Alumni Spotlight - July 2025

How long were you a member of miLEAD? What positions did you hold?

Four years; President, Vice President, Director of Public Relations, Director of Web Services.

What was the most interesting project you were involved with while in milead?

Performing primary and secondary market research for a company developing biomarker testing kits for traumatic brain injuries.

How did miLEAD help you obtain your current position?

miLEAD was a foundational experience for me that gave me the initial exposure at the intersection of business and science that I needed to begin my career journey. Venture capital and consulting have a lot of overlap in the breadth of work required, so I was able to leverage the projects I worked on during my time with miLEAD as I looked for opportunities in investing.

What is your day-to-day life like in your current position?

My most common day-to-day role is taking meetings with private biotech companies that are fundraising to bring their pipeline of therapies through the next stage of their development. Following those, there are multiple ongoing diligence processes going on at any one time during which I am working to evaluate the therapy (read through data packages), the opportunity (speaking with KOLs on the need for novel therapies), and the financing itself (is this round going to provide a meaningful inflection point) for each potential opportunity. I look at companies across therapeutic areas (oncology, autoimmune, neurodegenerative, etc.), so I'm always reading up on the mechanisms of different diseases in the background as well.

What did you learn through miLEAD that you apply to your current position?

I use the tools I gained through miLEAD almost every day for my job. Market analysis, competitive intelligence, and KOL interviews are essential components of the diligence process when evaluating new investment opportunities. miLEAD enabled me to start thinking about how science can be applied beyond the bench and how to think strategically about drug development.

What advice would you give to current or prospective miLEAD consultants?

Be willing to take on opportunities (projects, areas of research, organizations, etc.) that you don't have any experience with before; you never know what you might like, and in the worst case, you'll learn something new. When you do find something you want to explore further, commit yourself to it! Making the most out of one opportunity will take you much further than padding your resume with multiple surface-level experiences.