Peer Learning and Networking Webinar Series

William Bozza, Ph.D.

Contact William Bozza to learn more about this program.

The NCI SBIR Peer Learning and Networking (PLAN) webinar series provides an interactive forum for oncology biotech startups to hear best practices from NCI SBIR standout companies who have achieved success in product development and technology commercialization.

As part of the webinar, each participating small business will share expertise on a specific topic while identifying networking resources that can help others on their journey from lab to market. The 2-part PLAN webinar format consists of (1) watching short pre-recorded 5-minute videos (see below) from the panel speakers to prime attendees with topic-related content and (2) a live Q&A panel session where attendees can ask questions in real-time.

Launching an oncology small business startup in an emerging state may come with many challenges and advantages, including building your small business team, seeking investor funding, and utilizing local resources. In this PLAN webinar series, prior NCI SBIR/STTR awardees across emerging states provide perspectives on establishing and growing a biotech startup in an emerging state. These small business founders provide advice on overcoming regional pain points, leveraging state and university resources, and describe how the NCI SBIR Development Center has helped support their small business growth.

Iridesce Solutions, Inc.

Watch video if interested in:

Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and state matching programs
Leveraging university startup resources
Building your small business team

Leukogene Therapeutics, Inc.

Watch video if interested in:

South Carolina life science ecosystem
NCI SBIR funding opportunities and resources
University startup support programs
Out-of-state partnering

Modulation Therapeutics

Watch video if interested in:

Advantages of emerging state startups
Leveraging the NCI SBIR program to grow from a preclinical to clinical stage company
Investor funding challenges in emerging states
West Virginia state-matching programs

TheraFluor, Inc. and Nzumbe, Inc.

Watch video if interested in:

Support for Oregon-based biotech startups
Overcoming regional pain points
Leveraging state and university startup funding programs
Incubator and accelerator models

Small Business Panel

Janelle Molloy, Ph.D.

Janelle Molloy, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of Iridesce Solutions, Inc., and Founder and CEO of Wild Dog Physics. Dr. Molloy has spent more than 30 years as a clinical academic medical physicist and was the director of medical physics at the University of Kentucky Radiation Oncology department. Dr. Molloy earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Virginia.

Nathan Dolloff, Ph.D.

Nathan Dolloff, Ph.D., is founder and chief scientific officer of Leukogene as well as a researcher for the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

The M2T cancer immunotherapy platform was developed by Dr. Dolloff and his research team. He is the co-inventor on patents protecting the platform’s candidates and has raised over $5M in dilutive and non-dilutive funding for Leukogene.

Previously, Dr. Dolloff led projects that delivered multiple cancer drug candidates, including olaratumab/LARTRUVO, CDK9 inhibitors, dual CDK1/GSK3beta inhibitors, and PDI inhibitors. He has held leadership positions in entrepreneurship and technology development at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and the Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization.

Dr. Dolloff is a previous Research Scholar of the American Cancer Society, MUSC Innovator of the Year, inventor on numerous issued and pending patents, and author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Born and raised outside of Philadelphia, Dr. Dolloff received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences/Pharmacology & Physiology and was trained in cancer therapeutics at Drexel College of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania; and held prior faculty appointments at the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute.

Lori Hazlehurst, Ph.D.

Lori Hazlehurst, Ph.D. is President and co-founder of Modulation Therapeutics Inc. She is co-inventor of MTI-101 and a method of use to treat cancer for HYD1. She has over 15 years of experience in defining mechanism of action and pre-clinical development of novel oncology agents.

As associate director of basic research, Dr. Hazlehurst oversees a laboratory that is focused on translational research with an overall goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer. She fosters transdisciplinary teams to guide innovative strategies for the pre-clinical validation of innovative approaches for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.

Dr. Hazlehurst earned her Ph.D. from the Cell and Molecular Biology Program at the University of Vermont. Her post-doctoral studies were performed at the University of Arizona and the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

Michael Rountree, Ph.D.

Michael Rountree, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer and principal scientist at TheraFluor, with a strong record of scientific and technical accomplishments spanning more than 20 years. Dr. Rountree earned a Bachelor of Science in animal science from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Oregon. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cancer biology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Biotech Resource Panel

Molly Wasko, Ph.D.

Molly Wasko, Ph.D., is a Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Innovation, and Faculty Success in the Collat School of Business. She has a combined Business/ Academic background with over 15 years of leadership experience in the areas of high-technology start-ups, strategic planning, and organizational innovation.

Dr. Wasko is currently teaching courses in the areas of innovation and design thinking, as well as entrepreneurship and lean startup. Her additional roles at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) include: PI for Invention to Innovation program, Co-PI for the Pathways to Innovation Epicenter program, Co-director for UAB’s I-Corps programs, Co-director for UAB’s University Innovation Fellows Program, Executive Committee member for the CCTS, and active involvement in the Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Wasko holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Chandana Haque, M.B.A.

Chandana Haque, M.B.A, is the Executive Director of Altitude Lab, a healthcare startup accelerator building a community of diverse entrepreneurs in Utah. Altitude Lab was cofounded in 2020 by Chandana and Chris Gibson, the co-founder & CEO of Recursion in Salt Lake City. They recently announced the launch of a pre-seed venture fund aimed at supporting early-stage biotech startups impacted by recent federal funding policy shifts.

Anne McMahon

Anne McMahon is a business development manager at the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Ms. McMahon previously worked as the SBIR/STTR statewide program coordinator at BioConnect Iowa. She helps Iowa entrepreneurs apply to an SBIR/STTR Outreach Program, which awards funds to startups and small businesses who can help develop and research innovative solutions.

Ms. McMahon completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program focusing on global program entrepreneurship/entrepreneurial studies and earned a Bachelor of Art in Communication Studies, Entrepreneurship, and Museum Studies at the University of Iowa.

Jake Reder, Ph.D.

Jake Reder, Ph.D. cofounded Celdara Medical (CM) with Prof. Michael Fanger and currently serves as Director and CEO. Dr. Reder guided CM from a concept to the fastest-growing company (across all sectors) in the state for three consecutive years and is now applying these learnings to the Pandemic Security Initiative. He serves on the Boards of the New Hampshire Academy of Science, Virtici, and MBV, and is Chairman of CairnSurgical, and Javelin Oncology. Dr. Reder has lived, studied, and worked in Canada, Germany, and the United States, with experience in research, venture investing, corporate alliances, internal startups, academia, and startups. In 2017, Dr. Reder was selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the New Hampshire Small Business Person of the Year.

Dr. Reder earned a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honors from the University of Waterloo, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry as a Brown-Wetherill Fellow at Purdue University and Ludwig Maximilians Universität.

Previous PLAN Webinars

To access content from previous PLAN series, click on the link below:

If you have topic suggestions for the PLAN series, please email us at ncisbir@mail.nih.gov.