February 20, 2026 • 58 mins
What does it really take to build a thriving biotech ecosystem and help breakthrough science reach patients? In this episode of Learning From Leaders, host Lili Clark sits down with Dr. Gabby Everett, Director of Business Operations and Strategy and site head at BioLabs Pegasus Park, to unpack the infrastructure, partnerships, and leadership that turn early-stage biotech ideas into real-world impact.
Gabby explains how BioLabs functions as a shared lab and office community where startups have the benefit (yes, benefit) to fail fast - a key aspect of biotech progression. They can adapt and progress quickly and access high-cost equipment without raising millions to get started. She walks through what “ecosystem building” looks like in practice, from connecting founders to advisors and investors, to creating the collaborations that spark innovation at the intersections of disciplines. You’ll also hear why companies are relocating to Dallas-Fort Worth, how Bridge Labs supports the next stage of growth, and what common mistakes early biotech teams make when scaling too quickly.
The conversation also explores leadership lessons from bench science, mentorship and sponsorship, and how the region can foster more women founders and future talent through hands-on student exposure to biotech careers.
Learn more about BioLabs Pegasus Park: https://www.biolabs.io/north-texas
Chapters: 00:00 - Show Open/Intro 00:48 - Meet Dr. Gabby Everett and BioLabs Pegasus Park 01:31 - What BioLabs is and how it supports startups 04:32 - From PhD scientist to biotech ecosystem builder 08:10 - Leadership lessons from trial-and-error research 10:25 - What it takes to grow a biotech ecosystem in Dallas 13:37 - BioLabs growth since opening and why it mattered 17:26 - Startup stages, bench-by-bench growth, and Bridge Labs 23:49 - Why biotech companies are choosing Dallas-Fort Worth 29:29 - Women in biotech leadership and building the next pipeline 46:25 - AI, automation, and what’s changing in biotech 51:42 - Rapid fire and closing
Episode Details:
Episode 2, Season 3
Host: Lili Clark | Vice Chair, The Cary Council; Senior Associate, LH Capital, Inc. / Lyda Hill Philanthropies
Guest: Dr. Gabby Everett | Director of Business Operations and Strategy, Site Head, BioLabs Pegasus Park
Producer: Dustin Magwire | Digital Media Senior Manager, Southwestern Medical Foundation - www.swmedical.org
Videography: Brazos Film & Video - www.brazosfilms.com
Disclaimer: The Southwestern Medical Foundation Podcast is intended solely for educational purposes. Nothing contained therein constitutes, nor should be interpreted as medical, healthcare, financial or legal advice.
Southwestern Medical Foundation strives for accuracy in its publications, including the Podcast. However, due to the nature of the topics discussed, there frequently is not a clear-cut “right answer.” Consequently, Southwestern Medical Foundation cannot guarantee the accuracy or sufficiency of any information presented.
The views of the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of their employers or affiliated organizations, nor Southwestern Medical Foundation, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center or the University of Texas System. The inclusion of any guest or mention of any product or service does not constitute an endorsement thereof, nor of any company, employer, or organization with which the guest, product, or service is affiliated.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Most of the experiments that you'regoing to do are going to fail.
That failure really teaches youresilience and it teaches you that
grit and it really tests your motivation,
right? This experimenthas failed six times,
but yet I'm going to wake up in themorning and I'm going to do it again.
(00:20):
Welcome to Learning From Leaders,
a podcast from Southwestern MedicalFoundation where we dive into a world of
wisdom, mentorship and innovation,
exploring the insights and life lessonsof seasoned community and business
leaders. I'm Michael McMahon,
president and CEO ofSouthwestern Medical Foundation.
I invite you to subscribe now and joinus on this empowering journey of growth
(00:42):
and leadership. Now,
let's learn from the best anddrive meaningful change together.
Welcome to Learning from Leaders,
the podcast where we explore howcommunity leaders are creating impact and
inspiring others.
Today we're talking about what it actuallytakes to build a biotech ecosystem,
going beyond great science and uncoveringthe infrastructure, the partnerships,
(01:03):
and the leadership that helpstartups move from idea to impact.
Our guest today is Dr. Gabby Everett,
the Director of BusinessOperations and Strategy,
and the site head at Biolabs Pegasus Park,
a shared lab and office space designedto help life science startups grow with
the resources and communitythat they need. Gabby,
thank you so much forjoining the show today.
Absolutely. Thank you for having.
(01:24):
Me. So to kick us off,
can you just tell us a little bit aboutwhat Biolabs is and what its mission is,
and tell us a littleabout your role there.
Sure, absolutely.
So Biolabs is a globalnetwork of shared office and
lab space, coworkingenvironment, but for science.
So half of the lab iswet lab space where our
(01:46):
scientists, our researchers,do their experiments,
and then the other half is office space.
And what's cool about Labs is thatit's more than infrastructure.
It's more than lab space.It's a community. So right now in our space in Dallas,
we are hosting about 20 biotech companies.
We call them our residents.So they're with us,
(02:09):
and it's just this reallybeautiful dynamic community of
researchers doing everythingfrom cancer therapeutics,
neurodegenerative,
all the way up to wearable medicaldevices and everything in between.
So the casual collisions and theconversations that happen within
labs is what makes it a special place.
(02:30):
As director of business ops andstrategy, my role is multifaceted.
One of my roles is to identifythese early stage life
sciences companies from all acrossthe North Texas region and beyond,
who would benefit from being ina coworking space like Biolabs,
recruit those companies intoour community. The next thing I
(02:54):
do is to help the companiesthat we have currently.
Our companies have needs,they have personnel needs,
they need recruiters,
they need people who canadvise on regulatory on CMC,
on every aspect of everythingon the pharmaceutical timeline.
(03:14):
So helping them connectto those resources.
If they need a certain piece ofequipment or access to a certain piece of
equipment,
it's my job to help them find thataccess and get that piece of equipment.
And then the third thing that I do,
probably I would say one of the funnestparts of my job is really this idea of
ecosystem building, right? Youmentioned ecosystem, and it's really,
(03:36):
you go back to early nerdy daysof biology in which an ecosystem
is this community of its network.
And if one aspect of that community andone piece of that network falls out,
the entire community crumbles. It'sreally the same way in biotech.
It's impossible to do it in avacuum. So building that community,
(03:57):
building the infrastructure and thepartners around our companies is another
cool thing that I get to do. Ultimately,
I would say that our goal is tohelp our researchers and their
companies survive this valley of death,
that people hear about thosevery early stages Of discovery,
(04:18):
help them survive long enoughto where their science matters.
And you can relate to that so much becauseyou have spent part of your career as
a scientist.
So can you talk about that a little bitand what that journey was into more of
the business ecosystemoperating part of it?
Yeah, absolutely. So I definitely startedout as I'm still an nerdy scientist.
I've got my signature,DNA earrings. So yeah,
(04:41):
I started out at thebench, did graduate school,
got a PhD in biochemistryfor at Texas a and m.
My goal and my research was to basically
kill every bacterial cellthat I could possibly find,
and it was very personal for me.
My Grammy got antibioticresistant staph infection in the
(05:04):
hospital. It nearly killed her.
So my research was my personalvendetta and crusade, again,
trying to kill the little jerks thattried to take out my grandmother.
So after that, after graduateschool, I went into industry,
joined a global life sciences company
doing industrial research,microbiology research.
(05:28):
I was there for about sixyears. And during that time,
I got to wear multiple hats.
I did from cradle all theway to post commercialization
support in that I came up with theresearch ideas. I tinkered in the
lab.
I worked with our Salesforce and ourcustomers to find out what needs they
(05:49):
needed to fill. I did budgets,I led teams, I wrote patents.
I worked with our sales team aboutwhat they can say out in the field
and how they can talk aboutthese complex products that we
were innovating and put them intolayman's terms for their customers.
(06:09):
Also got to work with marketingteams of like, Hey, Gabby,
can we say this on the label? Well,no, not unless you want to get sued.
So I really got to wear multiple hats,
and it was almost like being in a startup,
the biotech group and a largechemical company. And around,
again, six years in, Ifound this role at Biolabs,
(06:32):
and it was really kind ofthe mixture of science and
communication because again, you haveto work outwardly with the ecosystem.
You have to work inwardlywith your companies.
And bio Labs was in the middle of thisVenn diagram that included science comms
and also serving the community.
So I read the job description and thefirst line was we empower scientists.
(06:56):
So I was like, where do I start?
Well, that defines you perfectly.
Do you miss being a scientist and beingtruly at the bench all the time at all?
Don't? That's a really great question.
I figured that out maybeabout three or four years ago.
There was a moment in the lab whereI was helping out one of our research
scientists, and it dawnedon me. I was like, wow,
(07:18):
I don't necessarilymiss being at the bench.
I don't have to miss the science becauseI am ingrained in the science every
day when you're doing your PhDand when you're working in a lab,
you are very myopic and you'refocused very much on your specific
research. But I'm anall over science nerd.
So now my job is to understandeverybody's research.
(07:42):
So in honesty,
I have never felt closer to thescience than where I do now.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
So because you've kind of had yourhands on all of these different pieces,
I would imagine that that has served howyou're able to lead the Biolab team and
to be able to be a resource and acheerleader to your member companies.
Can you talk a little bit about whatelements from your life at the bench has
(08:07):
really kind of translated intoyour leadership at Biolabs?
Yeah, so it's really interesting. Science,
as you know, is very trial and error.
Most of the experiments that you'regoing to do are going to fail.
And the important part is that youlearn from that failure, right?
It's cliche,
(08:28):
but you learn more typically from afailed experiment than you do from a
successful one. That failurereally teaches you resilience,
and it teaches you that grit,
and it really tests your motivation.
This experiment has failed six times,
but yet I'm going to wake up in themorning and I'm going to do it again.
(08:51):
So you learn again, that resiliency,the ability to bounce back.
Another thing that you learn isdefinitely ownership of your mistakes.
Sometimes
your experiment fails becauseof something that you did.
You're talking to your lab mates,you're talking to your PI, and Ooh,
I forgot to add this one element,or I did it the wrong way.
(09:16):
So being able to own up toyour mistakes is very key.
But in order to own up to yourmistakes and feel comfortable admitting
them, your leader needsto be approachable,
needs to be authentic.
You have to be able to createthat kind of mental safety,
(09:38):
that emotional safetywith your team to be able
to admit those mistakes.
Well. And to your point,
making it an environment whereit's not just admitting them,
but really seeing them as a valuableexperience that can be useful going
forward. So I think in your role,
(09:58):
you've been so obviously incredible andhave brought so much energy to leading
these 20 plus companies that are in thebiolab space and being a resource and a
cheerleader for them.
But you also have been a huge cheerleaderfor this broader ecosystem and broader
biotech community in the DFW area.
Can you talk about what does thatreally look like in practice to be a
(10:21):
leader really trying to grow thisindustry in a place like Dallas?
So I love that question becauseit's two different styles.
Leading a team is very operational,
it's very execution.
It's make the day-to-day less
chaotic. Let's make it manageable.
