By: Cindy Chiu
“You have to be open to trying new things you never thought you could do…just give it a whirl.”
If you’ve never thought your passion for science could develop into a zeal for handling business account reconciliations, procuring inventory, and chatting up potential investors, you’re not alone. Meet Dr. Amanda Schalk, a biochemist by training who distinctly remembers years ago perusing an advertisement for an academic program in entrepreneurship, and thinking to herself, “No, I don’t even know what that is. I’ll pass.” Today, through an ongoing process of recognizing and drawing from her own unique set of experiences and skills, Dr. Schalk is relishing her work as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Enzyme by Design, a Chicago startup that develops safer therapeutics for hard to treat cancers.
Dr. Schalk got her start in STEM with a B.S. in Professional Biochemistry from Eastern Michigan University, and from there, she continued her studies to earn an M.S. and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the International Max Planck Research School/University of Göttingen in Germany. With a terminal degree, Schalk found herself at a transition point and facing existential questions about her work: “I have this degree. Now what are the options of what I can do with this? Where can this lead me?”
Such reflections drove Dr. Schalk’s decision in 2011 to join a translational research lab working on developing cancer drugs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). As a postdoc in the lab, she thrived. She identified an L-asparaginase enzyme from guinea pigs with putative tumor cell killing properties and published several papers related to this work. She particularly enjoyed working with her teammates, whom she characterized as inspiring, friendly, and caring people: “The science is amazing but having a really good team to work with is, in my opinion, equally as important for success and really enjoying what you’re doing.”
In 2016, the lab lost one of its key funding sources, part of the often unstable nature of science, precipitating another career transition for Schalk. She joined HappiLabs.org, a company in Chicago offering virtual lab management services. There, she helped biotech companies across the country with procurement, vendor interactions, inventory management, and bookkeeping, as well as writing operating protocols. At the time, she questioned, “who knows what I am going to do with this…but the fact is I have bills to pay and need a job.”
Though away from the lab bench, she was still meeting with her UIC colleagues about continuing to develop a cancer drug from the mammalian asparaginase that she had discovered and leveraging their protein engineering expertise to design potential therapeutics for better patient outcomes. They disclosed their idea to UIC, hoping that big pharma would take the reins from there, but it wasn’t so simple. She recalled, “Truthfully, we were naive academics and were told pretty bluntly: That’s not how it works. If you ever want to get this to patients, you’re going to have to start your own company and de-risk it.”
In 2017, with the encouragement of the UIC Tech Transfer Office and a mentoring program through MATTER, Schalk co-founded Enzyme by Design. As it turns out, getting “booted out of the lab,” as she puts it, created a pivotal opportunity for Schalk when she returned in 2018 to the UIC research group, splitting her time there and working for the company. Among her co-founders, Schalk was the one with key experience in accounting, procurement, and operations. The company now has almost $1M in non-dilutive NIH funding as they set their sights on developing their products to get to and through Phase I and possibly Phase II clinical trials. When asked about the most gratifying aspects of her work, Schalk readily points to the many hats she wears as Chief Operating Officer. “There are always new challenges, and actually many things that might be considered mundane in running a startup – I actually really enjoy doing them because I know they keep the lights on and things moving. The science is the spotlight,” she emphasized, “but we need to stay open to get it there.”
Dr. Schalk credits Prof. Arnon Lavie, her postdoctoral research advisor and Enzyme by Design co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, with invaluable holistic mentorship. “It’s the reason I’ve stuck with him for 10 years. He’s supportive of me developing as a scientist and developing in a more whole way in all areas of my life. He emphasizes that we should feel free to really think about the future and develop ourselves in a way that’s going to serve us.” For example, with Prof. Lavie’s support, Schalk is currently taking a year-long course in social-emotional intelligence, to better understand and develop her unique talents.
As a woman in science, Schalk points to impostor syndrome manifested as self-doubt as a challenging factor. How does she try to overcome it herself? “It’s a process to trust myself more, value my gifts, and learn to be okay with making mistakes because that’s part of learning. Personal growth work, taking care of my mental health, taking care of myself…Having a more connected and balanced life and doing things that nourish me as a person is going to make me a better scientist and businesswoman, because it’s going to make me more direct, efficient, focused, and purposeful.” As for unemployment advice, especially in these challenging times of COVID-19, she said she could offer experienced advice against tying one’s self-worth to employment: “Having a setback or being unemployed absolutely does not mean you’re a failure even if it feels that way in the moment…really you’re just in between adventures. Who you are, including your experiences and perspective, make you valuable even if you haven’t realized it yet. Be kind to yourself; be open to a new adventure because you never know where it might lead and what you might learn. Reach out to your support network; be your own biggest fan; believe in yourself (even if you don’t want to)!” Though Schalk acknowledges that she currently spends a lot of time on work, she finds enjoyment taking in the arts, such as the Lyric Opera, Joffrey Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance, which she says, “makes my brain relax and light up in a completely different and beautiful way.”
Her adventure with Enzyme by Design is still unfolding, but Dr. Schalk is already looking ahead toward her next adventure: “Universities are developing amazing technology. More of it needs to go out into the world, and I realize just how few people there are to really herald that transition… so I’m like, okay, I might have found my niche; this is exciting.”