Celebrating female leaders in innovation and progress

March is Women’s History month, the perfect time to celebrate the achievements women have contributed to their fields. Rakhi Gibbons is the Director of Licensing and Intellectual Property (IP) at Tech Launch Arizona and is a wonderful example of a strong female leader. Gibbons oversees all licensing and IP operations at TLA and loves her position because “supporting and facilitating the translation and commercialization of research that has the potential to change lives and create impact in our community and the world is exciting and rewarding." 

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Over the years, Tech Launch Arizona has had the privilege of working with some amazing female inventors. "Women approach problems differently and provide a unique perspective that is often missing," says Gibbons. "Their increased engagement over the years has changed the culture of the research community with more women seeing themselves not only as researchers, but as innovators and entrepreneurs that can tackle challenges in a variety of fields.”  

In honor of this month, TLA would love to highlight two female innovators who have helped change the game through their work: Dr. Joyce Schroeder and Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz.

Blending Passion and Persistence to Fight Against Cancer

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Dr. Joyce Schroeder is a professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, BIO5 Institute, Cancer Biology – GIDP, and Genetics – GIDP. She holds a position in the College of Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, where her cancer research recently focused on a Peptide Therapeutic for Immune Response Activation against Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer. This technology activates the immune system to target cancer cells and is an effective pharmacological treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. She says she was inspired by her two passions, “biology and the desire to negate human suffering,” through which she has been able to use her expertise to create therapeutic interventions like the Peptide Therapeutic previously mentioned. Her advice to young women underscores the importance of resilience and finding supportive environments to thrive in challenging fields. 

Young scientists need to “accept that this is a really difficult field, to expect to be mostly disappointed (most hypotheses are wrong), and to find joy in the process. Setbacks can be overcome – but it takes perseverance and a lot of hard work. Find a scientific home that is supportive and encourages you to explore science with an open mind and rigor, and that also supports you as the multi-faceted human that you are. The universe is a beautifully complicated place, it won’t give up its secrets easily! But wow, it’s so worth it when it does.”

Revolutionizing Women’s Health Through FemTech 

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Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz is a professor of Basic Medical Sciences as well as an associate professor of Clinical Translational Sciences, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She works in the College of Medicine-Phoenix and the College of Basic Medical Science Department. Herbst-Kralovetz has a strong presence in the FemTech, and her laboratory aims to “disrupt women's health with this innovation, empowering women in their healthcare, offering timely diagnoses, improving outcomes, and ultimately saving lives.” One technology she’s developed and worked on with TLA is an early detection and diagnosis of gynecologic conditions through a collection of immunological checkpoint proteins. She describes the approach as “focused on non-invasive sampling coupled with advanced biomarker analysis for early detection, especially among underserved populations.” Women’s health is a field with many unanswered questions, and Herbst-Kralovetz loves it so much because “shaping the way that women receive their healthcare, providing alternatives to populations that struggle to access healthcare to improve women’s experiences, lives and outcomes” gives her motivation every day to keep innovating. To those who want to do something similar with their research, she says that “persistence and perseverance” are important and emphasizes the importance of thinking outside of the box in scientific endeavors.  

Both Drs. Schroeder and Herbst-Kralovetz are affiliated with the BIO5 Institute, which “aims to harness the collaborative power of five core disciplines – Agriculture, Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Science – to find bold solutions to complex, biology-based challenges affecting humanity.” 

Dr. Schroeder and Dr. Herbst-Kralovetz’s work advances science and technology while also inspiring innovators to push boundaries to make meaningful contributions to society. Tech Launch Arizona is proud to collaborate with such exceptional female scientists every day and see first-hand how diverse perspectives help push our world toward a better future.