Cancer researcher Elizabeth Iorns now a fearless entrepreneur

Two years ago, alumna Elizabeth Iorns was featured in the Ingenio ‘40 Under 40’ list, and would still make that list today. In June, she’s heading back to Auckland from her home in California for ‘Fall Forward: Unfiltered Live’, an event in which people can “learn directly from the world’s greatest business minds”.

“Actually, I don’t necessarily think of myself as a ‘business mind’,” says Elizabeth. “I think one of the most important things is to work on something you really believe in.”

Her belief was that there was a need to connect scientists with each other to enable efficient collaboration without the administrative hurdles traditionally associated with that process. She set up Science Exchange, which has grown rapidly in the past few years. It has raised around $US60 million in venture capital funding.

“Science Exchange has continued to scale and is now used widely across the pharma and biotechnology industry,” says Elizabeth. “Basically, it’s a marketplace for ordering scientific experiments. It allows scientists to work with anyone in the world, instantly accelerating scientific development.”

Elizabeth’s start-up feat will be recognised on 20 June with a Kea World Class New Zealand Award. The awards acknowledge world-leading Kiwis whose achievements are enhancing New Zealand’s image internationally.

Previously, Elizabeth was a breast cancer researcher who knew all too well the hurdles to scientific collaboration.

“As a researcher, I had problems finding qualified providers, deciding who to work with, putting contracts in place and even paying providers. With Science Exchange, I can search a database of qualified providers, place an order instantly and pay through the platform.

“It really streamlines the process of collaborating with external partners.”

Her own research is on the backburner, although she says she’s still interested in scientific research. “I keep up with the latest breakthroughs in the pharma and biotech industry through Science Exchange’s clients. I’m also involved with several biotech start-ups and work as an adviser at Y Combinator [an early stage investor].”

She also publishes as a principal investigator, mostly related to the cancer biology reproducibility project being run through Science Exchange.

Elizabeth, who attended Iona College in Havelock North, says her father sparked her love of science. “We would talk about science and technology around the dinner table – both my parents are computer programmers and love technology.”

She completed her biomedical science degree at the University of Auckland in 2003 and her PhD at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, in 2007. She fondly remembers her time at Auckland.

“Professor Andrew Shelling [head of medical genetics] was the first person who was a career mentor for me. I worked in his lab as a summer intern and then for my honours thesis.

She doesn’t have a business background which makes her company motto ‘Be Fearless’ particularly apt. “Fearless is one of our five company values … being fearless is very important. Generally, change is hard and when you are running a start-up, most of the time you are pushing against the status quo. You need to be brave enough to challenge the status quo and try to create a better system.”

Her co-founder at Science Exchange, Dan Knox, is also a Kiwi and works with her in California. “And our chief architect, David, is my brother. He’s a computer programmer and works remotely from Wellington.

“There has never been a more exciting time to start a biotech company – innovation has reached a level of maturity that can be utilised for tackling previously unaddressable targets,” says Elizabeth. “There is also significant capital available to fund the commercialisation of these technologies.”

The message she’s bringing to Unfiltered is one she lives by: “Work on something you care deeply about.”

Fall Forward: Unfiltered Live is a full-day event for business leaders and entrepreneurs to learn from some of the best business minds, including several Auckland alumni. It’s on 21 June at SkyCity. Each speaker shares their three biggest mistakes made in business and what they learned.

Alumni, staff and students can use the code ‘UOA20’ when they register for a 20 percent discount. (Limited to first 200 tickets.) See unfilteredlive.co.nz