Pondering the cure for cancer, developing vaccines for genital herpes, seeking that next big scientific breakthrough and mopping a basement floor is a day in the life of this episode’s guest Dr. Jessica Baker Flechtner, Chief Scientific Officer and Biosciences Pioneer at Genocea Biosciences.
Jessica joined innovative biotech startup Genocea in 2007, soon after the company was founded, and played an essential role in progressing the small company through startup phase to going public. At the same time as building a company, Jessica used her 18+ years of experience in immunology, infectious diseases, cancer and vaccine treatment to lead the Genocea efforts to develop T cell-directed vaccines and immunotherapies.
Jessica is also a member of the prestigious 40 women over 40 for her passion project to encourage more young women to embark on careers in STEM – learn more about it here. She joins a number of our previous guests, 40 over 40 founder Whitney Johnson, Pamay Bassey and Celine Schillinger in this extraordinary forum.
In today’s episode, learn from Jessica’s journey and rationale for joining an innovative biosciences startup despite her illustrious research career; her key role in bringing a company from the acquisition of venture capital funding through to going public in year and how she and the Genocea team create a culture of discussing failure and celebrating success that helps them maintain their competitive edge in an ever-changing and demanding pharmaceutical industry. This episode is an intriguing soire into the life of a Biosciences startup pioneer and the challenges that come along with it, we hope you enjoy!