[Text on screen: Christian Harding CEO and Co-Founder of VaxNewMo Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Alumni 2015] Christian Harding: Hello, everyone. My name is Christian Harding, and I'm an alumnus of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program class of 2015. I'm the current CEO and co-founder of VaxNewMo, and I'm here to tell you a little bit about my experience at Ohio State and what my current career path is like. [Image of Harding to the right with the following text to the left: Career Introduction - CEO and Co-founder of VaxNewMo, a life-sciences biotech company - At VaxNewMo, we develop next-gen vaccines against existing and emerging bacterial threats - I wanted to leave academia and become an entrepreneur - Fast-paced, thrilling environment where I learn something new everyday] As I said, I'm the CEO and co-founder of VaxNewMo. So we are a life-sciences biotech company, and we're developing next generation conjugate vaccines against existing and emerging bacterial threats. So a conjugate vaccine is a specific type of vaccine, consisting of two very important parts—sugar polysaccharide and a carrier protein—that have to be linked together. So we have an innovative platform for linking these two vaccine components together, and we're leveraging that platform to make vaccines against existing threats, like pneumococcal pneumonia, and existing bacterial threats that don't have options, like Klebsiella and Group B Strep. So I wanted to leave academia, and I became an entrepreneur, and I'll tell you a little bit more about that in the next slides. But I really like my job because it's fast-paced in a very thrilling environment where I really do learn something new every day. One day, I'll be doing business development, where I'm trying to foster relationships with future stakeholders, other days I'm doing intellectual property management. I'm also still a scientist, so I'm purifying proteins right now downstairs on my ÄKTA FPLC, and other days it's just business administration. So I wear a lot of hats, and you have to be kind of nimble and able to go with the flow when you're running your own company. [Text on screen: From academia to biotech... I started down the raditional graduate/postdoctoral pathway; however, waasn't fully challenged or fulfilled as a scientist. There was an opportunity to help commercialize a technology I co-invented, so I walked into my postdoc advisor's office, discussed my career goals and left academia to co-found an dlead VaxNewMo as the CEO. OSU and BGSP afforded me with my first true multi-disciplinary training experience, helping me master the critical thinking skills I employ everyday] So I did start out in a very traditional, conventional pathway, going from academia to biotech. So I did a very conventional five-year graduate program, and that was at the biomedical sciences graduate school, our program at Ohio State. So I loved that. It was in microbiology as an emphasis, so it was very conventional, and it gave me that, you know, foundational groundwork to move on to a postdoc next. And I did that at Washington University in St. Louis, where I focused on microbial glycobiology, and that was important because that's helped me craft and hone my skills for the technology that we currently use for my company. But I wasn't fully fulfilled or challenged as a scientist, so luckily I was afforded an opportunity to commercialize some technology that I co-invented. I walked into my postdoc advisor's office, told him how I was feeling, what I wanted to do, and I left, and we agreed, and we co-founded a company and I became the CEO. Since then, I've raised over $4.2 million, and I have a handful of employees and some contractors who we also work with in academia. So Ohio State and the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program really gave me that first crucial training experience, that multidisciplinary training environment that I needed, to really help shape my critical thinking skills. You're gonna learn to do great western blots or protein purifications or DNA gels, whatever it may be, but really, the emphasis on the program for me was critical thinking. And I had a great group of mentors, advisors, who helped really challenge me to think outside the box, and I use those skills every day. [Text on screen: Why I choose OSU and BSGP... (Besides football of course, I was at OSU for the 2015 Championship) Coming from a smaller, liberal arts undergraduate school, I choose OSU and the BSGP as I wanted to be immersed in large research institution with seemingly limitless resources. The most rewarding part of the program for me was the comradery of fellow classmates. I made life-long friendships.] So why did I choose Ohio State and the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, besides football? Definitely go to every football game and tailgate that you can. But I came from a smaller liberal arts school, so I wanted that big R01 research institution feel, and that's exactly what I got at Ohio State. There were seemingly limitless resources. I was over at Nationwide Children's Hospital, which is another option for some of you, but we had unlimited resources that really helped feel like you can go at light speed. And for me, one of the most rewarding parts of the program was actually the camaraderie of fellow students. My wife and I formed lifelong friendships with some of my classmates; we still vacation together—it's been five years. We live in different states, but we still love each other very much. [Text on screen: Recommendations - Recommendations - Interested in opening your own life-science company? Look into auditing classes on entrepreneurism or business development. - Learn about technology transfer, licenses and patents as early as possible. People shy away from these topics, but they are the heart and sole of a biotech company. - Looking back... - I believe my company would benefit if I was formerly trained in business development. While I don't necessarily need an MBA, there is a part of me that wishes I had that level of training in addition to my Ph.D.] So recommendations, if you're interested in opening your own life-science company, obviously stick the PhD route. That's going to be critical to get you that scientific foundation, those critical thinking skills. But just look into auditing some business classes or entrepreneurial development classes, and you can find that at Ohio State University. Learn about technology, patents, licenses, as early as possible. Our technology at VaxNewMo is actually developed in an academic lab. So licensing and royalty agreements, you don't have to become a master, but just be familiar with the terms and just ask questions. And then looking back, if there's one thing, you know, I don't have any regrets, but looking back, I think my company would benefit if I did have some more formal training in business development. So if you are interested seriously in business development, possibly look into getting an MBA after your graduate school and having that PhD dual MBA. I do know some people who have that. Again it's not essential, I went to the postdoc route, left my postdoc, and opened a company. And here we are, $4.2 million later, employees and growing ever since. So you don't need it, but if it's something that you're interested in, look into it a little bit more. [The logos for Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are shown along with the following text: Thank You] So again, my name is Christian Harding. Thanks for this opportunity to talk to you today, and I wish you the best of luck in the future. Thanks, bye.