Grad Spotlight | Chris Lawson

Written by Elisa Danthinne and Chris Lawson

Where can ViTAL take you? Healthcare innovation can seem both narrow and broad in scope, but each individual’s journey through this entrepreneurial space is markedly unique. Our *Grad Spotlights* thus aim to highlight the paths our graduating members have taken so far, to demonstrate the diversity of directions one can take to make a positive impact in healthcare.

We are excited to feature our conversation with Chris Lawson, ViTAL’s 2019 co-founder and co-director. In his time at Northeastern, Chris started working as an intern at the biotechnology venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures, examining fresh innovations in healthcare with a business mindset. He is now there full time as an analyst and is currently applying to medical school. As an undergraduate, Chris majored in Behavioral Neuroscience and worked in a variety of research and clinical settings, including Sanofi Genzyme and a public hospital in Argentina. He also worked as a committed volunteer mentor to children through the DREAM program. Chris just graduated this past May 2020.

Q: What has your journey through healthcare been like — what have been the highlights or turning points throughout your time at Northeastern?

The beginning of my healthcare journey was pretty standard in regards to the “typical” pre-med path. My first significant entry into healthcare was becoming an EMT. During high school and the first few years of college, I was a volunteer EMT. In this role, I provided emergency clinical care to patients and transported them to hospitals. This work allowed me to discover my passion for hands-on clinical care and exposed me to a wide array of cases. I also spent a significant amount of time during my first three years at Northeastern volunteering at hospitals, shadowing physicians, and doing research. All of these activities were great, and I enthusiastically continued doing them until I graduated. However, during my third year, I became interested in exploring some of the nontraditional areas of healthcare that I would not be exposed to in my “typical” pre-med classes and extracurriculars.

This desire led me to join the Northeastern University Healthcare Business Club (NUHBC), which explored business aspects of healthcare. I eventually became the president of NUHBC and learned a ton about various intersections of healthcare and business during my time with the club. This exposure motivated me to pursue my final co-op in a role where I could be involved with both business and healthcare concepts. Eventually, it led to my position as an intern at the biotechnology venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures. At Third Rock, I spent a lot of my final years of college exploring life sciences venture capital and entrepreneurial opportunities in healthcare.

After joining Third Rock, I soon became intrigued by healthcare entrepreneurship as it is a fascinating and exciting field. This passion was a major reason I went on to co-found ViTAL as there was previously no undergraduate platform at Northeastern for this area.

Q: Any specific memories of ViTAL you’ll carry with you?

I had a lot of great memories with ViTAL, but the first few months of ViTAL when the leaderships of NUHBC and Bouve Innovators were collaborating to form the club were particularly exciting. It was fun (and challenging) setting up the foundation for the club and delegating responsibilities. One specific memory I fondly recall was a late-night during ViTAL’s founding with Kilian and Danny hashing out plans for the club until around 2 am.

Q: What’s next for you?

I am currently applying to medical school and working full-time as an analyst at Third Rock Ventures for my gap year.

Q: What advice do you have for people interested in healthcare innovation?

My advice would be to be open-minded and consider many different paths to make an impact on healthcare. There are many different roles critical for healthcare innovations that require diverse skill sets and experiences. Even if someone isn’t interested in pursuing the more standard healthcare pathways, such as receiving an M.D. or Ph.D. (or both), there are still countless opportunities for them to make important contributions to healthcare innovations.