Donna has over 20 years of building value in early stage life science technologies—from sourcing emergent technologies to developing strategies for commercialization. She specializes in managing complex scientific and business relationships and leveraging the synergy of cross-functional teams in due diligence and technology assessments, prototype development, and proof-of-concept studies. She has a strong track record in successful outcomes through negotiation and transactions for licensing, sponsored research, and the creation of strategic alliances in pharma, biotech, and academia. Her passion is launching innovative projects into next-generation products for health and wellness care.
Donna received her doctorate in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. Instead of pursuing a postdoctoral position, Donna found herself in the start-up world as one of the founders of Physiome Sciences, Inc., the first in-silico drug discovery platform using computational models of cells, tissues, and organs. She later joined the British Technology Group (BTG Plc) as a technology scout where she visited academic institutions across the East Coast searching for biotech projects in the early stages of development. Although she loved the work at BTG, her small son needed more mommy time, so she joined Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV) to be closer to home. Donna managed a portfolio of investigators at Columbia Medical School, working with Noble laureates and world class scientists. She was later recruited to lead the technology development program at Hospital for Special Surgery, which focused on musculoskeletal innovations in orthopedics and rheumatology. Donna recently joined the advisory board of Tohi Ventures as a scientific advisor, and co-founded Nirova BioSense, an emerging enterprise dedicated to the development of optical sensors for real-time detection of ovarian cancer biomarkers.
