Campaign Overview
"In my first year post-college graduation, I worked as a medical scribe for a primary care physician. Becoming her shadow in the corner of her appointments, I was the silent observer, keeping her notes.
Unlike most human relationships, the patient-doctor relationship is marked by an innate sense of trust on the part of the patient. I watched this trust manifest daily from my corner, as people stripped down to their underwear without thinking twice and revealed the details of their personal lives with even less hesitation.
In day-to-day interactions, the question of “how are you” returns mostly generic responses. Under the care of a physician, however, people seemed to respond without the same reservation, opening up their lives for our examination.
We were told the plot lines of dreams, the sensation of first loves. Frustrated parents recounted arguments with rebellious teenagers; rebellious teenagers recounted arguments with frustrating parents. Young women described their weddings and new fathers their child’s day of birth.
Welcomed into peoples’ vulnerabilities, however, the most consistent experience presented in some form was that of pain. We watched it plague old people, young people. We watched it plague parents, uncles, spouses.
We saw the happy, healthy elderly, women who looked 50 in their 90’s. But we also saw those whom in their 30’s had multiple comorbidities, and though it was unspoken, the doctor and I would exchange glances: we knew they would not survive the next few decades.
Once, we discovered the bulge of a growing tumor beneath a woman’s skin. In the silence, we watched as her little daughter grasped her hand.
I sat quietly in the corner and captured people's pain with my words, using phrases like "patient presents with Grief Reaction.” I turned their weeping into terms like "hypertension" for high blood pressure, and “CA” for cancer, recorded into the medical system like answers to logical questions."
(-Excerpt from my introduction. To read the rest, please consider supporting my campaign :))
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This book is for you: for the scientist, entrepreneur, dreamer, or anyone interested in understanding how to use science to impact people's lives in a practical way. It's for people who have been impacted by diseases that have no cures and want to do something.
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Story of My Book
Creating New Medicines: strategies for building the next biotech start-up is about a new model for helping future biotech innovators think strategically and successfully turn scientific concepts into patient-impacting new medicines.
I wrote this book because I was deeply impacted by seeing the number of patients that ran out of medical options. People deserve and need more medicines and medical options, but this requires more people willing to take the risk of starting or building companies that will pursue this. In my experience, young scientists are often interested in applying their skills to help real people, but aren't sure how to start. This book is meant to show you how.
Experience is crucial in science. This is undeniable. But it's also not everything, and there are ways for young scientists to add value to new companies when they can combine having a teachable attitude with openness to straying off the traditional academic career path.
In the book, I will also cover case studies of famous scientific innovations with original interviews:
The stories of blockbuster drugs Tysabri and Remicade, from experienced entrepreneur and angel investor Dr. Martin Sanders
Creating medicines with a patient-centered view, with John Crowley's personal story (fun fact, his life story was turned into a Harrison Ford movie, called Extraordinary Measures)
The Gleevec Story - themes for translating basic science and an interview with the clinician who ran the pivotal clinical trials, Dr. Brian Druker
Insights on the biotech industry and investing from Keith Crandell, Managing Director and Co-founder of ARCH Venture Partners
How to bootstrap a biotech start-up creatively with an interview with Jake Glanville, who was featured in Gimlet Media's Start-Up podcast
What You'll Get
This book will be published with New Degree Press. I set up the pre-order tiers to help cover the costs for publishing my book. Money raised will go towards the following:
The Editor I will work with to revise and publish my manuscript in July, 2020
The Cover Design of my Book - the mockups you see currently are a placeholder!
The Layout Design for the interior of my book (Physical Copy, Ebook Formats)
The Copyediting for My Book - to help polish the grammar and spelling prior to publication
The Launch & Promotion Efforts for my book - when I ultimately publish this winter
When I pre-sell 100 copies of my book, I will also publish an audiobook. When I pre-sell 200 copies of my book, I will publish a hardcover edition.
I am also offering some exclusive rewards for people who pre-order my book now:
You will receive a personally signed copy of my book when I publish
A personal, handwritten thank you note for pre-ordering my book
Your name will appear in a Special, Acknowledgements section of my book (“with Special Thanks to”)
Early access to the Introduction of my book and my entire manuscript, with the opportunity to review it and give me early feedback
The opportunity to help give me feedback and be involved in selecting my cover
I will do a book topic/workshop seminar where I will share experience the experiences of writing my book
And more...
About the Author
Stephanie Wisner is an Independent Consultant for multiple biotech start-ups working on diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Macular Degeneration, and cancer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry & Chemical Biology from Cornell University and is a current MBA student at University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
Stephanie was driven to write this book after seeing the discrepancy between the lengthy timeline of academic research and the urgent present need for new medicines. She wondered if there was a faster way to speed up the process of creating new medicines, and this book is the result.
For more information, you can connect with Stephanie at swisner194@gmail.com or @sawisner on instagram or twitter.
Risks & Challenges
The biggest challenge with publishing a book is delivering the finished book to the backer, specifically my mailing of the book to you. I have eliminated this risk by building into the campaign the mailing and shipping costs of your signed copies to you within each pre-order tier.
The risk of delivering the pre-sale copies of my book is contingent on the publisher we use. I will be working closely with New Degree Press to make sure we get the earliest possible ship date of the signed book copy to you. We will keep all pre-sale backers up-to-date as my book hits each key milestone and publishes. You will know when the copies of my book you pre-ordered are expected to ship.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help:
Please Share my Pre-sale Campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with your friends, family and network. Please use #CreatingNewMedicines and tag me as well as my publisher, New Degree Press so we can help amplify your efforts.
You can easily share my Pre-Sale Campaign Page via Indiegogo at the top of the page
Please share my book with 5 friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it. Please do this as a text message or Direct Message on social media. Thank you so much of all of your love and support!
Thanks again,
Stephanie Wisner
