Following a Drug Through Development In Pursuit of a Passion - Victoria Niklas : 21

“I will always have deep empathy for patients and want to do the best that I can, but I feel very satisfied that I'm driving development of OHB 607, which has the potential to change the trajectory. So, I don't have to sit and remind myself why I'm doing that–there are patients on the other end.” Victoria NiklasHow can you break into biotech from academia without guilt, fear, or self-doubt? After listening to our guest, Victoria Niklas, in Episode 23 of the Emerging Biotech Leader, you may just have the answer to that question. Victoria is the Chief Medical Officer at Oak Hill Bio. As you’ll soon learn, she has been in pharma and biotech just shy of 10 years–7 to be exact. Prior to this time, Victoria was an academic neonatologist and translational scientist beginning at UCLA, rising through the ranks at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and finally returning to UCLA before taking her first industry role with Prolacta Bioscience as their first Chief Medical and Scientific Officer. 
In addition to our new guest and a new topic–we have a new guest host: SSI President Adam Schwartz, who is joined by Ramin. 
True to form, both get Victoria to open up and share more on the uncertainty and upside in pursuing a new path, especially in making the transition from academia to pharma to biotech. 
As a preview of what’s to come, Victoria shares more on: The skills she leveraged to make this career jump  How to keep an open mind and disregard stigmas about one sector vs. the other  Her experience in establishing a licensing agreement, along with the regulatory components of that  The role of the CMO  Embracing lifelong learning  No matter your career crossroads–big Pharma to biotech, academia to biotech, bedside medicine to biotech, we know you’ll find this interview invaluable.  
From One Sector To The Other - In Pursuit of ImpactWhile it’s still evolving some seven years in, Victoria’s pharma career includes a background in research spanning various roles, including time at Takeda. “My experience in research helped me develop a strong foundation and understanding of the scientific and medical aspects of drug development, which has been invaluable in my current role at Oak Hill Bio.”
Her first stepping stone into this world from academia came by way of a professional connection–just as she felt a nudge to pursue a new path. “I began to feel as if I wanted a bigger stage with which to have an impact, you know, particularly in the care of extremely premature newborns where drug development in that area doesn't rival that of other areas. In thinking about how to do that, I was very fortunate. I was approached by the CEO at Prolacta Bioscience, who said, ‘You know, we'd love to have you come and join us as our first chief medical and scientific officer.’ So I took that opportunity and never looked back.”
From Prolacta, she was then recruited to go work at Takeda to lead a drug pipeline focused on extremely premature newborns. Then, the work at Takeda led to Oak Hill Bio–a byproduct of them choosing to out-license that program. This next role, however, did require a different approach–she didn’t just apply and interview. Listen for specifics on how this all came together during the podcast.  On The Transferable Skills Required To Make A Move As we’ve discussed in previous episodes of The Emerging Biotech Leader, transferable skills go a long way when making a career pivot. 
Chris Morabito covers this topic in Episode 15 of The Emerging Biotech Leader. 
The key skills that helped Victoria transition from academia to