UB receives $500,000 to build life science entrepreneurship in New York

Empire State Development recently awarded UB a $500,000 grant to implement two new programs that will cross-train science and management students to develop life science innovation across New York State.

The new 12-credit Life Science Entrepreneurship program will be available as a concentration in the School of Management’s top-ranked, full-time MBA program beginning this fall and will eventually be launched as an independent advanced graduate certificate. Both will leverage UB’s extensive relationships with the startup community, external partnerships and interdisciplinary collaboration to give students the critical skills they need to develop, launch and grow successful life sciences businesses.

The concentration will be the 10th option available to full-time UB MBAs who wish to build expertise in a specific business discipline.

Bob Neubert, clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship in the School of Management, will lead both initiatives. He says the programs will give business students a high-level science background, while science and medical majors will develop critical business skills.

“If a management student enters a biomedical company without scientific training, they’re at a disadvantage because it’s a very technical business,” he says. “Students in science or medicine can use those skills to get in the door, but they’ll need the management skills to advance.”

The programs are a partnership between the School of Management and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, with additional connections to the School of Law and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“Life science and biomedicine will have great impact on business in the next 20 years,” says Neubert. “Advances in medicine, genetics and personalization will lead the economy of the future and we want to build those businesses in Buffalo.”

The Life Science Entrepreneurship programs are part of a growing portfolio of interdisciplinary programs offered by the School of Management. The school’s 18 collaborative degrees allow students to bring business acumen, leadership and problem-solving to a wide array of industries.