Irena Ivanovska, PhD, joined Innovation as the Scientific Collaboration Director in May, 2022. She works closely with investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to identify and lead projects for Riverway Discoveries, a Translator opportunity to advance academic discoveries into the clinic. She also collaborates with Innovation team members on Dana-Farber’s IP portfolio and BD efforts.
Prior to coming to Innovation, Dr. Ivanovska was a Senior Scientific Director at the Mark Foundation, where she led grant programs that funded basic and translational cancer research. She has extensive experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. At Celdara Medical, she worked with academics to secure funding and lead pre-clinical drug discovery programs toward the clinic, and at Merck and Co., she led pre-clinical small molecule and RNA drug discovery programs in oncology and inflammation. Dr. Ivanovska holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute. She is passionate about mentoring young scientists and budding entrepreneurs, both informally and as part of several Massachusetts-based mentoring programs.