(10:44):
It's about setting clearexpectations and having shared
goals moving forward. However,
on the ecosystem side,
it's very much alignment.
It's getting all of the pieces together.Again, building that ecosystem,
building that community,
and making sure that everybodyin that ecosystem has the ability
(11:08):
to interact with all ofthose different pieces.
So it's leadership withouttaking ownership or having
control over it.
Of course, it's really hardto build a biotech company,
whether it's capital intensive,
it's a really nuanced industry with alot of regulatory considerations like
(11:30):
raising capital, all of thesethings. What do you think,
whether at Biolabs, whichwe can get into later,
but also just buildingthis ecosystem in general,
what do you think lays the groundworkto make sure that more people with
big biotech ideas feel like they havethe groundwork needed to be successful in
scale?
(11:51):
Exactly. Collaboration is absolutely key.
I think that's one of the outstandingfeatures that this ecosystem has
is that whether you'rein Fort Worth working on
a medical device or a wearablemedical device or something in sports
tech in Frisco,
(12:11):
or if you are working intherapeutics at UT Southwestern,
these communities come together andthey collaborate with each other.
And it's very interesting becauseinnovation happens at those
intersections.
You have biology mixed withchemistry to make biochemistry,
and you have biology and physicsand biophysics and astrophysics and
(12:34):
paleo, botany.
You have all these complex sciencesthat come together and innovate
at those intersections.
And I feel like Biolabsenables those interactions.
And with that collaborationcomes, closeness, comes trust,
comes more collaboration.
(12:54):
So it's just this great thingthat's feeding off of each other,
and everyone is committedin our ecosystem,
and we all have that same shared goal.
And because of that ecosystem is lessof this thing that we're building,
and it's more of a verb,
and it's something that we're alldoing and we're all doing it together.
And I'd love to get intohow Biolabs has done.
(13:18):
It's such a lofty mission and goal,
and personally having spent a lot oftime there and having the pleasure of
getting to work with you on it, Gabby,
it's been really exciting to see howmuch has happened just in the last three,
four years since it's opened. I guesscoming up on the four year anniversary.
Four year anniversary.
March, I think I'd love tohear from you, first of all,
(13:42):
how are you kind of defining success?
What has growth in Biolabs lookedlike over the last few years?
And also Biolabs came to fruition inDallas at an interesting time where we
had a lot of groundwork builtfrom having the incredible UT
Southwestern right down the streetand all of these resources here.
What was Biolabs able tooffer at that moment in time,
(14:06):
March, 2022 when it opened?
Yeah, absolutely. Biolabswas really, I would say,
the missing piece of theecosystem. As you mentioned,
we have these powerhouseuniversities that are producing
incredible intellectual property andis churning out and spinning out this
incredible technology.
You have those same universitieschurning out fantastic talent.
(14:31):
We are the number one tech workforcein the country for a reason.
And it's because you had theseinstitutions making these STEM graduates.
You have groups like North Texasthat are that trade org side
that is the holdingplace for industry needs.
And those regulatory consultantsand advisors and mentors.
(14:54):
You have a group ofsophisticated investors in
biotech.
The piece that was missing wasthe infrastructure and just to
talk about how far we've come in thepast four years compared to where we
thought we were going to be.
We originally thought when we startedthis facility that, okay, one year in,
(15:16):
if we have five companies, ifwe're 25 to percent, 30 occupied,
that's what success lookslike. And instead, one year in,
we had close to 20companies and we were 75 to
80% occupied. Incredible. Soit was just this rapid growth,
and I think what that rapid growthrepresents is the fact that biotech was
(15:39):
already here. It was already churningand it was already strong in the north
Texas region. We just didn't havethe platform to actualize it here.
So what ended up happening is that thosecompanies that were coming out of UT
Southwestern,
if they wanted to find affordable labspace where they could fail quickly
and cheaply and de-risk their science,
(16:00):
they had to go someplace else.
So we've been able to capturethose companies and keep them here.
So if you build it, they will stay.
But what it's turned into is if youbuild it, they will come to you.
So a lot of our growth was from companiesthat weren't even from North Texas.
They were from Boston, NewYork, technology from Maryland,
(16:24):
Arizona, California.
Were even an international campusat Pegasus Park now with Universal
Diagnostics from Spain.
These companies came to us,
and a lot of them was because they sawthe great business climate in Texas,
or maybe they had partnershipsor doing clinical trials
(16:45):
at UT Southwestern. Sothey formed a lab here.
Some of them were basically boomerangswhere they did their PhDs at UT
Southwestern, moved to California,did graduate work, started a company,
and then went, huh,
I can go back home and bring mycompany with me and join this dynamic
growing ecosystem. So it's beenvery exciting to be a part of.
(17:09):
And that growth alsotriggered our newer lab space,
which is Bridge Labs.
So Biolabs is 32,000 square feet,
bridge Labs is 135,000 square feet,
and it's that what's next of Lab Space.
And for listeners who might not be asfamiliar as you are with what the growth
(17:31):
trajectory of some of these companieslooks like, can you talk about,
because you're doing so muchwork, obviously leading by labs,
but also have taken on leadinga lot of the work at Rich Labs,
can you talk about what stage is acompany when they're typically coming into
labs, do they have three peoplethere? Do they have 10 people there?
And at what point,
(17:53):
how are you building thepipeline of like, okay,
that's when you're ready to go ontothis kind of graduation lab space.
How do you help coach companiesor what have you seen around
their growth trajectory and making surethat they have the resources that they
need to your point to continue to stay?
Right, exactly. So theideal company I would say,
(18:14):
for Biolab is one of theseearly stage companies.
So maybe there are companies thatare spinning out of the university,
maybe they're independent startups,
but they're at that early stagewhere they're the most fragile.
And what I mean by that is thattheir science is very risky.
(18:34):
It's untested technology.
You may not understand themode of action of a particular
molecule in cancer, andbecause of that risk,
you're too risky for standard investors.
They want to be able to invest millionsof dollars in a technology that is
more proven, especially incurrent funding environments.
(18:59):
That level of risk is very difficult.
So we are great for companiesearly at that stage and great for
companies as they grow early stagecompanies, typically they're grant funded.
As they get grants,
they're able to reach moremilestones that make them attractive
to venture capital tothose early seed rounds,
(19:22):
but they're still not big enough tothe point where they can afford that
expensive equipment or they don'twant to lease that lab space
for two years. They're still, again,
in that very fragile point whereflexibility is key. So those are
the ideal places or companies forBiolabs. And as those companies grow,
(19:44):
we have single bench companiesthat are one six foot lab
bench. The CEO is the lead researcher,
is the lab tech.
And then we also have companies thatare in maybe three to four benches.
And then once they get more funding,they hop into a private lab,
they buy their own largeworkhorse pieces of equipment,
(20:08):
and then after that, they growinto even yet larger lab space.
But once they get to the point wherethey're at that higher level of funding,
series A, series B, they'rehiring on more people.
They're expanding their pipeline,they're gearing up for clinical trials,
they're buying their own equipment,and they need space for all of that.
At some point,
(20:28):
they get too big to pay bythe bench by the month at
Labs.
And that's where Bridge Labs comes inis that it's next of Lab space that
four to 8,000 square feet.
We also have larger lab spacefor bigger companies that have
graduated out of labs and are stillwith us at Pegasus Park campus.
(20:50):
But the beauty of Bridge Labs and reallyhow it fits into the whole story is
that it's great that if you have Bio Labs,
but if you don't have the What'sNext Lab space for those companies,
they're going to leave you anyway.
So.
It was a great strategicinvestment bringing
in Bridge Labs exactly when we did.
Yeah, and it is, I mean, it's interesting.
(21:12):
It is kind of unique for some ofthese really early stage companies.
They can't just go findany coworking space.
It would cost millions of dollars for acompany to build out their own lab space
with all the equipment that they need.So I imagine it's a huge value add,
not only to the companies,
but also VCs who are interestedin these early stage companies.
(21:34):
It's probably really valuable tosee that instead of having to spend
their hard earned capital onthree pieces of equipment, well,
then they can spend it on the scienceand recruiting awesome talent and all the
other things that are requiredto get their work done.
Can you talk about just some examplesof what sorts of things are happening in
(21:55):
these spaces? What are someof the companies doing and Bio Labs and Bridge Labs?
What is going on in there?
We have so many exciting storiesto tell, so many success stories.
We've had high growth companiesthat started with us maybe with
four people, moved up to 40 people.
Graduated.
(22:16):
Into our Bridge Lab space.
We've had spinouts ofcompanies. We've had companies.
One was from California,
the other one was from SMU.
Just by virtue of workingtogether in this co-working space,
formed their own spinout. We that'samazing. Have other companies now,
one is from Baylor and the other one isan independent startup that started here
(22:40):
in North Texas, and they'reworking together on a spin out.
So we've had many, many success stories.We've had several grant winners.
We've had a company,Jen Rab and Greenberg,
who I think was previously on the program.
Their company won agolden ticket at Bio Labs,
which grants them one year of labspace and the support that Bio Labs
(23:03):
provides, and of coursethe equipment access,
they went on to win another Goldenticket that was a global competition.
So they beat out Boston companiesand San Francisco companies to
win another year of lab space at Bio Labs.
And that year allowedthem to get next rounds of
(23:23):
funding. We've got a great company,
Atira Russell Hayward wasalso on the podcast as well.
His company went from ideato clinical trials in two
years,
and now they're in clinical trials inAustralia for their first in class small
molecule for cancer.
(23:44):
So it's been very exciting tosee what our companies have done.
Okay. So Gabby,
you're talking about all these companiesthat are coming from other states,
which is so exciting.
Can you talk about what they havefound so appealing about Dallas?
What is really drawing them here?
Yeah, I think what they'refinding is this really strong
multifaceted ecosystemthat checks all the boxes.
(24:08):
We have a very strong tradeorg with North Texas that
has consultants, advisors,
financial advisors, formerbiotech, CFOs, foss.
We've got a reallystrong access to capital.
So not just on the venture capitalside because we do have sophisticated
(24:32):
investors who have successfullyinvested in biotech.
And those successes havereached 10 billion in exits
in the past couple of yearswith Peloton and Reta.
Caris Life Sciences justwent public last year.
So we have a lot ofsuccesses and investors
(24:53):
that have been a part ofthat success with Texas.
We also have cprt,
cancer Prevention ResearchInstitute of Texas.
We also just passed DPR last year,
which is the Dementia Preventionand Research Institute of Texas.
Selectively,
those are billions of dollars instate grant money that go towards
(25:16):
early stage research intothat translational aspect of
how do we go from research toreality and into the clinic.
They have relocation grants.
So there have been companies thathave moved back to Texas because of
these relocation grants.We also have, I would say,
(25:37):
community buy-in,
not just from leadership and philanthropy,
but also on the economic development side.
Dallas Regional Chamberis a huge advocate for
biotech in the north Texas region.
So I think a lot of thatgoes into it especially.
And then there's the talent piece as well.North Texas or
(26:01):
Dallas is the numberone tech workforce that
site Selector magazine,
I think named North Texas asthe best talent tech workforce.
