Before the Spinout: Inside the Work of Yale's Blavatnik Fellows
Much of the work of building a company happens while a technology is still at the university. Four fellows describe defining experiments, assembling teams, and making the case for funding alongside Yale faculty.
Moving a life sciences discovery from a laboratory toward patients takes more than promising data. Faculty teams must identify the evidence needed to advance a technology, understand where it could fit in the market, and make decisions about development, funding, and the people needed to carry the work forward. At Yale, Blavatnik Fellows work alongside faculty and Yale Ventures through that process.
The one-year Blavatnik Fellowship brings life science professionals into Yale and New Haven’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Since 2018, the Blavatnik Fellowship at Yale has welcomed 31 fellows across nine cohorts. Fellows help faculty teams assess the commercial potential of their research and turn early ideas into development plans. Depending on the project, that work may include defining experiments, coordinating with research partners, building teams, and preparing for funding conversations. The fellows work with projects supported by the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale, a $65 million accelerator fund managed by Yale Ventures. Their role reflects the sustained work required to move a faculty discovery toward a potential new venture, a time horizon that can take up to ten years.
Yale Ventures’ current Blavatnik fellows Rena Yan, PhD; Nancy Sey, PhD; Ronak Savla, PhD; and Laura Stevens, PhD, are working across oncology, diagnostics, neurodegenerative disease, and women’s health. They shared what drew them to the fellowship and what they have learned about translating research.
Rena Yan, PhD: Developing a path for precision chemotherapy
Q: What drew you to the fellowship?
A: I wanted to explore innovations beyond my own scientific expertise and understand the technology, market, and path to patients. As an Extended Fellow, I spent an additional five months in operational training before moving into the 12-month entrepreneurship fellowship. That gave me experience supporting portfolio projects and working with contract research organizations. I’ve valued learning by doing: evaluating technologies, developing and pitching opportunities, and working with faculty, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Q: What are you working on with a Yale faculty team?
I’m working with Seth Herzon and Ranjit Bindra on Clove Hitch’s approach to precision chemotherapy. The goal is to exploit genetic vulnerabilities in tumors, including BRCA-mutant cancers, to damage cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Cancer has been a personal and scientific motivation for me, and I’m grateful to help develop an approach that could give patients more treatment options.
Nancy Sey, PhD: Expanding access to respiratory diagnostics
Q: What need is your project addressing?
A: I’m working with a Yale faculty team developing a rapid, low-cost test that uses a biomarker of the body’s response to infection to identify patients who are likely to have a respiratory viral infection. It could help determine who needs additional testing, especially where access to more complex tests is limited. The team brings clinical expertise in respiratory virology and diagnostics, and the technology has encouraging clinical data.
Q: What has surprised you about moving a discovery toward patients?
A: How much relationship building matters. Funding is essential, but so are the people who can help develop and advance an innovation. The fellowship has pushed me to strengthen my leadership skills and expand that network. It has also reinforced my interest in working at the intersection of science, investing, and company building.
Ronak Savla, PhD: Planning for therapies for neurodegenerative disease
Q: What are you working on?
A: I’m working with Dan Wu and Janghoo Lim on small-molecule therapies targeting a mechanism of neuronal cell death shared across multiple neurodegenerative diseases. There are few treatment options that do more than address symptoms. This research could provide a path toward treatments that change the course of disease, though substantial development work remains.
Q: What have you learned about the earliest stages of a venture?
A: Scientific innovation alone is not enough to attract the resources a project needs. Teams also need experienced leadership, a sound business model, a clear development plan, and an understanding of the market. I came to the fellowship to gain hands-on experience building a company and to develop my leadership skills. The work has strengthened my interest in both biotech investing and company creation.
Laura Stevens, PhD: Building a development program in women’s health
Q: What project are you helping advance?
A: I’m working on a continuous hormone-monitoring platform for perimenopause. Hormone levels can fluctuate significantly during this period, but there is limited understanding of how those changes relate to symptoms. The idea is to collect information over time that could help women understand those changes and, eventually, inform care. The technology is still at the concept stage. My work has focused on identifying the engineering and software expertise needed for a prototype, assembling a team, defining a development plan, and building the case for additional funding.
Q: What has the fellowship changed about your career goals?
A: I came in wanting to get closer to the decisions that move a technology from concept toward patients. The experience has shown me how much work happens before a university technology is ready to become a company. I still enjoy identifying promising science, but I also want to help build and carry out the strategy to advance it. For prospective fellows, curiosity and initiative matter: the fellowship gives you room to create opportunities and take ownership of the work.