CATAPULT Bio

Advisory Board

Co-Chairs: Angela Koehler, Andrew W. Lo

Academics

  • Dimitris Bertsimas
  • Sangeeta Bhatia
  • Emery Brown
  • Iain Cheeseman
  • Lauren Foster
  • Rupinder Grewal
  • Robert Langer
  • Douglas Lauffenburger
  • Harvey Lodish
  • Lesley Millar-Nicholson
  • Phillip Sharp

Industry

  • Noubar Afeyan, Flagship Pioneering
  • Anthony Bogachev, BridgeBio Pharma
  • Neil Kumar, BridgeBio Pharma
  • Judy Lewent, Merck (retired)
  • Gary Pisano, Flagship Pioneering
  • Jackson Randal, BridgeBio Pharma
  • Ali Satvat, KKR

Curriculum

Certificate Requirements: One foundational Sloan graduate-level course including a project-based component and three electives determined by field-specific departments, including one action-learning course.

Foundational Course: 15.S13 Special Seminar in Management (Fall Term)

The foundational CATAPULT course is organized as a hub-and-spokes model. The first half of the semester forms the common “hub”: five shared sessions focused on management, institutional, and professional issues that arise in translational work across STEM fields. In the second half of the semester, students choose a domain-specific “spoke” consisting of five focused sessions followed by a shared wrap-up session at the end.

Units: 3-0-6
Schedule: Tuesdays 4:00–7:00pm plus weekly recitations
Location: 34-101
Faculty: Andrew W. Lo

Fall 2026 Preliminary Syllabus

**Sloan bidding not required. Enrollment is by Permission of Instructor by completing a short application here.

H1 CATAPULT Hub

Class 1: STEM Career Paths and Core Skills for Success
Class 2: Writing and Delivering STEM Topics Effectively
Class 3: Creating and Managing Your IP in Academic Settings and Navigating Conflicts of Interest
Class 4: Managing Scientific and Commercial Collaborations
Class 5: Dealing with People, Failure, and Success

H2 CATAPULT Bio Spoke

Class 6: Introduction to Career Paths in the Life Sciences
Class 7: Drug Development 101
Class 8: Device, Biomarker, and Diagnostic Development 101
Class 9: Valuing Biomedical Assets
Class 10: How to Start a Biotech Company If You Must
Class 11: The Future of Translation: Course Wrap-Up and Next Steps

Eligibility Requirement(s) and Electives

Students may select their department below to view eligibility requirement(s) and the current list of pre-approved electives as determined by participating departments and fields of study. Core course requirements within participating PhD programs and departments will generally satisfy the elective requirement. In addition to the pre-approved electives listed below, students may petition to count other relevant courses toward the elective requirement.