive this highest distinction), the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Sciences, Professor of Dental Medicine, and directs the Tissue Engineering Resource Center and Columbia’s Center for Dental and 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-Novakovic is a founder of four biotech companies based on advances in regenerative medicine and bioengineering: epiBone, Tara Biosystems (acquired by Valo Health in 2022), Xylyx, and Immplacate.
Learn more about Gordana’s work on BIOS Frontier Science: Listen Now