And that talent is comingout of our university.
So to give you an example of sizefor people who aren't from the
region, UT Arlington, for example,
(26:24):
student body of 40,000students, that is remarkable.
Presumably 25% of those studentsare going to graduate every year.
So that's 10,000 students.
And if you think about maybe 20 to30% of them are in some sort of tech,
some sort of stem,
that's two to 3000 graduates thatare ready enter the workforce in life
(26:45):
sciences, biomedical engineering, ai,
all of those things arepresent here in this region.
So I think that people who come heresee that we have all those elements,
and we're also very friendly.
We had a company that moved in fromBoston that started last month,
and their very first day in thelab, Lily, three other CEOs,
(27:09):
shook hands, introduced themselves.
They were eating lunch with adifferent company in the afternoon.
They were in the lab talking science toanother company the next day. Love that.
So immediately they were kindof brought in to the ecosystem.
Feel a sense of community right away.
Exactly.
So it's that sense of community belongingand just really shared vision for
(27:33):
the region that we all have. That's huge.
DFW is massive.
There are 8 million people in North Texas,
and that's more than theentire state of Massachusetts.
So being able tocollectively work together to
push the common goal of buildingan ecosystem for our founders,
(27:55):
the most important part.
It's a big coordinatedeffort. It really is.
It really is. And if youdon't have that effort,
and if you don't build that ecosystem,
what ends up happening is that theseincredible lifesaving technologies die on
the vine.
Biolab gives them the opportunity tomove forward and hopefully make it out
there to make a difference.
(28:15):
Yeah, make sure the science doesn't stayin the lab. You get the research done,
and then it's going to get to patientsand solve real world problems.
Exactly.
And the other cool thing is that thegraduate students and postdocs who
see our industry growing,
who participate in Nucleate, whichis a student run accelerator,
(28:36):
or the biotech club orthe consulting club,
those students see whatindustry is all about,
which is making them lookat their research from more of a translational level
of what am I doing right now that isgoing to make an impact and how can I
take my research and turn it into reality?
So it's really inspiringour industry growth.
(28:59):
It's inspiring a lot of new leaders.
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(29:19):
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I think one of the things I'd love to getyour thoughts on is you have gotten to
see what leadership looks like in somany different ways and how so many
different models of how companies aremaking sure that their next generation of
(29:41):
leaders are surrounded withthe right support and the right
resources and the rightenvironment to be successful.
I'd love to get your thoughtsspecifically on how do we make sure,
we've seen some,
increasingly so many incredible womenwho are running these companies,
but how do we make sure,
given that women in this industryare still pretty underrepresented,
(30:04):
how do we make sure that this nextgeneration of companies and existing large
companies are really laying the groundworkto foster that growth and making sure
that they're as welcoming and inclusiveand supportive as an environment as
possible?
Yeah, exactly. It's funny,
if you look at women in leadershipand in biotech in particular,
(30:27):
but across all industries, womenmake up about half of the workforce.
But if you look at those seniorlevel leadership positions in
particular C-Suite, CEO,
especially women make upmaybe 30% of leadership
roles. And again, when you get up to CEO,
that number drops into thelower teens percentage.
(30:51):
So I think that early on,
finding the women who wantto start companies and
fostering that growth, helpingthem to make those connections,
getting them involvedwith Alloy Therapeutics,
biotech Startup Academy,
(31:11):
bringing them intothese networking events,
I feel like all too often isthat graduate students, postdocs,
they're focusing so much on theirresearch and that's a great thing,
but it means they don'tget out of the lab.
So being able to draw them out and
(31:32):
introduce them to people andintroduce them to female founders and
female leaders,
that's key. We have so manyincredible female leaders in this
ecosystem, right? Totally.We have Lida, we have Nicole,
we've got Kelly, we have you, Kathleen,thank you. We've got you. Right.
So the list goes on andon of these amazing female leaders that are building and
(31:57):
fostering the ecosystem. But still,
when I'm sitting in a room with our CEOs,
I'm often the only woman in the room.
And I think that's starting to change.
So being able to show women at that level,
their trajectory and thatpathway of you have a cool
(32:19):
idea, Biolabs enablesthat cool idea. Totally.
So try it.
And we have this ecosystemthat's here to surround you and
support you and help youevery step of the way.
You're not at it alone.
You're not at it alone verymuch because it's a lonely job.
From what I hear from a CEOs, a diaryof a CEO e, I love that podcast too.
(32:43):
It's lonely and not havingto do it alone is great.
There's oftentimes where I see ourCEOs gathered around the cold brew
tap with their coffee and justsharing business development ideas and
regulatory consultants and looking througheach other's pitch deck And looking
through each other's grantproposals, helping each other.
(33:03):
So bringing those womeninto that environment is definitely something that we're
working on doing.
And then as biotech and life sciencesstarts to grow in North Texas,
particularly in Biomanufacturing and in
workforce development,
it's about finding those girls atan early stage and opening their
(33:26):
eyes and doing that career discoveryand showing them this pathway and
giving them great role models.And we've brought to that end,
we've brought about 400,450 students through labs,
through hands-on activitiesto show them, Hey,
here's this whole coolindustry that you can do that.
Is amazing.
(33:47):
It's fun.
And what's a typical, youhave students come through,
what do they get to do in the lab?
So it's a little bit of everythingright now because the lab is full,
which is awesome.
We don't have the open bench space tohave students come in and do hands-on
activities. But one of thethings that we've done,
we call it a day in the life of ascientist, where students come in,
(34:09):
they read their protocol for the day,they read their safety information,
and then they go into the lab and theydo a hands-on experiment for younger
groups. Maybe it's astrawberry, DNA isolation,
and they get to see this little booleof DNA at the end of a stick, right?
It's tangible. Oh, wow, that'sactually DNA. That's so cool.
(34:29):
And then they can take that experimenthome and show their families,
and that's an impact multiplier thatway. And for more advanced groups,
we do double restriction Enzyme Digest.
So you get your experiment started.You go eat lunch with your lab
mates, we bring in pizza,load 'em up full of pizza,
and typically have a panel of three orfour scientists from all different walks
(34:52):
of life to talk about howdid you get into science?
Where did you decide to go to school?More importantly, how did you pay for it?
How did you get into biotech and whydid you choose the field that you did?
So those students were able tolearn from those examples as well.
And then they go back into thelab, finish up their experiment,
and then do the data analysisat the end of the day.
(35:13):
So it's very much a snapshotof what it's like to be a bench
researcher. And then other groupsare more on the business side.
So we talk to them abouthere's the pathway from idea
all the way to commercialization,
and we teach them aboutpitch decks and hey,
(35:33):
go back into your little breakoutroom and y'all come up with an idea,
almost like a hackathon, come upwith an idea that you want to solve,
come up with a pitch deck,assign yourself roles as the CEO,
and just put yourself into that mindset.So we've done a lot of those different
kind of activities.
And it's so powerful to beable to show these kids.
There are a lot of different ways tobe in the biotech and health and life
(35:57):
sciences space. You might want to bea bench scientist, and that's awesome.
But also, all thesecompanies, to your point,
need A CEO or A CFO or someonewho can run their marketing.
There's a million ways to be partof this really exciting industry.
Yeah, exactly.
We've fortunately had a lot of ourbiotech community here on learning from
leaders. Two of those people wereNicole Small and Matt Cromme,
(36:20):
who we both have the pleasureof getting to work with.
And during that session,
we talked a lot about how PegasusPark and Bio Labs have served as such
instrumental ways to kindof bring together a lot of our higher ed institutions.
And the fact that youhave spin outs from SMU,
you have Spinouts from UT Arlington,you have Texas a and m training,
(36:41):
the workforce in BridgeLabs along with U Arlington.
Biolab does serve this unique role inbringing together all these different
pieces of the ecosystem,but not just like,
let's bring everyone togetherand see what happens.
You are also very intentional aroundfinding really tangible ways for groups to
collaborate. Can youtalk about some of that?
(37:03):
And not just on the university side,
you're bringing in VCs to come dooffice hours with these companies,
talk about how you're intentionallybringing together the right outside
resources to get infront of these companies.
And again, it is all aboutbuilding up that ecosystem.
If you're in the coasts on thecoasts and you're in a coffee
shop and you're an investor,
(37:24):
you can hear a company right nextto you talking about their biotech.
Or if you season veteransof CEOs who have been
there and done that and areserial entrepreneurs building the
next companies. It's all a flywheel.
And.
It comes from, again,
(37:44):
creating those collisions andcreating the environment where all of
those collisions happen,where people want to be.
Biolabs is a really cool space.
We had one of our research scientistscalled Biolabs, Pegasus Park,
the Google of biotech.I love that. It's great.
(38:05):
We create that platform againwhere people want to be,
opportunities for people to connect.Science is stressful enough,
especially in startup world,so we try to make it fun.
We have resident mixers,we have happy hours.
We bring in investors just tryingto create those contacts and
(38:28):
really introducing to people and makingthose contacts before they even know
that they need them. Totally.And so it's really, Pegasus Park,
I think in that way has become kind ofthe connective tissue of the ecosystem.
So Gabby,
you have this experience of bringingtogether all of these pieces to help
Biolabs resident companies solvelots of different problems.
(38:51):
Can you talk about what you areintentionally doing to help solve those
problems?
Sure. So I think fundamentallythe biggest problem that
Biolab solves is not needing
large investments early on. Again,
these companies are very fragile.
They're starting out with anidea that is extremely risky,
(39:14):
not having to go out andraise four to $5 million to
fully equip a lab space to beable to chase those questions.
That's absolutely one of the problems.
And the other thing withthe shared equipment,
and this is more nuanced that peopledon't think about is with shared
(39:34):
equipment.
What that means is that researchersdon't have to decide between
an experiment with a pieceof equipment that would,
for a confocal microscope, for example,
is the price of an entirecompany's annual budget.
Our companies no longer haveto make that decision between
(39:57):
reagents and buying tips versus doing that
fundamental experiment that's going tohelp them de-risk their science more.
And for any listeners who may not beaware of what a confocal microscope is,
can you give the onesentence on what that does?
Sure.
It's a microscope that helps you look
(40:17):
basically through alllevels of a cell or a
specimen. A lot of times there'sfluorescence tags involved.
So if you want to know wherea particular protein is
in a cell,
you can tag it with a fluorescentmolecule and turn a light on and see where
exactly it's located withina cell at kind of all
(40:41):
focal plants.
That is very cool.
And it's a cool piece of equipment.
So we have people who aredoing imaging research and
they're like, oh, man, it would becool if you have a confocal microscope.
And it's like, well, why walk this way?
Yeah. Well, I feel very luckyto have gotten your tour, Gabby,
of what Every piece of equipment.That being a non-scientist myself,
(41:02):
it is so much fun to walk through thatspace and learn what each piece of
equipment is really doingfor each of these companies.
It's just incredible to see thework that's going on in the space.
And it's a fun space.
And the other important thingabout labs is that all of our team,
we're all nerdy scientists.
