Robert Sons co-founded the GBCC and graduated from UNC in 2015 with a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology. He was interviewed by Jedediah Seltzer in October 2019 when he was an Associate Principal at Fannin Innovation Studio.
What does your current role at Fannin Studio entail?
At Fannin, my main focus is on determining the appropriate path towards commercialization for a technology within our portfolio. I obtain and maintain an understanding of: scientific concepts driving a technology’s mechanism of action, competitive landscape, potential future clinical trial design, and intellectual property position to make preclinical development decisions. I also obtain non-dilutive funding via grant writing, and provide search and evaluation recommendations for our business development activities that are similar to the above analyses, but for technologies we’re contemplating in-licensing.
How did you find your current job?
I was representing the National Cancer Institute’s Technology Transfer Center at a partnering conference, and met one of Fannin’s leaders. When Fannin advertised a fellowship opening I applied.
What excites you about your work?
I’m responsible for learning new biology and technologies that are potentially relevant to the treatment of disease, and helping to develop some of these technologies for the potential future benefit of patients. This combination excites me because it’s an excellent distillation of my original motivations for pursuing a scientific career.
What is your day to day like at work?
A lot of learning – time spent reading basic and translational research articles, having conversations with experts in academia and industry, and keeping abreast of industry developments. Building upon this foundation, I spend time identifying which experiments need to be done next for a particular project, designing them with contract research organizations and internal staff, and analyzing the resulting data. The next largest use of time is meetings – discussions with internal and external collaborators, management of tasks in progress by internal technical research staff and interns, and organization-wide updates on project development. Finally, I spend time writing grants to obtain nondilutive funding.
How did the GBCC help launch your career?
It helped me begin to learn what was outside of academia, and take the steps to pursue a career I desired.
What is one piece of career advice you would give to current GBCC members?
Embed yourself within a potentially desired environment. For me, this meant volunteering my time, as an intern within a startup company and working on project for UNC’s technology transfer office. Whatever these environments of potential interest are for you, take the time during your Ph.D. to explore different ones to find the best match for your strengths and interests.
Thanks to Rob for spending time with us to learn more about his experiences! If you’re interested in following his footsteps, you can visit the website of the GBCC. You could also reach out to him over his LinkedIn.