Capstone: Business Ideas and Entrepreneurial Innovation

Steven Denkin is the director and research advisor in the Biotechnology Graduate Program at the Harvard Extension School. He received his BS and PhD in biological sciences with a concentration in microbiology from the University of Rhode Island. Denkin's dissertation, "Regulation of empA metalloprotease in Vibrio anguillarum," investigated physiological aspects of a bacterial fish pathogen under various environmental conditions including salmon gastrointestinal mucus. His postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University investigated the mechanisms of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). While working at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he developed an assessment strategy for TB diagnostics, which he used to train laboratory technicians in Haiti. In addition to research accomplishments, he continues to enjoy teaching science courses to a diverse array of students in both secondary and higher education.

Beth Zielinski-Habershaw received her BS in biology from Providence College and her ScM in medical science and PhD in biomedical engineering from Brown University. As a graduate student, she worked on the development of encapsulated cell technology for melanoma immunotherapy with Moses Goddard, Patrick Aebischer, and Pierre Galletti. This research was based on similar work with which she was involved at both Brown University and a local biotechnology start-up company. Upon completion of her PhD, Zielinski-Habershaw began a postdoctoral position that spanned from 1997-1999 with Professor Herman Vandenburgh. Their research focused on engineering tissue constructs of bioartificial muscle for the study of muscle atrophy in zero gravity. During this time, she also began teaching at several colleges and universities including Providence College, the University of Rhode Island (URI) and Brown University. In 1999, her teaching career continued at both Brown University and the URI where she partnered with colleagues to create the URI Biotechnology Manufacturing Program. Her responsibilities included teaching, advising, laboratory development and industry relations. In 2007, she began working full-time at Brown University where she continued to teach and created the industry outreach division of the Center of Biomedical Engineering and the Experiential Learning Initiative for students studying in the ScM program in biotechnology and biomedical engineering. Zielinski-Habershaw is currently director of industry outreach for the Center of Biomedical Engineering as well as senior lecturer and academic advisor in the department of molecular pharmacology, physiology, and biotechnology. She teaches biotechnology in medicine, biomaterials, and techniques in regenerative medicine at Brown University. She has contributed chapters in several textbooks and will independently complete the first edition of Biotechnology in Clinical Medicine in fall 2016.