Tulane Executive in Residence invited to be a keynote speaker at prestigious investment conference

Elaine Hamm, PhD, has the unique ability to speak two languages – medicine and business. Hamm earned her doctoral degree, and since then accumulated over 15 years of professional leadership experience in the commercialization of early-stage pharmaceutical therapeutics and diagnostics with experience in technology transfer, investment, market analysis, and commercialization of preclinical and clinical-stage products. As Executive in Residence for Tulane University School of Medicine, Hamm uses both languages she speaks to move medical breakthroughs from the bench to the marketplace.

Hamm will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Elite Global Leaders Conference in Madrid, Spain. The event is invitation-only and brings together Family Offices with a minimum of $100 million or more of assets under management, making it a leading destination for those looking to invest and those looking for unique investment opportunities.

Hamm’s keynote will take the form of a fireside chat moderated by James Zanewicz, CBO of  Tulane School of Medicine, and will focus on how Executive in Residence roles are initiated inside many different types of organizations, including Venture Capital firms, startups, and universities.  The conversation will continue to discuss the unique challenges addressed in each organization type, and how EIR roles have changed over time. She is looking forward to sharing with attendees how her nontraditional role at Tulane represents a true evolution from more traditional academic EIRs. Rather than just advising startups or being housed in a business school, TUSOM’s Executive in Residence consults as early as the idea stage to connect scientists to industry resources. Hamm says the conference is an opportunity to share what Tulane researchers are doing with an eager audience.

“Family offices have an interest in investing in life science, whether they have a family member who is impacted by a disease, or they want to find nontraditional ways of making a global difference with their investment,” said Hamm. “But investing in life science is daunting.  We want to change that. Whether it is an investment in Tulane technology OR leveraging our worldwide experts in their deal diligence process, we want to be their trusted concierge in the process.”

Hamm joined Tulane School of Medicine in 2022 and has already collaborated with researchers to negotiate terms with investors in one project, and secure funding for another. Robert Tucci, managing director at Texas HALO Fund, said Hamm has been invaluable in supporting Tulane’s mission to share its innovations with the world.

"An Executive in Residence provides a point of contact and accessible expertise to both internal and external interests,” said Tucci. “Dr. Hamm's interface between medicine and business has been instrumental to our commercial progress at Tulane."

Hear Hamm talk about her Executive in Residence role in this episode of the Bio from the Bayou podcast.