(41:23):
We have bioengineers and geneticists and
biochemists,
so we can speak that languageto our companies so we can
help them solve problems whenthey come up and say, oh,
the plate reader isn't loading right. Or
they can even come to us and,Hey, my PCR isn't working,
(41:46):
and so we can listen to them.
Our company was made by scientistsand entrepreneurs for scientists and
entrepreneurs.
So it really creates that closedynamic between our team and our
researchers.
And you all at Labs havea whole global network.
So can you talk a little bit abouthow you kind of collectively,
(42:08):
how are you collaborating withmaybe the bio labs in Boston or in,
I think you have onein Paris or New Haven?
Yeah, we Tell us a little aboutthat. About the network. Yeah.
So it is a global network,
started in the BostonCambridge area in 2010.
And since then we've expanded to, gosh,
I think it's like 15 locationsglobally now. Cambridge,
(42:31):
Princeton, Tufts, NYU, Philly,
Yale Research Triangle Park, Vermont, la,
San Diego, Paris, Heidelberg,collaborations in Japan.
So yeah, it's this definitelythis very diverse network,
but we're also very close. All of thesite heads are on a call together weekly.
(42:55):
So if anyone has a particular problemthat their companies are trying to
solve, we can share knowledge.
That way.
What are some of the early mistakes thatyou see some companies making that you
try to help companies orresident companies get ahead of?
Yeah, exactly.
And I think one of thosefundamental mistakes is
(43:17):
scaling too quickly.
You don't necessarily need to buy that
$400,000 piece of equipment just yet.
So that,
and I think bringingin the right advisors,
starting with the end in mind,
(43:38):
being very intentional with experiments
in academics. When somethingdoesn't work, you're chasing, well,
why didn't it work? Right?
You're chasing sometimes themore fundamental aspects of
science, whereas inbiotech, in an industry,
your focus needs to be on thosemilestone experiments and on
(44:00):
those important results basically,
that are going to de-risktheir science. So I think
overbuilding over-leveraging tooquickly on space and on equipment,
and just not having focus on exactlywhat it is that you're trying
to push forward, be it a project,
(44:21):
or do I want to be a platformtechnology or do I want
to have a primary asset?
So being able to focus early is key.
And what do you think lookingforward with the work in this broader
ecosystem, we've seen someincredible success stories,
(44:42):
whether it's companies raisingreally successful rounds,
or UT Southwestern winning some really,really significant federal grants,
things like that. We've seen somuch progress with relocations.
What do you think is next on the docketto make sure gaps that we need to fill
to make sure that this ecosystemcontinues to expand successfully?
(45:05):
Great question.
I would say that one ofthe gaps is that early
stage funding, again,
biotechs at their earlystage, it's very risky.
So a lot of that gap isfilled by grant funding,
but at the same time,
you do have seed funding that isimportant for those companies,
(45:29):
and we're seeing a lotmore of that, right?
We're seeing investors where previouslythey would fly over or have a
layover in DFW are now wanting totake time out and come to Pegasus
Park and talk with our companies.
So we're seeing a lot more that way.
And really we're gettinga lot more traction
(45:51):
with professors and with thegraduate students and the postdocs,
they're the ones that actuallygo out and start the company.
So we have also other programsin the ecosystem like the
Biotech Startup Academy with AlloyTherapeutics that is working on training
that next generation ofbiotech CEOs and operators.
(46:13):
So I think we're starting tosee that flywheel kickstart.
Totally.
Yeah.
Could you talk about how the broaderindustry kind of nationally, globally,
is impacting what'sgoing on here in Dallas?
I can,
and you're going to think thatthis is a super canned answer and
cliche, but AI is doing a lot for biotech.
(46:37):
It's not replacing the scientists at all,
but it is making the science smarter.
And what that means isthat AI is helping us
identify red flags sooner in research,
helping us design better clinicaltrials that actually answer
(46:58):
the question.
There have been multiple times evenrecently that drugs have not been
approved because of poorclinical trial design.
So AI is helping us in thatway, and it's helping us,
I would say it's not de-riskingthe science all the way.
Obviously there is still that risk,
but it's helping us learn more fromour mistakes and from our failures.
(47:23):
And the other thing that leadsinto is high throughput science
and automation. Soinstead of historically,
if you've got a libraryof 10,000 compounds that
you want to test against a particularrare disease or enzyme that you want
to inhibit, you're doing all that by hand.
(47:43):
And now we have automation.
So you can screen those 10,000compounds in maybe a couple of days.
So that makes that piece ofequipment another impact multiplier.
So your scientists can do a lotmore with a lot less. It's huge,
which means that single person companies,
or if it's just you and yourresearch senior researcher,
(48:08):
you can have more shots on goal.
So it's really making a hugeimpact for the industry.
So switching gears for just a minute,
because this is a podcast aboutleadership, can you talk about,
of course,
every great leader as yourself hashad incredible mentors in their life.
Can you talk about a mentor that hasreally impacted you or helped shape your
(48:29):
view on leadership?
I have been very fortunateto have several mentors
throughout my career in multiple aspects.
My professor, RA Young in graduate school,
was a fantastic mentor,
and he knew individually what eachof his graduate students needed as
(48:51):
far as how they were betterable to be successful.
Some people needed to beprodded and encouraged.
Some people were more,
I need to learn how to fall flat onmy face and learn from that mistake,
and then I'll be better nexttime. That was more my style.
So I think through hismentorship and his example
(49:13):
as a leader taught me that everybody has a
different style that theywant to be led and mentored.
So with my team, for example,
so having conversations withthem of Help me help you,
how can I help you be thebest you in the lab space?
So I learned a lot from that.I've also had other mentors,
(49:37):
both on the hands-onscience who trained me on,
here's how you think about productdevelopment and here's how you think
about commercialization.
And then I've also had otherchampions, I would say.
So having a mentor is one thing,
and having that go-to personwho is where you want to
(49:59):
be that can help coach you throughthose next steps and through those
trials and help you learn fromyour mistakes and your failures.
But then there's also that champion whospeaks for you when you're not in the
room. I had a couple of greatchampions in my previous role,
Trudy Van Horn, who is anincredible leader in it here in DFW,
(50:22):
Christie Bonner.
And they were people who saw thatleadership in before I even did,
and they were the oneswho really encouraged me.
But part of having a mentor,
they don't come after you andthey don't fall from the sky.
So for anyone who is looking for thatmentor and looking for that champion,
(50:43):
you have to go out and findthem. You have to network,
you have to go to eventsbecause you've seek them out.
And they've beenincredibly helpful for me.
And when you were talkingto mentees of yours,
or when you're thinking about people outthere who are really interested in the
space or want to start a businessor want to get into biotech,
(51:05):
what is your advice for them? Whatdo you hope to impart on them?
Oh, wow. Biggest piece of advice. Again,
I think network,
you can network and interact withpeople who are, where you currently are,
other graduate students,
and then you can also network again withpeople who are where you want to be.
(51:30):
So if you're thinking thatyou want to start a company,
go talk to a CEO.
If you're thinking thatyou want to go into vc,
talk to someone in Venture.
So before we close, we have aquick rapid fire round for you.
So this is just quick firstthing that comes to mind. Okay.
(51:51):
The first question is, whatis your Go-to Work soundtrack?
So it depends on what I'm doing.
Okay.
If I'm doing,
I'm very lyrical in thatI sing along to songs of
course. So if I'm singing along,
I can't do that and focus onsomething important at the same time.
(52:11):
So if I'm working through somethingthat's a little bit more casual,
I'll listen to whatever music I want.
But if it's something where I reallyhave to sit and focus numbers, budgeting,
spreadsheets, all of that kind ofstuff, sometimes it's heavy metal,
sometimes it's Bollywood because Idon't understand what they're saying,
so I can't sing along.Other times it's classical.
(52:32):
So it really just depends on what I'mworking on and what my vibe is that day.
And then the first part ofthat, if you're just like,
you don't need to be in a spreadsheetor something, what is your go-to song?
I listen to all types of music, and Iknow that's cliche. Everyone's like, oh,
I'm eclectic. I listen to everythingI do for the most part. Listen,
I can see that for you. Yeah. Knowingyou, I can totally see that for you.
(52:54):
Right now, I'm, I'm reallyin an eighties vibe,
so Bruce Springsteen and Van Halenand Flock of Seagulls and Tears
for Fears.
I am that person who has my radioon full blast driving down the
highway with the windows down. Yeah.
Okay. So outside of biotech,
what is a topic or a hobbythat you love to nerd out on?
(53:17):
Again, as a science nerd, Ido nerd out on everything.
So YouTube videos,
Veritasium that talkabout physics and astro
that talk about astronomy. So Ilove all of that kind of stuff.
I also just like to hangout with my kiddo and make
(53:40):
bracelets, so a little bit of everything.
Love that. Love that. What is thebest perk about working at Biolabs?
Other than working with the people,
the people that I work withand the people who I work for,
they really make the spacewhat it is without our people.
That space is just a lab space,and it's just a building,
so it's the people that make ita community. Other than that,
(54:02):
we have a really cool bevy bubbly watermachine. It's excellent. It really is.
It's excellent. So I love having my, it.
Really, yeah. Goes one way.
Yeah, my Topo Chico andLaCroix on tap. That's great.
Yeah. Okay. If you could instantly masterone hobby or skill, what would it be?
I would love to be some languages.
I would love to be a polyglotand be able to speak five to six
(54:25):
different languages. I feel likespeaking someone's language,
figuratively and literally,that's the ultimate connector.
Okay. What is your comfortfood after a long day? My.
Grammy's macaroni.
Salad.
That.
Sounds delicious.
I still make it to this.
Day. Okay, so you got the recipe.
Oh, yeah. That's.
(54:45):
Good. It's not like a longstandingfamily secret or something.
Like that. No, and the beauty of it isthat it's written in her handwriting.
Oh, that's wonderful.Yeah. I love that. Okay.
What is a fun fact about you thatmight surprise your coworkers?
My coworkers know a lot about me,
but I think the fun fact thatwould surprise other people.
(55:06):
I have a blue belt in Kav Maga.
What.
They do. Yeah.
Happy. We've been working together forfour years, and I did not know this.
Yeah. Yeah. My family and Itrain a couple nights a week,
and then I've also done TaeKwonDo,so Brown Belt and TaeKwonDo,
Aikido training in Juujitsu. Amazing.How did you get into it? My dad? Yeah.
(55:28):
I started going with my dad ata very young age, like 10, 11.
And it teaches you, obviouslynot just the self-defense aspect,
but it also teaches you confidenceknowing that you can go out into the world
and literally face anything.
That's so cool. Yeah. Okay. What showare you currently binge watching?
(55:50):
Not really binge watchinganything, but we're slow.
Watching.
I will tell you,
I'm a junkie for periodslash historical dramas,
especially if it's historically accurate.
I love seeing and getting a feel forwhat life was like in the 16 hundreds and
the 18 hundreds. So is.
There one that you're loving right now?
(56:11):
Recently I watched PoleDark, which is a great show.
I like Downton Abbey, I like Victoria,
so anything, especiallyBritish history too.
I am into all of that kind of stuff.
