“Not being afraid to ask ‘why not?’” motivates Erica Weinstein, PhD.
Erica Weinstein, PhD graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) in 2015 and was recently named on the 2017 “Business Insider 30 Biotech Leaders under 40 List.” During her graduate studies at ISMMS she trained within the Immunology Institute. Currently she works at Flagship Pioneering and is deeply involved in scientific innovation and company development. Weinstein is helping pioneer unique ventures that make significant impacts on health and sustainability. So far, she has cofounded Cygnal Therapeutics, which is working on treatments for cancer, immunologic diseases and regeneration.
Upon graduating from Emory University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, Weinstein was immediately drawn to Mount Sinai for its unique Masters in Biomedical Sciences program, “The training, experience and innovative opportunities at ISMMS strongly shaped my ultimate career path as an entrepreneurial scientist, bringing transformative research and innovative thinking to venture creation.”
When thinking back on her time at ISMMS, she appreciates the opportunity the program offered her to be at the forefront of cutting edge research.
She continues to follow the research developments at Mount Sinai and credits her experience here as one of the motivating factors that keeps her grounded in innovative science. “I find myself reading as much as I can about what is new and novel in various fields, but nothing will replace the excitement of making a new discovery yourself at the bench.” Today the discoveries she makes have the ability to directly impact human health and disease.
Her advice to current ISMMS students would be to not be afraid to ask, “why not?” Weinstein wants students to constantly be questioning their own research and any dogma currently reigning in their field. Questioning, while sometimes scary, has helped Weinstein excel as a scientist and entrepreneur. “I’ve learned that the path to success is not linear and becoming comfortable with the unknown is where the good stuff happens.”