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Harvard Business School (HBS) has named its 2024-25 Blavatnik Fellows and the program’s eleventh cohort. Launched in 2013, the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship is part of a gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to Harvard University. The Blavatnik Fellowship offers HBS alumni and Harvard-affiliated postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to advance new ventures around promising life science technologies and develop their leadership talents during a 12-month fellowship year. Fellows work closely with leading biotech industry and biomedical authorities, receive programmatic guidance and mentorship, and join a community of entrepreneurs who have created 45 companies and raised over $520M in funding to impact the business of science.
To date, Blavatnik Fellows have created companies in biomedical industries including a novel enzymatic RNA synthesis platform, an immune system-driven dendritic cell therapy to combat cancer, new molecular technologies for the delivery of transdermal formulations, a lipid-targeting drug to treat cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, and AI-driven medical companions to help patients conquer sleep-related disorders and manage the symptoms during oncology treatment. They have collectively raised more than $520 million in funding and an additional $244 million from an IPO in June 2020. The Blavatnik Fellowship is guided by Peter Barrett, Harvard Business School executive fellow, PhD; and the key advisory board of 13 seasoned business and biotechnology leaders who serve as one-on-one mentors and provide strategic direction during the fellows’ program year.
