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The Babraham Research Campus appoints Dr Karolina Zapadka to lead Accelerate@Babraham
The Babraham Research Campus is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Karolina Zapadka as Business Acceleration Manager for the Babraham Research Campus’ bio-incubator and life science accelerator, Accelerate@Babraham.
Karolina is a highly experienced biotech business developer, biophysical science consultant and physical chemist, who has been part of the Cambridge life science ecosystem for over eight years.
Karolina’s interest in life science entrepreneurship motivated her to join the Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable in 2013 before becoming a founding member, executive team member and Chief of Staff at the Global Innovation Forum in 2014. Here, she co-ordinated the activities of 13 international branches and managed over 120 people around the world, whilst also supporting various marketing and business development teams, developing strong relationships with various partners regionally, nationally and internationally – including investors, academic leaders, senior managers and CEO’s of biotech and big pharmaceutical companies.
In 2016 and 2017 Karolina was also a facilitator for the Ignite Programme at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Karolina started her career at Arecor - now a leader in developing superior biopharmaceuticals through the application of its innovative formulation technology platform - having attained a double research Master diploma in Chemistry, specialising in Spectroscopy and Photochemistry from Jagiellonion (Krakow, Poland) and Lund (Lund, Sweden) universities. After two years with Arecor, Karolina undertook a PhD in the stability of peptide therapeutics within the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, working closely with The Nanoscience Centre and Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre. Karolina’s PhD and postdoc research projects were funded by MedImmune, where she worked for more than five years, giving her first-hand experience of working in big Pharma and enabling her to establish a wide network of contacts within the industry.
Karolina commented of her appointment: “I am passionate about working with biotech and healthcare start-ups, promoting open innovation and helping entrepreneurs succeed. This new role will allow me to do all these things, which makes it an incredibly exciting opportunity. Our collective mission is to set up a world class acceleration programme for start-ups in life science and biotech, through access to top class mentors, investors, training and labs. We have labs ready to go and the acceleration programme itself will come to fruition this year too. I am thrilled to be part of Accelerate@Babraham and look forward to working with the BBT team, the current strategic partners, AstraZeneca, Medimmune, One Nucleus and RxCelerate to support new start-ups and collaborate with world class scientists from the Babraham Institute and the wider Cambridge ecosystem to improve bio-innovation locally, nationally and internationally.”
Derek Jones, CEO of Babraham Bioscience Technologies added: “We are delighted to welcome Karolina to the team. Her solid scientific background and extensive experience working with life science start-ups, makes her the ideal figurehead to lead the development of Accelerate@Babraham. As a team we are committed to creating an environment where scientific discovery and development can flourish - Karolina’s enthusiasm and distinct mix of skills are a very welcome addition as we continue to develop innovative ways to support the Cambridge life science cluster.”
Accelerate@Babraham is designed to support the earliest stages of new life-science ventures. Through the provision of easy-access laboratory and office space, together with supporting programmes of business, science, finance and entrepreneurial mentoring, the development of science concepts and the creation of new companies will be nurtured within the dynamic and diverse environment of the Babraham Research Campus. Endorsed by four key strategic partners, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, One Nucleus and RxCelerate, the concept is also supported by other organisations already based at the Babraham Research Campus, who will also provide mentoring and individual support to Accelerate@Babraham participants. The concept complements the Babraham Research Campus’ ongoing support of the Cambridge life science cluster through the provision of access to the campus community and infrastructure without the need to be an established occupier on site.
To discover more about Accelerate@Babraham please visit: https://www.babraham.com/accelerate-babraham/
Karolina is a highly experienced biotech business developer, biophysical science consultant and physical chemist, who has been part of the Cambridge life science ecosystem for over eight years.
Karolina’s interest in life science entrepreneurship motivated her to join the Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable in 2013 before becoming a founding member, executive team member and Chief of Staff at the Global Innovation Forum in 2014. Here, she co-ordinated the activities of 13 international branches and managed over 120 people around the world, whilst also supporting various marketing and business development teams, developing strong relationships with various partners regionally, nationally and internationally – including investors, academic leaders, senior managers and CEO’s of biotech and big pharmaceutical companies.
In 2016 and 2017 Karolina was also a facilitator for the Ignite Programme at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Karolina started her career at Arecor - now a leader in developing superior biopharmaceuticals through the application of its innovative formulation technology platform - having attained a double research Master diploma in Chemistry, specialising in Spectroscopy and Photochemistry from Jagiellonion (Krakow, Poland) and Lund (Lund, Sweden) universities. After two years with Arecor, Karolina undertook a PhD in the stability of peptide therapeutics within the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, working closely with The Nanoscience Centre and Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre. Karolina’s PhD and postdoc research projects were funded by MedImmune, where she worked for more than five years, giving her first-hand experience of working in big Pharma and enabling her to establish a wide network of contacts within the industry.
Karolina commented of her appointment: “I am passionate about working with biotech and healthcare start-ups, promoting open innovation and helping entrepreneurs succeed. This new role will allow me to do all these things, which makes it an incredibly exciting opportunity. Our collective mission is to set up a world class acceleration programme for start-ups in life science and biotech, through access to top class mentors, investors, training and labs. We have labs ready to go and the acceleration programme itself will come to fruition this year too. I am thrilled to be part of Accelerate@Babraham and look forward to working with the BBT team, the current strategic partners, AstraZeneca, Medimmune, One Nucleus and RxCelerate to support new start-ups and collaborate with world class scientists from the Babraham Institute and the wider Cambridge ecosystem to improve bio-innovation locally, nationally and internationally.”
Derek Jones, CEO of Babraham Bioscience Technologies added: “We are delighted to welcome Karolina to the team. Her solid scientific background and extensive experience working with life science start-ups, makes her the ideal figurehead to lead the development of Accelerate@Babraham. As a team we are committed to creating an environment where scientific discovery and development can flourish - Karolina’s enthusiasm and distinct mix of skills are a very welcome addition as we continue to develop innovative ways to support the Cambridge life science cluster.”
Accelerate@Babraham is designed to support the earliest stages of new life-science ventures. Through the provision of easy-access laboratory and office space, together with supporting programmes of business, science, finance and entrepreneurial mentoring, the development of science concepts and the creation of new companies will be nurtured within the dynamic and diverse environment of the Babraham Research Campus. Endorsed by four key strategic partners, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, One Nucleus and RxCelerate, the concept is also supported by other organisations already based at the Babraham Research Campus, who will also provide mentoring and individual support to Accelerate@Babraham participants. The concept complements the Babraham Research Campus’ ongoing support of the Cambridge life science cluster through the provision of access to the campus community and infrastructure without the need to be an established occupier on site.
To discover more about Accelerate@Babraham please visit: https://www.babraham.com/accelerate-babraham/