Yeah. Okay.
My last question for you is what is onememe you wish would go away in 2026?
I wouldn't necessarilysay one particular meme,
(56:35):
but this whole idea of burnout,
culture of stress.
Being.
A badge of courage and a badge of honor.
These memes of surviving on coffee,
and you can sleep when you'redead and me after a long week,
and you're all frazzled, or thiswhole idea of hustle culture.
(56:58):
We look at those thingsand we laugh at them,
and we relate to them.
And.
That's the sad part. Right.
This whole idea of being overstressedand that being okay is normalized
instead of balance and wellness.
Yes.
And finding ways to have longevitywith enthusiasm for your work and all
(57:20):
those.
Things. Exactly. Yeah.
So you get to do very cool work.
Yeah, I do.
Okay. Well, Gabby, thankyou so much for joining us,
and thank you for all of the workthat you're doing for Biolab,
for your companies, for theregion. It does not go unnoticed.
So much of the growth of this industryover the last few years has been,
and thanks to you. So thank you for allof that you are doing for our community.
(57:42):
And to our listeners,
thank you so much for joiningus and learning from leaders.
We'll have some links in the descriptionwhere you can find out more about
Biolabs at Pegasus Park,
and be sure to follow formore conversations with inspiring Voices shaping our
community.
Thanks for listening to Learning fromLeaders. If you enjoyed this episode,
we invite you to subscribe now formonthly episode drops so that you can
(58:05):
continue to learn from experiencedbusiness and community leaders to help you
drive meaningful change in your community.
Most of the experiments that you'regoing to do are going to fail.
That failure really teaches youresilience and it teaches you that
grit and it really tests your motivation,
right? This experimenthas failed six times,
but yet I'm going to wake up in themorning and I'm going to do it again.
(00:20):
Welcome to Learning From Leaders,
a podcast from Southwestern MedicalFoundation where we dive into a world of
wisdom, mentorship and innovation,
exploring the insights and life lessonsof seasoned community and business
leaders. I'm Michael McMahon,
president and CEO ofSouthwestern Medical Foundation.
I invite you to subscribe now and joinus on this empowering journey of growth
(00:42):
and leadership. Now,
let's learn from the best anddrive meaningful change together.
Welcome to Learning from Leaders,
the podcast where we explore howcommunity leaders are creating impact and
inspiring others.
Today we're talking about what it actuallytakes to build a biotech ecosystem,
going beyond great science and uncoveringthe infrastructure, the partnerships,
(01:03):
and the leadership that helpstartups move from idea to impact.
Our guest today is Dr. Gabby Everett,
the Director of BusinessOperations and Strategy,
and the site head at Biolabs Pegasus Park,
a shared lab and office space designedto help life science startups grow with
the resources and communitythat they need. Gabby,
thank you so much forjoining the show today.
Absolutely. Thank you for having.
(01:24):
Me. So to kick us off,
can you just tell us a little bit aboutwhat Biolabs is and what its mission is,
and tell us a littleabout your role there.
Sure, absolutely.
So Biolabs is a globalnetwork of shared office and
lab space, coworkingenvironment, but for science.
So half of the lab iswet lab space where our
(01:46):
scientists, our researchers,do their experiments,
and then the other half is office space.
And what's cool about Labs is thatit's more than infrastructure.
It's more than lab space.It's a community. So right now in our space in Dallas,
we are hosting about 20 biotech companies.
We call them our residents.So they're with us,
(02:09):
and it's just this reallybeautiful dynamic community of
researchers doing everythingfrom cancer therapeutics,
neurodegenerative,
all the way up to wearable medicaldevices and everything in between.
So the casual collisions and theconversations that happen within
labs is what makes it a special place.
(02:30):
As director of business ops andstrategy, my role is multifaceted.
One of my roles is to identifythese early stage life
sciences companies from all acrossthe North Texas region and beyond,
who would benefit from being ina coworking space like Biolabs,
recruit those companies intoour community. The next thing I
(02:54):
do is to help the companiesthat we have currently.
Our companies have needs,they have personnel needs,
they need recruiters,
they need people who canadvise on regulatory on CMC,
on every aspect of everythingon the pharmaceutical timeline.
(03:14):
So helping them connectto those resources.
If they need a certain piece ofequipment or access to a certain piece of
equipment,
it's my job to help them find thataccess and get that piece of equipment.
And then the third thing that I do,
probably I would say one of the funnestparts of my job is really this idea of
ecosystem building, right? Youmentioned ecosystem, and it's really,
(03:36):
you go back to early nerdy daysof biology in which an ecosystem
is this community of its network.
And if one aspect of that community andone piece of that network falls out,
the entire community crumbles. It'sreally the same way in biotech.
It's impossible to do it in avacuum. So building that community,
(03:57):
building the infrastructure and thepartners around our companies is another
cool thing that I get to do. Ultimately,
I would say that our goal is tohelp our researchers and their
companies survive this valley of death,
that people hear about thosevery early stages Of discovery,
(04:18):
help them survive long enoughto where their science matters.
And you can relate to that so much becauseyou have spent part of your career as
a scientist.
So can you talk about that a little bitand what that journey was into more of
the business ecosystemoperating part of it?
Yeah, absolutely. So I definitely startedout as I'm still an nerdy scientist.
I've got my signature,DNA earrings. So yeah,
(04:41):
I started out at thebench, did graduate school,
got a PhD in biochemistryfor at Texas a and m.
My goal and my research was to basically
kill every bacterial cellthat I could possibly find,
and it was very personal for me.
My Grammy got antibioticresistant staph infection in the
(05:04):
hospital. It nearly killed her.
So my research was my personalvendetta and crusade, again,
trying to kill the little jerks thattried to take out my grandmother.
So after that, after graduateschool, I went into industry,
joined a global life sciences company
doing industrial research,microbiology research.
(05:28):
I was there for about sixyears. And during that time,
I got to wear multiple hats.
I did from cradle all theway to post commercialization
support in that I came up with theresearch ideas. I tinkered in the
lab.
I worked with our Salesforce and ourcustomers to find out what needs they
(05:49):
needed to fill. I did budgets,I led teams, I wrote patents.
I worked with our sales team aboutwhat they can say out in the field
and how they can talk aboutthese complex products that we
were innovating and put them intolayman's terms for their customers.
(06:09):
Also got to work with marketingteams of like, Hey, Gabby,
can we say this on the label? Well,no, not unless you want to get sued.
So I really got to wear multiple hats,
and it was almost like being in a startup,
the biotech group and a largechemical company. And around,
again, six years in, Ifound this role at Biolabs,
(06:32):
and it was really kind ofthe mixture of science and
communication because again, you haveto work outwardly with the ecosystem.
You have to work inwardlywith your companies.
And bio Labs was in the middle of thisVenn diagram that included science comms
and also serving the community.
So I read the job description and thefirst line was we empower scientists.
(06:56):
So I was like, where do I start?
Well, that defines you perfectly.
Do you miss being a scientist and beingtruly at the bench all the time at all?
Don't? That's a really great question.
I figured that out maybeabout three or four years ago.
There was a moment in the lab whereI was helping out one of our research
scientists, and it dawnedon me. I was like, wow,
(07:18):
I don't necessarilymiss being at the bench.
I don't have to miss the science becauseI am ingrained in the science every
day when you're doing your PhDand when you're working in a lab,
you are very myopic and you'refocused very much on your specific
research. But I'm anall over science nerd.
So now my job is to understandeverybody's research.
(07:42):
So in honesty,
I have never felt closer to thescience than where I do now.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
So because you've kind of had yourhands on all of these different pieces,
I would imagine that that has served howyou're able to lead the Biolab team and
to be able to be a resource and acheerleader to your member companies.
Can you talk a little bit about whatelements from your life at the bench has
(08:07):
really kind of translated intoyour leadership at Biolabs?
Yeah, so it's really interesting. Science,
as you know, is very trial and error.
Most of the experiments that you'regoing to do are going to fail.
And the important part is that youlearn from that failure, right?
It's cliche,
(08:28):
but you learn more typically from afailed experiment than you do from a
successful one. That failurereally teaches you resilience,
and it teaches you that grit,
and it really tests your motivation.
This experiment has failed six times,
but yet I'm going to wake up in themorning and I'm going to do it again.
(08:51):
So you learn again, that resiliency,the ability to bounce back.
Another thing that you learn isdefinitely ownership of your mistakes.
Sometimes
your experiment fails becauseof something that you did.
You're talking to your lab mates,you're talking to your PI, and Ooh,
I forgot to add this one element,or I did it the wrong way.
(09:16):
So being able to own up toyour mistakes is very key.
But in order to own up to yourmistakes and feel comfortable admitting
them, your leader needsto be approachable,
needs to be authentic.
You have to be able to createthat kind of mental safety,
(09:38):
that emotional safetywith your team to be able
to admit those mistakes.
Well. And to your point,
making it an environment whereit's not just admitting them,
but really seeing them as a valuableexperience that can be useful going
forward. So I think in your role,
(09:58):
you've been so obviously incredible andhave brought so much energy to leading
these 20 plus companies that are in thebiolab space and being a resource and a
cheerleader for them.
But you also have been a huge cheerleaderfor this broader ecosystem and broader
biotech community in the DFW area.
Can you talk about what does thatreally look like in practice to be a
(10:21):
leader really trying to grow thisindustry in a place like Dallas?
So I love that question becauseit's two different styles.
Leading a team is very operational,
it's very execution.
It's make the day-to-day less
chaotic. Let's make it manageable.
(10:44):
It's about setting clearexpectations and having shared
goals moving forward. However,
on the ecosystem side,
it's very much alignment.
It's getting all of the pieces together.Again, building that ecosystem,
building that community,
and making sure that everybodyin that ecosystem has the ability
(11:08):
to interact with all ofthose different pieces.
So it's leadership withouttaking ownership or having
control over it.
Of course, it's really hardto build a biotech company,
whether it's capital intensive,
it's a really nuanced industry with alot of regulatory considerations like
(11:30):
raising capital, all of thesethings. What do you think,
whether at Biolabs, whichwe can get into later,
but also just buildingthis ecosystem in general,
what do you think lays the groundworkto make sure that more people with
big biotech ideas feel like they havethe groundwork needed to be successful in
scale?
(11:51):
Exactly. Collaboration is absolutely key.
I think that's one of the outstandingfeatures that this ecosystem has
is that whether you'rein Fort Worth working on
a medical device or a wearablemedical device or something in sports
tech in Frisco,
(12:11):
or if you are working intherapeutics at UT Southwestern,
these communities come together andthey collaborate with each other.
And it's very interesting becauseinnovation happens at those
intersections.
You have biology mixed withchemistry to make biochemistry,
and you have biology and physicsand biophysics and astrophysics and
(12:34):
paleo, botany.
You have all these complex sciencesthat come together and innovate
at those intersections.
And I feel like Biolabsenables those interactions.
And with that collaborationcomes, closeness, comes trust,
comes more collaboration.
(12:54):
So it's just this great thingthat's feeding off of each other,
and everyone is committedin our ecosystem,
and we all have that same shared goal.
