Jacqueline Tiong

Jacqueline Tiong has a string of letters behind her name—PhD, MBA—but she knows that these letters did not represent the experience she needed to work in the industry.

Tiong had already earned her MBA from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in cell biology from UBC but still found herself looking for a job in the spring of 2003. So she applied for the WestLink Technology Commercialization Internship Program hoping to round off her extensive education with structured experience in fields that interested her.

Tiong's first placement was with University of British Columbia's University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) where she was a technology analyst. Her responsibilities include conducting novelty searches on invention disclosures and marketing university technologies to companies. Her placement at the UILO gave her the strong appreciation for the importance of intellectual property in technology commercialization.

She then moved to NDI Capital, a Vancouver-based biotechnology investment company that focuses on the neuroscience sector. One of the companies NDI Capital invested in was Allon Therapeutics, then a start-up company whose technology was six months from going to clinical trial on neuroprotective peptide that is used to treat Alzheimer's disease. Tiong conducted market research, business planning and assisted in filing the Investigational Drug Application with the FDA to get the drug to the clinics.

"Not many people get to see and be involved in the IND process," says Tiong. In fact, Tiong would see the full cycle of that progression since her third placement was with Allon Therapeutics and it is where she works today as Director of Corporate Development. But as an intern with Allon, she did "everything that they needed to be done" and she witnessed the process of bringing a drug from the bench to the clinic.

But as the Director of Corporate Development, Tiong doesn't participate in the clinical development side anymore, but still tracks its progress. Now, 80 per cent of her responsibility is in licensing and looking at new drugs to bring into the company. "Finding a new drug and convincing somebody to let you develop it is not an easy task," says Tiong. "The new drug has to fit our development strategy and be one that we can add value to. It's like looking for a soul mate—you have to find the right one at the right time."

As for the experience she was longing for when she applied to WestLink, Tiong thinks she made the right choice.

"WestLink is what you make of it," she says. "If you know what you want, you go for it and you have to make it happen for yourself. I was glad for the opportunity."