The Crick Science Entrepreneur Network (CSEN) is excited to host their very first series of talks and panel discussions.

Crick Science Entrepreneur Network (CSEN):

Recently established early this year, CSEN works alongside the Francis Crick Translation team to promote and develop entrepreneurship within the scientific community. CSEN aims to bring together researchers at all career stages to learn about the translation and commercialisation potential of their research. CSEN events will share the experiences and journeys of founders of academic spinout companies, or scientists who have transitioned to a career in innovation, venture capital or technology transfer.

Join us on October 6th for an online panel discussion with three inspiring science entrepreneurs that went into entrepreneurship during very different stages in their careers.

The speakers:

Kevin Pojasek - President and CEO of Enara Bio, Founder and Director of Catamaran Bio and Venture Partner for SV Health Investors.

Dr. Pojasek is a biotech executive with nearly 20 years of experience founding and leading companies in the US and UK. Kevin is currently the president and CEO of Enara Bio and serves as the executive chairman of Catamaran Bio, which he co-founded. Kevin also served executive roles of several other biotech companies, including Chief Strategy, Business Officer, and member of the executive leadership team at Immunocore. He was also co-head of the company’s Infectious Disease Unit and helped lead the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation investment of up to $40 million. Prior to joining Immunocore, Kevin was President and CEO of Quartet Medicine, a company he co-founded in 2013 while at Atlas Ventures, and held senior executive R&D and corporate development roles at several other venture-backed companies.

James Field - Founder and CEO of LabGenius

James is the founder and CEO of LabGenius. James completed his PhD studies at Imperial College London where his research was focused on re-engineering protein nanocages for biotechnological applications. Prior to his PhD, James completed a BSc in Biology with Microbiology and an MRes in Systems and Synthetic Biology, at Imperial College London. James is an active member of the synthetic biology community having participated in the iGEM competition as an undergraduate (2009), advisor (2011) and judge (2016). In 2017, James was awarded the BBSRC Innovator of the Year award for early career impact and is a fellow of the prestigious Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (LEAP). In 2018 James was awarded Forbes 30 under 30 in Science & Healthcare.

Oliver Hardick - Founder and CEO of Puridify

Oliver’s academic expertise is in the field of novel purification approaches in bioprocessing having completed an Engineering doctorate at University College London in the department of Biochemical Engineering. In 2013, he founded Puridify, which was sold to GE Healthcare in 2017 to continue the development and commercialisation of novel bioprocessing platform technologies. As a Director of Puridify and Business Leader at Cytiva, Oliver continues to support the innovation, strategic development, and commercialisation of technology. He represents UCL as an honorary lecturer and regards industry-academia links as critical for the development of our industry. He is also an elected board member of BioIndustry Association (BIA), a trade association promoting the ecosystem for innovative life sciences in the UK.