Cancer Accelerator Alums Return to Reinvest in the Program
They benefited from participating in The Dartmouth Innovations Accelerator for Cancer as graduate students. Now, they’re volunteering to make Dartmouth’s entrepreneurial ecosystem even stronger.
DIAC participants attending an interactive Founder’s Q&A event at the Magnuson Center March 2025
By Kelly Burch
As she pursued her doctoral degree in immunology, Jordan Fredriksen-Isaacs twice participated in the Dartmouth Innovations Accelerator for Cancer (DIAC), and was awarded more than $350,000 in funding. Later, she became an intern with the program, helping shape accelerator experience.
When she graduated in 2024 and took a role as a technology specialist with a Boston law firm, Fredriksen-Isaacs still didn’t want to leave the Dartmouth entrepreneurial community—or DIAC—behind.
“Ever since I graduated I knew I wanted to continue being part of this really exciting ecosystem of entrepreneurs,” Fredriksen-Isaacs said.
She isn’t alone. Since the accelerator’s inception in 2020, more than 300 faculty, staff, and students representing 73 teams have participated in the program, alongside faculty and staff. DIAC has awarded more than $2 million in funding to advance scientific research, and teams have gone on to secure more than $17 million in funding. DIAC has shaped the careers of the students who participate in the program, including Fredriksen-Isaacs. Now, alums from DIAC and The Dartmouth Innovation Accelerator for Digital Health (DIADH) are returning to volunteer for the accelerators as mentors and members of the External Review Panel (ERP), all committed to the continued creation of an even stronger community for Dartmouth entrepreneurs.
“It is a mark of the maturity of the accelerator programming that alumni who participated in the accelerators as students are reaching out to stay involved and support the programs,” said Angela Presley, Program Manager for DIAC. “More than just mentors and ERP members, these returning alumni are inspiring proof of what’s possible with the Dartmouth ecosystem as a launchpad. Their commitment to continued involvement with the accelerators underscores the value of the lasting, collaborative relationships that form when talented people work together on meaningful innovations.”
The benefits of volunteering flow both ways.
“Having been a two-time awarded participant in this accelerator myself, it’s especially meaningful to give back to the next generation of innovators at Dartmouth,” Fredriksen-Isaacs wrote in a recent LinkedIn post.
Offering legal guidance to fledgling companies
After graduating, Fredriksen-Isaacs became a technology specialist. In that role, which falls under intellectual property law at Foley Hoag LLP, she helps scientific innovators translate their technology for patent applications. Eventually, she plans to become a patent attorney.
She knew that legal expertise could be quite valuable to the DIAC teams, complementing the intellectual property guidance offered by the Dartmouth Technology Transfer Office.
“It’s really difficult and often expensive to find an attorney to work with at such an early stage,” Fredriksen-Isaacs said.
She approached her colleagues at the law firm, including attorneys Amy Baker Mandragouras and Patrick Connolly ’01. They agreed to work with DIAC participants, and together the team from Foley Hoag is offering information on intellectual property and company formation and providing connection to legal experts at the firm to advise on other topics. Fredriksen-Isaacs and the attorneys are formally mentoring two teams during the current DIAC cohort, and also meeting with other teams as needed.
“We’ve been really trying to help teams by connecting them to different types of attorneys on an introductory basis to get their questions answered,” Fredriksen-Isaacs said.
Participating on the External Review Panel
When Austin Nadeau Tuck ’24 was considering business school programs, one in particular stood out to him.
“Right from the start, DIAC was a big reason I wanted to go to Tuck,” Nadeau said. He had an interest in the business of biotech and saw how DIAC could provide the immersive industry experience he was looking for.
During his years at business school, Nadeau joined DIAC as a Tuck mentor, working with teams including one led by Dr. Esteban Orellana, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Systems Biology at Geisel School of Medicine; and another led by Drs. John Zhang and John Molinski from the Thayer School of Engineering.
"It was my first true exposure to the biotech industry and what it takes to build a new drug,” Nadeau said.
After graduation Nadeau began working for Locust Walk, a global life sciences investment bank. His day-to-day work “all gets back to some lessons I learned during DIAC,” he said, from portfolio strategy to conducting due diligence and developing early-stage business plans.
Now, Nadeau is giving back to DIAC by volunteering on the External Review Panel, which helps evaluate teams’ pitches, give feedback, and make funding decisions. Having a recent graduate on the other side of the table is particularly helpful for participants, according to Presley.
“These perspectives are especially relevant because they have recently been in the same position, navigating the same challenges as the current participants,” she said.
Nadeau is glad to provide that insight.
“DIAC has given me a lot between teaching me, giving me a network, and giving me the opportunity to get more involved in biotech,” Nadeau said. “I’m happy to be able to support Tuck being more involved with DIAC, and stay in touch with the innovation ecosystem at Dartmouth.”
Building a stronger community
Savannah Butler Thayer ’21 worked with both DIAC and The Dartmouth Innovation Accelerator for Digital Health (DIADH) as she pursued her doctoral degree in immuno-engineering. She was involved at an early stage, helping get both programs up and running and later serving as an Innovation Consultant with DIAC.
“It’s really great, being part of this program from the beginning, to see how far it’s come,” she said.
Through her experience with DIAC, Butler learned to evaluate technologies not just based on exciting science, but with an eye to the plausibility of bringing them to market. Sometimes, even the most exciting therapies aren’t feasible to scale, she said.
“Working with DIAC helped me get out of just the science of things, and into the business side and the real-world implications,” Butler said. It’s a skill she uses regularly in her work as a senior consultant for EVERSANA, a firm that offers biotech and pharmaceutical management consulting.
Butler continues to stay involved with both DIAC and DIADH, mentoring teams and evaluating their technologies. Working with the teams not only helps current students and faculty, but is fulfilling for Butler, too.
“Innovation and disruptive technologies are a personal passion of mine,” she said. “Staying involved and working with scientific founders, and helping them see things in a different way, is very rewarding.”
The promise of DIAC isn’t only in the technologies that emerge, Butler said, but in the overall education that’s delivered.
“It’s such an important aspect that we don’t teach formally in academia: what you need to think of from a business side,” she said. “Even if a company doesn’t arise, these really innovative people are now being taught how to think in this way, and that’s going to benefit society overall.”