The entrepreneurial bridge builder: INVO’s Sonia Kim helps Northwestern innovators move discoveries from the lab to the marketplace.
We provide experiences that are educational and experiential, so our innovators have the support they need to realize their vision and pursue translation with clarity and confidence.”
Sonia Kim
Senior Director, New Ventures, Querrey InQbation Lab
For many academic researchers, the gulf between a lab discovery and a product hitting the public’s hands appears vast, even insurmountable. After all, the intricacies of the entrepreneur’s journey are frequently viewed as foreign and daunting.
Northwestern University innovators, however, have a capable ally in Sonia Kim.
An INVO team member since 2011 and now the senior director of new ventures at the Querrey InQbation Lab, Kim helps the University’s entrepreneurial-minded souls navigate the commercialization process.
Leveraging her own background as an entrepreneur as well as graduate degrees in education and cell biology from Harvard University and a four-year run at Stanford University’s Office of Technology Licensing, Kim crafts outcomes-oriented programming so Northwestern innovators can travel the translational timeline with passion and poise.
Eight years ago, for instance, Kim introduced the INVO Practicum, an internship program training research scientists to assess technologies for patentability and commercialization. Within the familiar confines of the University, the Practicum has enabled more than 70 Northwestern PhDs and postdocs to explore alternative, innovation-oriented careers outside academia.
In spring 2023, meanwhile, Kim spearheaded the debut of the Q Entrepreneurial Fellows program. The fellowship supports the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs while advancing Northwestern innovations toward commercialization. In the 2023-2024 academic year, four entrepreneurial fellows are being supported with salary, mentorship, and programming.
And this past fall, Kim steered the pilot of the Q Executives-in-Residency (EIR), a novel program allowing seasoned executives to embed at the University for one week. The EIR provides an infusion of business acumen and insight into actionable recommendations for both faculty and startups.
Kim’s rich background emboldens her to cross-fertilize research and technology with business, overcome perceived barriers, and create bridges for Northwestern innovators to thrive and see their discoveries impact the public at large.