Sonia Kartha

Associate

2021 - Current

Venture Associate

2020 - 2021

PhD Candidate/Research Fellow

2015 - 2021

Developed and obtained preclinical data for the use of novel nanoparticle formulations for the treatment of painful neuropathies and chronic pain resulting in the filing of provisional patents and NIH awarded (~$6M) Published over 23 scientific articles in peer reviewed journals (9 first author, >125 citations, h-index 7), JBME Editor’s Choice Award 2018 Oversaw the implementation of several research collaborations across 3 universities and 4 Penn departments resulting over $5M in new research funding as well as mentored 12 complete undergraduate REU projects Presented >18 poster and 10 podium presentations at 11 national society conferences and 2 international conferences (>6000 attendance), received 3 first-place conference awards including Graduate Student Design & Research Award

Research Technician

2012 - 2015

Developed a novel preclinical rodent model of temporomandibular joint disease currently being used to investigate diagnostic, therapeutic markers at Penn School of Dental Medicine (resulted in >5 publications, $2M grant funding) Assisted Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and characterize complementary preclinical models of whole-body vibration trauma sustained by warfighters (resulted in >4 publications, 2 DOD grants)

Doctoral Fellow

2018 - 2020

Worked with two separate early-stage startups to develop roll-out strategy in multidisciplinary teams of MBA and Law students. Performed customer trend analyses, to improve user adoption for two early-stage startups focused on wearable safety devices and 5G-technologies

Venture Initiation Program Fellow

2019 - 2020

Refined product-market fit analyses for a blockchain-based digital health platform leading to strategic partnerships

Project Director

2019 - 2019

Oversaw completion of two separate projects in the semester; one project focused on deep customer analyses for a laboratory supplies vendor resulting in the implementation of several project recommendations for new marketing strategies Additional project focused on identifying need for bundled clinical trial marketing software packages, including extensive customer interviews and separate market assessments

Project Manager

2019 - 2019

Lead a 6-person team to assess market attractiveness including identifying and executing expert interviews for a lead molecular marker resulting in acceleration of pipeline development to proof-of concept stage as antibody therapeutic

Team Member

2016 - 2018

Created the pre-IND regulatory strategy for an academic spinoff including detailing execution of FDA filing as well as built cost models for GMP manufacturing considerations Identified new verticals and partnering strategies for consumer plastics company in therapeutic/diagnostic landscape resulting in 2 development partnerships and investments from large pharmaceutical company. Named Team MVP

Research Intern

2018 - 2019

Assisted in drafting an awarded SBIR Phase II grant and worked directly with the CEO to develop commercialization strategy and assisted fundraising efforts to raise $8M Series A

QED Program Fellow

2017 - 2017

Completed a 3-month fellowship to develop commercialization strategy with 1 out of 9 finalist technologies in the QED proof-of-concept program competing for seed funding with academic inventor and two business advisers Specifically focused on a patented biomaterial therapeutic device; performing market and customer segmentation analyses, identifying key experts opinions for early adoption and product-market fit. Our team was 1 of 3 teams awarded $250k for early development leading to company formation through additional SBIR funding