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We are excited to have Pavita Howe join us to discuss COVID-19 innovation at Rutgers. Pavita has been on special assignment to support the Rutgers RUCDR Infinite Biologics team in the deployment of the COVID-19 saliva test, which was the first COVID-19 saliva test to receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA during the coronavirus pandemic. In June 2020, Rutgers announced the spinout of the RUCDR Infinite Biologics lab to create a new company, Infinity BiologiX, via a $44 million Asset Purchase Agreement. The new company will operate independently of Rutgers but will still be affiliated with the university.

Pavita will speak about Rutgers' success in developing the Coronavirus saliva test and ongoing efforts to commercialize it. She will also speak about other non-Covid entrepreneurial activities at Rutgers.

Although Pavita is most famous for co-founding the Morris Tech Meetup, she is now Director of Entrepreneurship Partnerships at Rutgers’ Corporate Engagement Center (CEC) where she manages relationships with external partners including investors, alumni, entrepreneurs, and industry organizations that are interested in engaging with entrepreneurship activities at Rutgers. She previously served as Director of the TechAdvance Fund, which provides grants to Rutgers researchers to advance innovative technologies toward commercialization. In this role, Pavita was responsible for launching and managing the new TechAdvance program which funded 50 projects for a total of $3.8 million under her leadership, and led to follow-on funding, technology licenses, and the formation of new startups for many of the funded teams. During her time at Rutgers, Pavita had the honor of representing Rutgers University on Governor Phil Murphy’s business mission to India to promote partnerships between academic institutions and businesses in New Jersey and India. Most recently, Pavita took on a special assignment to support the Rutgers RUCDR team in the deployment of the COVID-19 saliva test, which was the first COVID-19 saliva test to receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to Rutgers, Pavita served on the executive teams at multiple technology startups in California and New Jersey with a focus on marketing, new product launches, business planning, investor pitches, and business development. Her first startup experience was with Forté, a San Diego-based internet software company, where she was responsible for marketing and new products for the company’s Internet Contact Center solutions. Forté was acquired by Genesys, a publicly traded call center solutions company in San Francisco. Pavita led the marketing launch team at Genesys for their flagship contact center solutions and the company was later acquired by Alcatel.

Pavita arrived in New Jersey via California from Canada. She has served as a mentor at TechLaunch NJ, advisor at New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC), and a co-organizer at Morris Tech Meetup. She has a B.Sc. in Nutritional Science and Biochemistry from the University of Guelph and an MBA (Marketing) from McMaster University, both in Ontario, Canada. LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavitahowe/

This is a LIVE Youtube Event - See URL under the dates/time.

VIRTUAL MEETUP AGENDA:
• 4:00 - 4:15 PM: OPENING REMARKS & PITCH
• 4:30 - 5:00 PM: KEYNOTE SPEAKER - Pavita Howe

#MorrisTech Sponsors and Community Sponsors: https://www.meetup.com/Morris-Meetup/sponsors

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