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2015 | Doing Business in Connecticut 49 By Carol Latter W hen Susan Froshauer was growing up, her parents encouraged her to be independent and comfortable on her own track. It was fortunate, she says, since she was always inspired by science and the idea of making new medicines. Aer high school, she attended Connecti- cut College, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in botany in 1974. In the early '80s, she headed east to attend Harvard University, obtaining her PhD in molecular genetics in 1985. Soon aer, she joined Pfizer and worked as a senior research scientist for five years, con- ducting R&D on antibiotics and immune enhancer drugs at the world's largest re- search-based company. "I wanted to take basic research and apply it to medicine. I was very excited about this work," she said. During the same period, she performed post-doctoral research at Yale Medical School in the Department of Cell Biology as a Jane Coffin Child's Fellow. She subsequently spent six years as a licensing execu- tive for Pfizer, and developed its Drug Pfinder program, leveraging international academic and biotech collaborations to identify new targets for drug discovery. Her involvement with Yale and the other opportunities she found to collabo- rate with academics enabled her to "enhance our research and teams by working with scientists outside Pfizer. is became the norm," she said. "I loved bringing multidisciplinary teams together in and out of Pfizer and creat- ing value in the process." Froshauer served as a member of Pfizer's Strategic Alliance Group and built a portfolio of worldwide deals. "I learned a lot about managing teams, intellectual property, and the interface between business and science," she said. Before long, "the essence of entrepreneurship bit me," and she developed a desire to build a biotech company and put complex teams together. is would lead the way, in 2000, to her next career adventure as co-founder, president and CEO of New Haven-based Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. with Yale scientists Dr. Tom Steitz, Dr. Peter Moore and Dr. William Jorgensen – a role that would occupy her for the next decade. She describes her work there as "hardcore drug discovery experience in a very complex, exciting environment," adding, "Un- der my leadership, Rib-X raised more than $150 million in private equity, bridge financing and government grants, and built a diverse pipeline of antibiotics to treat serious hospital infections." Today, she champions bioscience as president and CEO of CURE, which serves as the bioscience cluster for Connecticut, and through working relationships with UConn and Yale. She recognizes a need for bioscience firms to work together to build synergy, and enjoys mentoring small companies. Post-recession, people are more inclined now to invest in, work for, or start small companies. e state and univer- sities, meanwhile, are doing more to train entrepreneurs, offer various finding tools, and help them succeed. "e process of growing these companies and this part of the economy doesn't happen overnight," she said, "but I see signs of success." ❑ Susan Froshauer, CURE CEO/President or licensed clinical social worker will be an on-site member of the primary care team, providing consultations, helping with diag- nosis and assessment of patients' behavioral health-related problems, conducting brief treatment and referring patients to providers. "Co-locating behavioral health clini- cians with primary care providers means easier patient access to care and allows us to improve health outcomes for patients with co-occurring medical and physical conditions, as the two are known to be strongly linked," said Stephen W. Larcen, Ph.D., HHC senior vice president and president of Behavioral Health Network, which includes e Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, Natchaug Hospital in Mansfield, Rushford Center (a substance use and addiction facility with five Con- necticut locations), and behavioral health services at other Hartford HealthCare member organizations. In the aermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy, the medical community has looked inward to try to meet the mental health needs of children, adolescents and adults. To meet demand, John Dempsey Hospital is expand- ing mental health services, increasing clinics on mood disorders, substance abuse and group therapy. In 2014, Behavioral Health Network launched the "Stop the Stigma" campaign with a goal of getting 10,000 people with mental illness to come forward; by Decem- ber, nearly 12,000 people had pledged to raise awareness to end the stigma of mental illness and addiction. In June of 2014, the state launched Access Mental Health Connecticut, a ser- vice geared to primary care providers for children and teens. When a pediatrician has a concern about a patient's mental health, he or she can call a team that includes a child and adolescent psychiatrist and get ques- tions answered within 30 minutes. "is is a program to be accessed by a primary care provider who is in the office and has a question in real time about a kid they're seeing – questions about services, medication, diagnosis, how to understand a particular kid," said Lisa B. Namerow, M.D., child and adolescent psychiatrist with the Institute of Living. rough this program, she said, "prima- ry care providers become better at managing a certain level of mental health. If you know that help is a phone call away, you might be more likely to ask for it." ❑ Decades of Discovery Science aficionado followed her dreams to create a life filled with excitement PHOTO/CURE PROFILE