STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
LIU Brooklyn's Nini Fan Creates a Unique Biotech Consulting Firm Nini Fan, a graduate student at LIU Brooklyn, has a passion for business and science. She is currently pursuing both a Master’s in Biology concentration in Molecular-Cellular and Masters of Business Administration. This duel course of study led directly to the development of a unique business concept: a biotech consulting firm. The project, sponsored by Innovation Corps, a program administered by the New York City Regional Innovation Node (NYCRIN) for the National Science Foundation, will provide genomic sequencing services to local Brooklyn companies and researchers while also serving as a training program for biology students. The project team is led by Edgar Troudt, PhD, assistant dean for research and strategic partnerships in LIU Brooklyn’s School of Business, public administration and information sciences; Joseph Morin, PhD, professor and chairman of the Biology Department; and Jeanmaire Molina, PhD, assistant professor of biology. “LIU Brooklyn is at the forefront of science and tech entrepreneurship and this project exemplifies the potential of novel ideas that derive from deep science. In a sense, biotech is the new coding, using biological components
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LIU MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018
instead of a software algorithm to accomplish great advances. And with so many biotech companies located in close proximity of our Brooklyn campus, there are tremendous synergistic opportunities,” Troudt said. “Primarily, The Brooklyn InnoSeq is focusing on three projects,” Fan explains. The first is a Genomic Innovation Sequencing Core Facility that will work internally with the School of Pharmacy. The second project is a biotechnology Contract Research Organization (CRO) staffed by a team of experienced scientists and entrepreneurs that will potentially be funded by NSF - National Science Foundation (IGE) Program, to support LIU Brooklyn’s biology students with hands-on machine learning genomic technique and classroom/online bioinformatics training.
Nini Fan was honored with the Brooklyn Nets and NY Islanders young female entrepreneur award on March 21 at Barclay Center.
The third project, The Brooklyn InnoSeq, will promote its service through highresolution techniques while spontaneously outsourcing start-ups and organizations in the community, to connect the academic and biotech industry. Nini was honored with the Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders young female entrepreneur award this March at Barclays Center.
Nini Fan conducting research involving DNA sequencing, immunology and developmental biology in her LIU Brooklyn lab.