Please join the UNC Science and Business Club as we present "Beyond the Bench" with Dr. Vivian Doelling and Dr. Drew Applefield. As Director's of Business and Technology Development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, both Dr. Doelling and Dr. Applefield use their expertise and experience in the life science industry to help support and grow life science companies in North Carolina. The seminar will be held on 11/19 in Bioinformatics 1131 at 5:30 p.m. - make sure to come early and get FREE PIZZA! Please register so we can make sure to have enough food, and feel free to reach out to Thomas Eisenhart (teisenh1@email.unc.edu) with any questions, thanks!

Speaker Biographies:

Vivian joined NC Biotech in February of 2015 as Director, Business and Technology and Development. In this role, she supports the start-up and growth of life science companies in North Carolina, primarily through management of the Center’s loan programs. Additionally, Vivian identifies and mentors early stage and loan portfolio companies as well as supporting key scientific/investor events.

Vivian has strong experience in life science product R&D leadership, including senior roles at Embrex/Pfizer, ILS, and SCYNEXIS. Her background includes starting and managing research, development, and commercial operations for human and animal health products. Vivian has broad expertise in technology assessment and strategically managed a wide range of collaborative research and licensing agreements with universities, large pharmaceutical partners, and customers.

Vivian currently serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the Masters of Microbial Biotechnology (MMB) program at NCSU and is an Executive Council member of the North Carolina One Health Collaborative.

Dr. Doelling holds an undergraduate degree from Dickinson College in Biology, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in Biochemistry.

Dr. Applefield directs the Center’s Company Inception Loan (CIL) program, which provides up to $75k in seed capital for early-stage life science companies. He also reviews investment opportunities for the Center’s Small Business Research Loan and Strategic Growth Loan programs, and supports a portfolio of prior investment recipients to help guide their development. Drew has also managed the Industrial Internship Program since its inception in 2012, through which the Center has created 32 internship opportunities at life science companies across North Carolina.

Prior to joining NC Biotech, Dr. Applefield was an analyst at Maryland-based LifeTech Research, where he conducted due diligence research for institutional investors and consulted for startup companies in the life sciences. Dr. Applefield holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, where he conducted research on eukaryotic protein synthesis. A native of North Carolina, Dr. Applefield attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, NC, and received a B.S. in Biology from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC.