From Academia to Industry: Giorgia’s Path in Bridging Science and Business Development

An interview with the SR-Tiget Alumna Giorgia Squeri .

Taking on the challenge of building a career outside of academia straight after a PhD could seem daunting to many. However, for Giorgia this transition was made possible thanks to her determination together with the invaluable experience and skills she gained working in a cutting-edge translational reality like SR-Tiget. In this interview, Giorgia reflects on the path that took her to her current stimulating position at the interface between science and business development.

Could you introduce yourself and outline your current role?

I am Giorgia, I worked at SR-Tiget for seven years, then moved to the Netherlands to join the gene therapy company uniQure Biopharma . Currently I am Senior Scientist and Business Development Liaison and I am based in Amsterdam - one of the three sites of uniQure.

Can you provide an overview of your current role?

I currently have a double role within the organization. As a Senior Scientist I support the development of several programs in our pipeline. More specifically, I am responsible for the ultimate design of in vivo studies, and for the statistical interpretation of data. In parallel, as a Business Development Liaison I act as a bridge between internal innovation and external business opportunities. This crosstalk happens in both directions, possibly resulting in novel collaborations, strategy realignment, and identification of marketable assets. Ultimately my day is always very dynamic, and requires a high degree of flexibility from my side. One moment, I might be deep in data analysis, and the next, I am on a call with external stakeholders discussing completely different topics. I find it very stimulating and rewarding.

Can you outline your career path at SR-Tiget and subsequent experiences?

As a Medical Biotechnology student with a passion for immunology and gene therapy, I felt drawn towards the work of Silvia Gregori and her research group . I joined her team as an undergraduate fellow, working on lentiviral engineering of antigen-specific regulatory T cells. I am very grateful to this experience as it exposed me to the multitude of projects within SR-Tiget and most of all, to the translational nature of the Institute. After realizing that what motivates me is to see the practical application of research work, I started a PhD focusing on the impact of anti-transgene immunity on ex-vivo gene therapy for MPS-I. Once graduated, seven years after first stepping foot in SR-Tiget, I realized it was time for me to take on a new challenge, and joined uniQure as Junior Scientist. Now I am approaching the 5 years marks within the company and I look back at a very dynamic career path. I initially progressed in seniority as a scientist inside the Research Department, then branched out into Business Development, learning to look at science from a different angle. ?

What words come to mind when you think about your experience at SR-Tiget?

Innovation, clinical translation, and pride.

What is the most important thing you learned from training in SR-Tiget that had an impact in the next steps of your career?

Not sure it counts as a learning, but SR-Tiget gave me daily proof of how transformative gene therapy can be for patient’s lives, and that realization had a huge impact on any career choice that came next. I think the Institute is a truly unique reality, where cutting edge science goes hand in hand with clinical applications. Being a part of it has truly felt like a privilege, moving ahead with my professional path, I owe to SR-Tiget the sense of urgency which motivates me every day.

Finally, what advice would you offer to junior scientists embarking on their careers?

Collaborate and support each other. It is true that walking alone is often faster, but walking together will get you further, and the path to transformative science is always a long one. And I’ll give you a second advice too: don’t forget to enjoy life outside the lab ??