Technology Diligence

SmartHealth Catalyzer creates new ventures built around life sciences research at Midwest universities and research hospitals. We bring together talented and enthusiastic PhD, MBA, and MD students to work as an integral part of SmartHealth’s investment diligence process.

We seek students who take initiative on new projects and demonstrate an interest in entrepreneurship and life sciences. The externship will allow students to learn about the creation of biotech startups by working with entrepreneurs and investors. 

Externs will work in teams of 3 to provide the initial assessment of the potential for multiple new technologies from leading Midwest research universities. This will involve reviewing technology summaries, Google, and academic literature and searching and synthesizing information into a structured format to provide each technology with a score in various categories. The team will interact at least weekly with SmartHealth’s VP of Venture Creation and other senior members of the team.

Work will be primarily computer focused with phone calls or video chats with the team members as needed. It will also entail one weekly video check-in as a larger team for up to 90 minutes. Total time commitment is expected to be 8 to 10 hours per week. This externship is unpaid and currently structured to be entirely virtual. Aside from team meetings, work can be done at any convenient time.

This is a one-quarter (10-week) commitment. However, the opportunity may exist to extend for a 2nd quarter to assist in training incoming externs if mutually agreeable between SmartHealth and the extern.

This externship is a great way to explore your interest in working with science investors focused on the earliest stages and entrepreneurs. The externship will afford students the experience of systematically evaluating science discoveries for the potential to build a startup. It will also provide significant opportunities for science, medical, and business school students to learn from each other.

For Ph.D. students working in a lab with more translational or applied research, the externship will help refine your intuition for which of your projects may have more commercial potential.