And because of that ecosystem is lessof this thing that we're building,
and it's more of a verb,
and it's something that we're alldoing and we're all doing it together.
And I'd love to get intohow Biolabs has done.
(13:18):
It's such a lofty mission and goal,
and personally having spent a lot oftime there and having the pleasure of
getting to work with you on it, Gabby,
it's been really exciting to see howmuch has happened just in the last three,
four years since it's opened. I guesscoming up on the four year anniversary.
Four year anniversary.
March, I think I'd love tohear from you, first of all,
(13:42):
how are you kind of defining success?
What has growth in Biolabs lookedlike over the last few years?
And also Biolabs came to fruition inDallas at an interesting time where we
had a lot of groundwork builtfrom having the incredible UT
Southwestern right down the streetand all of these resources here.
What was Biolabs able tooffer at that moment in time,
(14:06):
March, 2022 when it opened?
Yeah, absolutely. Biolabswas really, I would say,
the missing piece of theecosystem. As you mentioned,
we have these powerhouseuniversities that are producing
incredible intellectual property andis churning out and spinning out this
incredible technology.
You have those same universitieschurning out fantastic talent.
(14:31):
We are the number one tech workforcein the country for a reason.
And it's because you had theseinstitutions making these STEM graduates.
You have groups like North Texasthat are that trade org side
that is the holdingplace for industry needs.
And those regulatory consultantsand advisors and mentors.
(14:54):
You have a group ofsophisticated investors in
biotech.
The piece that was missing wasthe infrastructure and just to
talk about how far we've come in thepast four years compared to where we
thought we were going to be.
We originally thought when we startedthis facility that, okay, one year in,
(15:16):
if we have five companies, ifwe're 25 to percent, 30 occupied,
that's what success lookslike. And instead, one year in,
we had close to 20companies and we were 75 to
80% occupied. Incredible. Soit was just this rapid growth,
and I think what that rapid growthrepresents is the fact that biotech was
(15:39):
already here. It was already churningand it was already strong in the north
Texas region. We just didn't havethe platform to actualize it here.
So what ended up happening is that thosecompanies that were coming out of UT
Southwestern,
if they wanted to find affordable labspace where they could fail quickly
and cheaply and de-risk their science,
(16:00):
they had to go someplace else.
So we've been able to capturethose companies and keep them here.
So if you build it, they will stay.
But what it's turned into is if youbuild it, they will come to you.
So a lot of our growth was from companiesthat weren't even from North Texas.
They were from Boston, NewYork, technology from Maryland,
(16:24):
Arizona, California.
Were even an international campusat Pegasus Park now with Universal
Diagnostics from Spain.
These companies came to us,
and a lot of them was because they sawthe great business climate in Texas,
or maybe they had partnershipsor doing clinical trials
(16:45):
at UT Southwestern. Sothey formed a lab here.
Some of them were basically boomerangswhere they did their PhDs at UT
Southwestern, moved to California,did graduate work, started a company,
and then went, huh,
I can go back home and bring mycompany with me and join this dynamic
growing ecosystem. So it's beenvery exciting to be a part of.
(17:09):
And that growth alsotriggered our newer lab space,
which is Bridge Labs.
So Biolabs is 32,000 square feet,
bridge Labs is 135,000 square feet,
and it's that what's next of Lab Space.
And for listeners who might not be asfamiliar as you are with what the growth
(17:31):
trajectory of some of these companieslooks like, can you talk about,
because you're doing so muchwork, obviously leading by labs,
but also have taken on leadinga lot of the work at Rich Labs,
can you talk about what stage is acompany when they're typically coming into
labs, do they have three peoplethere? Do they have 10 people there?
And at what point,
(17:53):
how are you building thepipeline of like, okay,
that's when you're ready to go ontothis kind of graduation lab space.
How do you help coach companiesor what have you seen around
their growth trajectory and making surethat they have the resources that they
need to your point to continue to stay?
Right, exactly. So theideal company I would say,
(18:14):
for Biolab is one of theseearly stage companies.
So maybe there are companies thatare spinning out of the university,
maybe they're independent startups,
but they're at that early stagewhere they're the most fragile.
And what I mean by that is thattheir science is very risky.
(18:34):
It's untested technology.
You may not understand themode of action of a particular
molecule in cancer, andbecause of that risk,
you're too risky for standard investors.
They want to be able to invest millionsof dollars in a technology that is
more proven, especially incurrent funding environments.
(18:59):
That level of risk is very difficult.
So we are great for companiesearly at that stage and great for
companies as they grow early stagecompanies, typically they're grant funded.
As they get grants,
they're able to reach moremilestones that make them attractive
to venture capital tothose early seed rounds,
(19:22):
but they're still not big enough tothe point where they can afford that
expensive equipment or they don'twant to lease that lab space
for two years. They're still, again,
in that very fragile point whereflexibility is key. So those are
the ideal places or companies forBiolabs. And as those companies grow,
(19:44):
we have single bench companiesthat are one six foot lab
bench. The CEO is the lead researcher,
is the lab tech.
And then we also have companies thatare in maybe three to four benches.
And then once they get more funding,they hop into a private lab,
they buy their own largeworkhorse pieces of equipment,
(20:08):
and then after that, they growinto even yet larger lab space.
But once they get to the point wherethey're at that higher level of funding,
series A, series B, they'rehiring on more people.
They're expanding their pipeline,they're gearing up for clinical trials,
they're buying their own equipment,and they need space for all of that.
At some point,
(20:28):
they get too big to pay bythe bench by the month at
Labs.
And that's where Bridge Labs comes inis that it's next of Lab space that
four to 8,000 square feet.
We also have larger lab spacefor bigger companies that have
graduated out of labs and are stillwith us at Pegasus Park campus.
(20:50):
But the beauty of Bridge Labs and reallyhow it fits into the whole story is
that it's great that if you have Bio Labs,
but if you don't have the What'sNext Lab space for those companies,
they're going to leave you anyway.
So.
It was a great strategicinvestment bringing
in Bridge Labs exactly when we did.
Yeah, and it is, I mean, it's interesting.
(21:12):
It is kind of unique for some ofthese really early stage companies.
They can't just go findany coworking space.
It would cost millions of dollars for acompany to build out their own lab space
with all the equipment that they need.So I imagine it's a huge value add,
not only to the companies,
but also VCs who are interestedin these early stage companies.
(21:34):
It's probably really valuable tosee that instead of having to spend
their hard earned capital onthree pieces of equipment, well,
then they can spend it on the scienceand recruiting awesome talent and all the
other things that are requiredto get their work done.
Can you talk about just some examplesof what sorts of things are happening in
(21:55):
these spaces? What are someof the companies doing and Bio Labs and Bridge Labs?
What is going on in there?
We have so many exciting storiesto tell, so many success stories.
We've had high growth companiesthat started with us maybe with
four people, moved up to 40 people.
Graduated.
(22:16):
Into our Bridge Lab space.
We've had spinouts ofcompanies. We've had companies.
One was from California,
the other one was from SMU.
Just by virtue of workingtogether in this co-working space,
formed their own spinout. We that'samazing. Have other companies now,
one is from Baylor and the other one isan independent startup that started here
(22:40):
in North Texas, and they'reworking together on a spin out.
So we've had many, many success stories.We've had several grant winners.
We've had a company,Jen Rab and Greenberg,
who I think was previously on the program.
Their company won agolden ticket at Bio Labs,
which grants them one year of labspace and the support that Bio Labs
(23:03):
provides, and of coursethe equipment access,
they went on to win another Goldenticket that was a global competition.
So they beat out Boston companiesand San Francisco companies to
win another year of lab space at Bio Labs.
And that year allowedthem to get next rounds of
(23:23):
funding. We've got a great company,
Atira Russell Hayward wasalso on the podcast as well.
His company went from ideato clinical trials in two
years,
and now they're in clinical trials inAustralia for their first in class small
molecule for cancer.
(23:44):
So it's been very exciting tosee what our companies have done.
Okay. So Gabby,
you're talking about all these companiesthat are coming from other states,
which is so exciting.
Can you talk about what they havefound so appealing about Dallas?
What is really drawing them here?
Yeah, I think what they'refinding is this really strong
multifaceted ecosystemthat checks all the boxes.
(24:08):
We have a very strong tradeorg with North Texas that
has consultants, advisors,
financial advisors, formerbiotech, CFOs, foss.
We've got a reallystrong access to capital.
So not just on the venture capitalside because we do have sophisticated
(24:32):
investors who have successfullyinvested in biotech.
And those successes havereached 10 billion in exits
in the past couple of yearswith Peloton and Reta.
Caris Life Sciences justwent public last year.
So we have a lot ofsuccesses and investors
(24:53):
that have been a part ofthat success with Texas.
We also have cprt,
cancer Prevention ResearchInstitute of Texas.
We also just passed DPR last year,
which is the Dementia Preventionand Research Institute of Texas.
Selectively,
those are billions of dollars instate grant money that go towards
(25:16):
early stage research intothat translational aspect of
how do we go from research toreality and into the clinic.
They have relocation grants.
So there have been companies thathave moved back to Texas because of
these relocation grants.We also have, I would say,
(25:37):
community buy-in,
not just from leadership and philanthropy,
but also on the economic development side.
Dallas Regional Chamberis a huge advocate for
biotech in the north Texas region.
So I think a lot of thatgoes into it especially.
And then there's the talent piece as well.North Texas or
(26:01):
Dallas is the numberone tech workforce that
site Selector magazine,
I think named North Texas asthe best talent tech workforce.
And that talent is comingout of our university.
So to give you an example of sizefor people who aren't from the
region, UT Arlington, for example,
(26:24):
student body of 40,000students, that is remarkable.
Presumably 25% of those studentsare going to graduate every year.
So that's 10,000 students.
And if you think about maybe 20 to30% of them are in some sort of tech,
some sort of stem,
that's two to 3000 graduates thatare ready enter the workforce in life
(26:45):
sciences, biomedical engineering, ai,
all of those things arepresent here in this region.
So I think that people who come heresee that we have all those elements,
and we're also very friendly.
We had a company that moved in fromBoston that started last month,
and their very first day in thelab, Lily, three other CEOs,
(27:09):
shook hands, introduced themselves.
They were eating lunch with adifferent company in the afternoon.
They were in the lab talking science toanother company the next day. Love that.
So immediately they were kindof brought in to the ecosystem.
Feel a sense of community right away.
Exactly.
So it's that sense of community belongingand just really shared vision for
(27:33):
the region that we all have. That's huge.
DFW is massive.
There are 8 million people in North Texas,
and that's more than theentire state of Massachusetts.
So being able tocollectively work together to
push the common goal of buildingan ecosystem for our founders,
(27:55):
the most important part.
It's a big coordinatedeffort. It really is.
It really is. And if youdon't have that effort,
and if you don't build that ecosystem,
what ends up happening is that theseincredible lifesaving technologies die on
the vine.
Biolab gives them the opportunity tomove forward and hopefully make it out
there to make a difference.
