EntreTech Forum: Small Wonders - Innovation in micro technologies leading to major advancements and success.
Small Wonders - Innovation in micro technologies leading to major advancements and success.
The EntreTech Forum, co-sponsored by the Medical Development Group, presents a panel of company founders and a venture capital representative from Polaris Ventures who will share their recent experiences in transforming an idea into an operating venture. Our panel will focus on the keys to overcoming common start-up challenges, from forming a great team to attracting (and landing!) the right financial and strategic partners. First time and experienced entrepreneurs are encouraged to bring their questions to what will be an interactive and instructive discussion.
Robert Farra, President & Chief Operating Officer of MicroCHIPS, has 20 years of leadership experience developing complex electro-mechanical and fluidic based medical devices and combination products. He has 12 domestic and international patents issued or pending. Previously he held the following positions: Vice-President of MicroCHIPS from 2007 – 2011, Vice-President of Engineering and Manufacturing for Abiomed, Senior Leadership positions at Accellent Endoscopy and Arthur D. Little, Inc. He has a BSME from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and an SMME from MIT.
Invited
Johannes Fruehauf (MD PhD), founder and President of ViThera Pharmaceuticals, is also the Founder and CEO of Cambridge BioLabs, an early-stage contract research organization and biotech incubator. He serves as a Board Director or advisor to a number of biotechnology companies and is a scientist and entrepreneur with a track record in building successful biotechnology companies. Previously, he was a co-founder of Cequent Pharmaceuticals and served as Head of R&D. He completed his post-doc with Dr. Chiang Li at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and invented the bacterial RNAi technology transkingdom RNA interference. He is the author of over 20 publications and is an inventor on 14 patents related to RNA interference and bacterial therapeutics.
Paulina Hill, Senior Associate at Polaris Venture Partners, focuses on investments in the life sciences sector. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Chemical Engineering Department. at MIT, where she was the Founding President of the MIT Postdoctoral Association. She is a Member of Intellectual Property Presidential Committee at MIT and on the fundraising committee of the nonprofit Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology. She received her PhD in Molecular Medicine with a Tissue Engineering focus at Wake Forest and has published 40 abstracts, awards and peer review manuscripts.
Meeting Cost:
$25 public, $10 students
and active military; Promotional Registrations
