Bio-IT Fellowship

8VC’s BioIT program exposed me to the dynamism of funding biotechnology. I believe that exposure to business, commercialization, and entrepreneurs are core curricula for those looking to translate their science and the 8VC fellowship constitutes a perfect crash course.

Three months went by fast in the fellowship program. I've been very grateful to be part of this community and together explore the biotech ecosystem. Coming into biotech as an "outsider", I had always felt both excited and scared to work on human health. The team's deep belief in science and in people gave me new strength and courage. As one 8VC founder put it -- There will always be risks in new human health endeavors, but those scary parts also inspire us to do our absolute best because being scared means we care.

Prior to working as an 8VC fellow, I had spent most of my time as a graduate student thinking about the ways in which discoveries made in the lab could one day become drugs. Like most graduate students, my focus was on the technology of biotech and how emerging tools within academia could be applied towards improving human health. While technology is certainly one of the bedrocks of a successful biotech, my time with 8VC opened my eyes to the entire ecosystem of investors, mentors, entrepreneurs, and academics that move discoveries from the lab and into a patient’s hands. With this new and profound appreciation of the biotech ecosystem, I am hopeful that I too will be able to make contributions that one day improve human health.

The Bio-IT fellowship offered a breadth of experiences, including landscape research on institutions and scientific areas, investment thesis building, early stage due diligence, and KOL interviews. 8VC emphasized and enabled networking and face time both internally and externally, which gave us truly invaluable opportunities to interface with the team and portfolio company executives and founders about all things biotech, startups, and venture capital as part of the “8VC family”. The fellowship packed a lot of experience into 3 months and led to subsequent opportunities in the space. Grateful to 8VC for the opportunity to be a Bio-IT fellow.

The 8VC Bio-IT Fellowship gave me a wonderful opportunity to work with brilliant young scientists on exploring exciting topics that will shape the world of tomorrow, all whilst actively networking with VCs, established scientists, and both new and experienced CEOs of biotech startups. This experience has fundamentally changed how I view the biotech landscape and equipped me with a key subset of the tools that I will need to be successful.