The University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group has named accomplished entrepreneur, board member and executive Lisa Bowers managing director of its new Enterprise Studio, a facility in downtown Charlottesville designed specifically for faculty and graduate students who would like help commercializing their research.
The Studio is a partnership between UVA LVG and UVA Innovates, a pan-University initiative led by Darden School of Business Professor Michael Lenox. The Studio will eventually be located in a new 5,000 square-foot space on Preston Ave. above Kardinal Hall. It is intended to be a partner and complimentary organization for The Foundry, the new center on The Corner that is dedicated specifically to undergraduate entrepreneurship and innovation.
“We wanted to create a ‘front door,’” Lenox said, “for faculty, post-docs, graduate researchers, and potentially others who are interested in translating ideas and concepts into impactful ventures — whether it be the creation of commercial entities or non-profits.”
Licensing & Ventures Group Executive Director Richard W. Chylla said Bowers was the ideal choice to lead the Studio.
“There was a great deal of interest in this job, and no shortage of qualified applicants,” Chylla said, “but what separated Lisa was her passion and dedication to making the world a better place through innovation and entrepreneurship; she has a proven track record of doing just that. Lisa’s approach goes hand in hand with President Jim Ryan’s mission for the University to be both great and good.
“We also appreciated Lisa’s early focus on collaborating throughout the UVA and Charlottesville ecosystems. She comes to this job believing that the Studio will do its best work in partnership across not only Grounds but across the city.”
Bowers, who attended high school in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan, moved to Charlottesville from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2023. In California, she was the chief commercial officer of Day One Bio, a public biotech company dedicated to pediatric oncology. Prior to that role, she was the founder and chief executive officer of Rhia Ventures, a social venture investment organization focused on reproductive health.
Bowers had an extensive career at Genentech/Roche in San Francisco. She held profit and loss accountability for Genentech’s $400 million cystic fibrosis business and was the head of the North American supply chain region, accountable for $20 billion of medicine across the United States and Canada. In addition, she was responsible for all of Genentech’s operations associated with patient support services, and, early in her career there, she led the analytical team for the launch of Avastin, a ground-breaking oncology treatment for patients. Bowers has also been a board member for Dice Therapeutics, an immunology company acquired by Eli Lilly in 2023, and a board observer for Cadence Health.
In her new role at LVG, Bowers will do a little bit of everything. From lending her expertise to founders and hosting workshops, to fostering alumni networks and mentoring and creating pipelines within the Charlottesville entrepreneurial community, Bowers wants to make her office a one-stop shop for faculty and graduate students who have a nascent idea they want to commercialize. She sees the Studio working in concert with the many other entrepreneurial support organizations across Charlottesville who serve more mature entities. While in this role, Bowers will continue to serve as an advisor to the management team at CvilleBioHub and will continue as the chairwoman of the board for Avant Genomics, a microfluidic chemistry company currently spinning out of UVA.
“We want the Enterprise Studio to be the place where UVA faculty and graduate students bring the best ideas for the creation of products and organizations that will impact the world,” Bowers said.
Prior to accepting the position at the Studio, Bowers served in LVG’s prestigious Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, advising several founders of UVA startups like Avant Genomics, Roversa Robotics, Streamin3, Covenant and ID Pet. She worked side by side with Seed Fund Managing Director Bob Creeden, Senior Venture Associate Matt Rannals and I-Corps Coordinator Dawn Kidd.
“It’s been the best time I’ve spent in Charlottesville.,” Bowers said of her EIR experience. “My favorite day of the week is the one I’m spending talking with Bob, Matt, Dawn and these amazing companies. I love the founders’ enthusiasm, their belief in themselves, their inventions and their hunger for support and guidance. They’re simultaneously brilliant and have growth mindsets. They are open to learning things that they need to know.”
Bowers is looking forward to the Studio’s soft opening on Jan. 28. For the next year or more, she’ll be working out of LVG’s central office in the old Coca Cola building, located between Blue Ridge Cyclery and Juice Laundry. Bowers is encouraging researchers and entrepreneurs of all types to stop by for a chat.
“This Studio is open to any member of our faculty or graduate student who has a great idea,” Bowers said. “You just never know where it could lead.”
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