(28:15):
Yeah, make sure the science doesn't stayin the lab. You get the research done,
and then it's going to get to patientsand solve real world problems.
Exactly.
And the other cool thing is that thegraduate students and postdocs who
see our industry growing,
who participate in Nucleate, whichis a student run accelerator,
(28:36):
or the biotech club orthe consulting club,
those students see whatindustry is all about,
which is making them lookat their research from more of a translational level
of what am I doing right now that isgoing to make an impact and how can I
take my research and turn it into reality?
So it's really inspiringour industry growth.
(28:59):
It's inspiring a lot of new leaders.
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(29:19):
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That's sw medical.org/give.
I think one of the things I'd love to getyour thoughts on is you have gotten to
see what leadership looks like in somany different ways and how so many
different models of how companies aremaking sure that their next generation of
(29:41):
leaders are surrounded withthe right support and the right
resources and the rightenvironment to be successful.
I'd love to get your thoughtsspecifically on how do we make sure,
we've seen some,
increasingly so many incredible womenwho are running these companies,
but how do we make sure,
given that women in this industryare still pretty underrepresented,
(30:04):
how do we make sure that this nextgeneration of companies and existing large
companies are really laying the groundworkto foster that growth and making sure
that they're as welcoming and inclusiveand supportive as an environment as
possible?
Yeah, exactly. It's funny,
if you look at women in leadershipand in biotech in particular,
(30:27):
but across all industries, womenmake up about half of the workforce.
But if you look at those seniorlevel leadership positions in
particular C-Suite, CEO,
especially women make upmaybe 30% of leadership
roles. And again, when you get up to CEO,
that number drops into thelower teens percentage.
(30:51):
So I think that early on,
finding the women who wantto start companies and
fostering that growth, helpingthem to make those connections,
getting them involvedwith Alloy Therapeutics,
biotech Startup Academy,
(31:11):
bringing them intothese networking events,
I feel like all too often isthat graduate students, postdocs,
they're focusing so much on theirresearch and that's a great thing,
but it means they don'tget out of the lab.
So being able to draw them out and
(31:32):
introduce them to people andintroduce them to female founders and
female leaders,
that's key. We have so manyincredible female leaders in this
ecosystem, right? Totally.We have Lida, we have Nicole,
we've got Kelly, we have you, Kathleen,thank you. We've got you. Right.
So the list goes on andon of these amazing female leaders that are building and
(31:57):
fostering the ecosystem. But still,
when I'm sitting in a room with our CEOs,
I'm often the only woman in the room.
And I think that's starting to change.
So being able to show women at that level,
their trajectory and thatpathway of you have a cool
(32:19):
idea, Biolabs enablesthat cool idea. Totally.
So try it.
And we have this ecosystemthat's here to surround you and
support you and help youevery step of the way.
You're not at it alone.
You're not at it alone verymuch because it's a lonely job.
From what I hear from a CEOs, a diaryof a CEO e, I love that podcast too.
(32:43):
It's lonely and not havingto do it alone is great.
There's oftentimes where I see ourCEOs gathered around the cold brew
tap with their coffee and justsharing business development ideas and
regulatory consultants and looking througheach other's pitch deck And looking
through each other's grantproposals, helping each other.
(33:03):
So bringing those womeninto that environment is definitely something that we're
working on doing.
And then as biotech and life sciencesstarts to grow in North Texas,
particularly in Biomanufacturing and in
workforce development,
it's about finding those girls atan early stage and opening their
(33:26):
eyes and doing that career discoveryand showing them this pathway and
giving them great role models.And we've brought to that end,
we've brought about 400,450 students through labs,
through hands-on activitiesto show them, Hey,
here's this whole coolindustry that you can do that.
Is amazing.
(33:47):
It's fun.
And what's a typical, youhave students come through,
what do they get to do in the lab?
So it's a little bit of everythingright now because the lab is full,
which is awesome.
We don't have the open bench space tohave students come in and do hands-on
activities. But one of thethings that we've done,
we call it a day in the life of ascientist, where students come in,
(34:09):
they read their protocol for the day,they read their safety information,
and then they go into the lab and theydo a hands-on experiment for younger
groups. Maybe it's astrawberry, DNA isolation,
and they get to see this little booleof DNA at the end of a stick, right?
It's tangible. Oh, wow, that'sactually DNA. That's so cool.
(34:29):
And then they can take that experimenthome and show their families,
and that's an impact multiplier thatway. And for more advanced groups,
we do double restriction Enzyme Digest.
So you get your experiment started.You go eat lunch with your lab
mates, we bring in pizza,load 'em up full of pizza,
and typically have a panel of three orfour scientists from all different walks
(34:52):
of life to talk about howdid you get into science?
Where did you decide to go to school?More importantly, how did you pay for it?
How did you get into biotech and whydid you choose the field that you did?
So those students were able tolearn from those examples as well.
And then they go back into thelab, finish up their experiment,
and then do the data analysisat the end of the day.
(35:13):
So it's very much a snapshotof what it's like to be a bench
researcher. And then other groupsare more on the business side.
So we talk to them abouthere's the pathway from idea
all the way to commercialization,
and we teach them aboutpitch decks and hey,
(35:33):
go back into your little breakoutroom and y'all come up with an idea,
almost like a hackathon, come upwith an idea that you want to solve,
come up with a pitch deck,assign yourself roles as the CEO,
and just put yourself into that mindset.So we've done a lot of those different
kind of activities.
And it's so powerful to beable to show these kids.
There are a lot of different ways tobe in the biotech and health and life
(35:57):
sciences space. You might want to bea bench scientist, and that's awesome.
But also, all thesecompanies, to your point,
need A CEO or A CFO or someonewho can run their marketing.
There's a million ways to be partof this really exciting industry.
Yeah, exactly.
We've fortunately had a lot of ourbiotech community here on learning from
leaders. Two of those people wereNicole Small and Matt Cromme,
(36:20):
who we both have the pleasureof getting to work with.
And during that session,
we talked a lot about how PegasusPark and Bio Labs have served as such
instrumental ways to kindof bring together a lot of our higher ed institutions.
And the fact that youhave spin outs from SMU,
you have Spinouts from UT Arlington,you have Texas a and m training,
(36:41):
the workforce in BridgeLabs along with U Arlington.
Biolab does serve this unique role inbringing together all these different
pieces of the ecosystem,but not just like,
let's bring everyone togetherand see what happens.
You are also very intentional aroundfinding really tangible ways for groups to
collaborate. Can youtalk about some of that?
(37:03):
And not just on the university side,
you're bringing in VCs to come dooffice hours with these companies,
talk about how you're intentionallybringing together the right outside
resources to get infront of these companies.
And again, it is all aboutbuilding up that ecosystem.
If you're in the coasts on thecoasts and you're in a coffee
shop and you're an investor,
(37:24):
you can hear a company right nextto you talking about their biotech.
Or if you season veteransof CEOs who have been
there and done that and areserial entrepreneurs building the
next companies. It's all a flywheel.
And.
It comes from, again,
(37:44):
creating those collisions andcreating the environment where all of
those collisions happen,where people want to be.
Biolabs is a really cool space.
We had one of our research scientistscalled Biolabs, Pegasus Park,
the Google of biotech.I love that. It's great.
(38:05):
We create that platform againwhere people want to be,
opportunities for people to connect.Science is stressful enough,
especially in startup world,so we try to make it fun.
We have resident mixers,we have happy hours.
We bring in investors just tryingto create those contacts and
(38:28):
really introducing to people and makingthose contacts before they even know
that they need them. Totally.And so it's really, Pegasus Park,
I think in that way has become kind ofthe connective tissue of the ecosystem.
So Gabby,
you have this experience of bringingtogether all of these pieces to help
Biolabs resident companies solvelots of different problems.
(38:51):
Can you talk about what you areintentionally doing to help solve those
problems?
Sure. So I think fundamentallythe biggest problem that
Biolab solves is not needing
large investments early on. Again,
these companies are very fragile.
They're starting out with anidea that is extremely risky,
(39:14):
not having to go out andraise four to $5 million to
fully equip a lab space to beable to chase those questions.
That's absolutely one of the problems.
And the other thing withthe shared equipment,
and this is more nuanced that peopledon't think about is with shared
(39:34):
equipment.
What that means is that researchersdon't have to decide between
an experiment with a pieceof equipment that would,
for a confocal microscope, for example,
is the price of an entirecompany's annual budget.
Our companies no longer haveto make that decision between
(39:57):
reagents and buying tips versus doing that
fundamental experiment that's going tohelp them de-risk their science more.
And for any listeners who may not beaware of what a confocal microscope is,
can you give the onesentence on what that does?
Sure.
It's a microscope that helps you look
(40:17):
basically through alllevels of a cell or a
specimen. A lot of times there'sfluorescence tags involved.
So if you want to know wherea particular protein is
in a cell,
you can tag it with a fluorescentmolecule and turn a light on and see where
exactly it's located withina cell at kind of all
(40:41):
focal plants.
That is very cool.
And it's a cool piece of equipment.
So we have people who aredoing imaging research and
they're like, oh, man, it would becool if you have a confocal microscope.
And it's like, well, why walk this way?
Yeah. Well, I feel very luckyto have gotten your tour, Gabby,
of what Every piece of equipment.That being a non-scientist myself,
(41:02):
it is so much fun to walk through thatspace and learn what each piece of
equipment is really doingfor each of these companies.
It's just incredible to see thework that's going on in the space.
And it's a fun space.
And the other important thingabout labs is that all of our team,
we're all nerdy scientists.
(41:23):
We have bioengineers and geneticists and
biochemists,
so we can speak that languageto our companies so we can
help them solve problems whenthey come up and say, oh,
the plate reader isn't loading right. Or
they can even come to us and,Hey, my PCR isn't working,
(41:46):
and so we can listen to them.
Our company was made by scientistsand entrepreneurs for scientists and
entrepreneurs.
So it really creates that closedynamic between our team and our
researchers.
And you all at Labs havea whole global network.
So can you talk a little bit abouthow you kind of collectively,
(42:08):
how are you collaborating withmaybe the bio labs in Boston or in,
I think you have onein Paris or New Haven?
Yeah, we Tell us a little aboutthat. About the network. Yeah.
So it is a global network,
started in the BostonCambridge area in 2010.
And since then we've expanded to, gosh,
I think it's like 15 locationsglobally now. Cambridge,
(42:31):
Princeton, Tufts, NYU, Philly,
Yale Research Triangle Park, Vermont, la,
San Diego, Paris, Heidelberg,collaborations in Japan.
So yeah, it's this definitelythis very diverse network,
but we're also very close. All of thesite heads are on a call together weekly.
(42:55):
So if anyone has a particular problemthat their companies are trying to
solve, we can share knowledge.
That way.
What are some of the early mistakes thatyou see some companies making that you
try to help companies orresident companies get ahead of?
Yeah, exactly.
And I think one of thosefundamental mistakes is
(43:17):
scaling too quickly.
You don't necessarily need to buy that
$400,000 piece of equipment just yet.
