Talk on Opportunities and Challenges of a Biotech Startup: Lessons from the Field

Date: Tuesday, February 28th, 2023 | Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM | Hybrid event

The talk is free but registration is mandatory

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Talk details: 

O2M was founded in Feb 2017 to commercialize electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imaging (EPROI) technology. Oxygen is a fundamental physiological parameter and affects all aspects of living tissues. Even though it was known that hypoxia impacts the therapy outcome in cancer, type I diabetes, and many other pathologies, there was no commercially available system for oxygen imaging that could be utilized for therapy guidance. This led us to start the commercialization efforts of EPROI via O2M. Bringing a new technology from a lab to the marketplace is like giving birth and raising a child and sending them to the world, many ups and downs, but never too boring.
In this talk, she will use her experience of starting and running O2M as a case study to discuss various aspects of entrepreneurship and the biotech startup echo system. She will talk about my motivation for moving from academia to industry and my journey since then. I will discuss the joy and fulfillment as well as the challenges of growing an entity. I will discuss the technical, legal, financial, and intellectual property fronts of managing a business.

28feb2023-Dr. Mrignayani Kotecha

Speaker details:

  • Dr. Mrignayani Kotecha is the President and CEO of Chicago-based biotech company O2M Technologies, LLC (https://oxygenimaging.com).
  • In this role, she leads the development of the world’s first preclinical and clinical electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imagers for biomedical research and clinical applications in oncology, spin-probe synthesis, fundraising, and outreach activities.
  • She also leads the “Oxygen Measurement Core” research facility at O2M, whichcollaborates with academic, government, and industry members to perform cutting-edge research involving EPR imaging in oncology, cell therapy, biomaterials, beta cell replacement therapy, and other areas of preclinical biomedical research.
  • She holds a PhD in Physics and has over 25+ years of experience in magnetic resonance technologies.