Opportunities and Challenges for Academic Entrepreneurs

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On August 13, 2021, General Partner of Born Global Ventures, Dr. Sunny Zhang was joined by two amazing academic entrepreneurs, Naama Barnea-Goraly M.D. and Christel Bastida Ph.D., to discuss the opportunities and challenges for faculty and students who want to turn research findings into tech startups that can have a greater impact in the world and benefit more people.

Dr. Barnea-Goraly and Dr. Bastida not only shared their personal journey from a researcher/scientist/physician to an entrepreneur but also touched on “taboo” topics such as mental blocks and psychological well being. One would be surprised to know that there are more similarities than differences in the two seemingly day and night worlds of academia and entrepreneurship, and there are many transferrable skills and mindsets from academia that actually help one succeed in the startup space. 

Naama Barnea-Goraly is the co-founder of Girltelligence, an AI startup for empowering teen girls and young women and providing them with a supportive community and safe space to talk about anything from mental health to gender equality. She received her medical degree from the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical School of Jerusalem, Israel and her clinical training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as well as a postdoctoral neuroimaging research fellowship at Stanford University.

Renaissance woman Dr. Christel Bastida innovates in a variety of scientific and academic fields. Having taken part in Rice University’s Lilie Launchpad as part of the inaugural startup studio cohort and Glasgow University’s Innovation and Sustainability Fellowship, she now consults and mentors on projects related to science and innovation. She is also set to start her next endeavour as a Startup Studio Entrepreneur with FedTech, a venture builder that drives forward deep tech ventures across the DoD, NASA, DoE, universities, and federal labs. 

Special thanks to our event partners, the Consulate General of Israel in Houston, Women in AI USA,  The Cannon Community and Born Global Global for their kind support.

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