So that,
and I think bringingin the right advisors,
starting with the end in mind,
(43:38):
being very intentional with experiments
in academics. When somethingdoesn't work, you're chasing, well,
why didn't it work? Right?
You're chasing sometimes themore fundamental aspects of
science, whereas inbiotech, in an industry,
your focus needs to be on thosemilestone experiments and on
(44:00):
those important results basically,
that are going to de-risktheir science. So I think
overbuilding over-leveraging tooquickly on space and on equipment,
and just not having focus on exactlywhat it is that you're trying
to push forward, be it a project,
(44:21):
or do I want to be a platformtechnology or do I want
to have a primary asset?
So being able to focus early is key.
And what do you think lookingforward with the work in this broader
ecosystem, we've seen someincredible success stories,
(44:42):
whether it's companies raisingreally successful rounds,
or UT Southwestern winning some really,really significant federal grants,
things like that. We've seen somuch progress with relocations.
What do you think is next on the docketto make sure gaps that we need to fill
to make sure that this ecosystemcontinues to expand successfully?
(45:05):
Great question.
I would say that one ofthe gaps is that early
stage funding, again,
biotechs at their earlystage, it's very risky.
So a lot of that gap isfilled by grant funding,
but at the same time,
you do have seed funding that isimportant for those companies,
(45:29):
and we're seeing a lotmore of that, right?
We're seeing investors where previouslythey would fly over or have a
layover in DFW are now wanting totake time out and come to Pegasus
Park and talk with our companies.
So we're seeing a lot more that way.
And really we're gettinga lot more traction
(45:51):
with professors and with thegraduate students and the postdocs,
they're the ones that actuallygo out and start the company.
So we have also other programsin the ecosystem like the
Biotech Startup Academy with AlloyTherapeutics that is working on training
that next generation ofbiotech CEOs and operators.
(46:13):
So I think we're starting tosee that flywheel kickstart.
Totally.
Yeah.
Could you talk about how the broaderindustry kind of nationally, globally,
is impacting what'sgoing on here in Dallas?
I can,
and you're going to think thatthis is a super canned answer and
cliche, but AI is doing a lot for biotech.
(46:37):
It's not replacing the scientists at all,
but it is making the science smarter.
And what that means isthat AI is helping us
identify red flags sooner in research,
helping us design better clinicaltrials that actually answer
(46:58):
the question.
There have been multiple times evenrecently that drugs have not been
approved because of poorclinical trial design.
So AI is helping us in thatway, and it's helping us,
I would say it's not de-riskingthe science all the way.
Obviously there is still that risk,
but it's helping us learn more fromour mistakes and from our failures.
(47:23):
And the other thing that leadsinto is high throughput science
and automation. Soinstead of historically,
if you've got a libraryof 10,000 compounds that
you want to test against a particularrare disease or enzyme that you want
to inhibit, you're doing all that by hand.
(47:43):
And now we have automation.
So you can screen those 10,000compounds in maybe a couple of days.
So that makes that piece ofequipment another impact multiplier.
So your scientists can do a lotmore with a lot less. It's huge,
which means that single person companies,
or if it's just you and yourresearch senior researcher,
(48:08):
you can have more shots on goal.
So it's really making a hugeimpact for the industry.
So switching gears for just a minute,
because this is a podcast aboutleadership, can you talk about,
of course,
every great leader as yourself hashad incredible mentors in their life.
Can you talk about a mentor that hasreally impacted you or helped shape your
(48:29):
view on leadership?
I have been very fortunateto have several mentors
throughout my career in multiple aspects.
My professor, RA Young in graduate school,
was a fantastic mentor,
and he knew individually what eachof his graduate students needed as
(48:51):
far as how they were betterable to be successful.
Some people needed to beprodded and encouraged.
Some people were more,
I need to learn how to fall flat onmy face and learn from that mistake,
and then I'll be better nexttime. That was more my style.
So I think through hismentorship and his example
(49:13):
as a leader taught me that everybody has a
different style that theywant to be led and mentored.
So with my team, for example,
so having conversations withthem of Help me help you,
how can I help you be thebest you in the lab space?
So I learned a lot from that.I've also had other mentors,
(49:37):
both on the hands-onscience who trained me on,
here's how you think about productdevelopment and here's how you think
about commercialization.
And then I've also had otherchampions, I would say.
So having a mentor is one thing,
and having that go-to personwho is where you want to
(49:59):
be that can help coach you throughthose next steps and through those
trials and help you learn fromyour mistakes and your failures.
But then there's also that champion whospeaks for you when you're not in the
room. I had a couple of greatchampions in my previous role,
Trudy Van Horn, who is anincredible leader in it here in DFW,
(50:22):
Christie Bonner.
And they were people who saw thatleadership in before I even did,
and they were the oneswho really encouraged me.
But part of having a mentor,
they don't come after you andthey don't fall from the sky.
So for anyone who is looking for thatmentor and looking for that champion,
(50:43):
you have to go out and findthem. You have to network,
you have to go to eventsbecause you've seek them out.
And they've beenincredibly helpful for me.
And when you were talkingto mentees of yours,
or when you're thinking about people outthere who are really interested in the
space or want to start a businessor want to get into biotech,
(51:05):
what is your advice for them? Whatdo you hope to impart on them?
Oh, wow. Biggest piece of advice. Again,
I think network,
you can network and interact withpeople who are, where you currently are,
other graduate students,
and then you can also network again withpeople who are where you want to be.
(51:30):
So if you're thinking thatyou want to start a company,
go talk to a CEO.
If you're thinking thatyou want to go into vc,
talk to someone in Venture.
So before we close, we have aquick rapid fire round for you.
So this is just quick firstthing that comes to mind. Okay.
(51:51):
The first question is, whatis your Go-to Work soundtrack?
So it depends on what I'm doing.
Okay.
If I'm doing,
I'm very lyrical in thatI sing along to songs of
course. So if I'm singing along,
I can't do that and focus onsomething important at the same time.
(52:11):
So if I'm working through somethingthat's a little bit more casual,
I'll listen to whatever music I want.
But if it's something where I reallyhave to sit and focus numbers, budgeting,
spreadsheets, all of that kind ofstuff, sometimes it's heavy metal,
sometimes it's Bollywood because Idon't understand what they're saying,
so I can't sing along.Other times it's classical.
(52:32):
So it really just depends on what I'mworking on and what my vibe is that day.
And then the first part ofthat, if you're just like,
you don't need to be in a spreadsheetor something, what is your go-to song?
I listen to all types of music, and Iknow that's cliche. Everyone's like, oh,
I'm eclectic. I listen to everythingI do for the most part. Listen,
I can see that for you. Yeah. Knowingyou, I can totally see that for you.
(52:54):
Right now, I'm, I'm reallyin an eighties vibe,
so Bruce Springsteen and Van Halenand Flock of Seagulls and Tears
for Fears.
I am that person who has my radioon full blast driving down the
highway with the windows down. Yeah.
Okay. So outside of biotech,
what is a topic or a hobbythat you love to nerd out on?
(53:17):
Again, as a science nerd, Ido nerd out on everything.
So YouTube videos,
Veritasium that talkabout physics and astro
that talk about astronomy. So Ilove all of that kind of stuff.
I also just like to hangout with my kiddo and make
(53:40):
bracelets, so a little bit of everything.
Love that. Love that. What is thebest perk about working at Biolabs?
Other than working with the people,
the people that I work withand the people who I work for,
they really make the spacewhat it is without our people.
That space is just a lab space,and it's just a building,
so it's the people that make ita community. Other than that,
(54:02):
we have a really cool bevy bubbly watermachine. It's excellent. It really is.
It's excellent. So I love having my, it.
Really, yeah. Goes one way.
Yeah, my Topo Chico andLaCroix on tap. That's great.
Yeah. Okay. If you could instantly masterone hobby or skill, what would it be?
I would love to be some languages.
I would love to be a polyglotand be able to speak five to six
(54:25):
different languages. I feel likespeaking someone's language,
figuratively and literally,that's the ultimate connector.
Okay. What is your comfortfood after a long day? My.
Grammy's macaroni.
Salad.
That.
Sounds delicious.
I still make it to this.
Day. Okay, so you got the recipe.
Oh, yeah. That's.
(54:45):
Good. It's not like a longstandingfamily secret or something.
Like that. No, and the beauty of it isthat it's written in her handwriting.
Oh, that's wonderful.Yeah. I love that. Okay.
What is a fun fact about you thatmight surprise your coworkers?
My coworkers know a lot about me,
but I think the fun fact thatwould surprise other people.
(55:06):
I have a blue belt in Kav Maga.
What.
They do. Yeah.
Happy. We've been working together forfour years, and I did not know this.
Yeah. Yeah. My family and Itrain a couple nights a week,
and then I've also done TaeKwonDo,so Brown Belt and TaeKwonDo,
Aikido training in Juujitsu. Amazing.How did you get into it? My dad? Yeah.
(55:28):
I started going with my dad ata very young age, like 10, 11.
And it teaches you, obviouslynot just the self-defense aspect,
but it also teaches you confidenceknowing that you can go out into the world
and literally face anything.
That's so cool. Yeah. Okay. What showare you currently binge watching?
(55:50):
Not really binge watchinganything, but we're slow.
Watching.
I will tell you,
I'm a junkie for periodslash historical dramas,
especially if it's historically accurate.
I love seeing and getting a feel forwhat life was like in the 16 hundreds and
the 18 hundreds. So is.
There one that you're loving right now?
(56:11):
Recently I watched PoleDark, which is a great show.
I like Downton Abbey, I like Victoria,
so anything, especiallyBritish history too.
I am into all of that kind of stuff.
Yeah. Okay.
My last question for you is what is onememe you wish would go away in 2026?
I wouldn't necessarilysay one particular meme,
(56:35):
but this whole idea of burnout,
culture of stress.
Being.
A badge of courage and a badge of honor.
These memes of surviving on coffee,
and you can sleep when you'redead and me after a long week,
and you're all frazzled, or thiswhole idea of hustle culture.
(56:58):
We look at those thingsand we laugh at them,
and we relate to them.
And.
That's the sad part. Right.
This whole idea of being overstressedand that being okay is normalized
instead of balance and wellness.
Yes.
And finding ways to have longevitywith enthusiasm for your work and all
(57:20):
those.
Things. Exactly. Yeah.
So you get to do very cool work.
Yeah, I do.
Okay. Well, Gabby, thankyou so much for joining us,
and thank you for all of the workthat you're doing for Biolab,
for your companies, for theregion. It does not go unnoticed.
So much of the growth of this industryover the last few years has been,
and thanks to you. So thank you for allof that you are doing for our community.
(57:42):
And to our listeners,
thank you so much for joiningus and learning from leaders.
We'll have some links in the descriptionwhere you can find out more about
Biolabs at Pegasus Park,
and be sure to follow formore conversations with inspiring Voices shaping our
community.
Thanks for listening to Learning fromLeaders. If you enjoyed this episode,
we invite you to subscribe now formonthly episode drops so that you can
(58:05):
continue to learn from experiencedbusiness and community leaders to help you
drive meaningful change in your community.
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