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Notable graduates: Abdalla Saad — On the cusp of new biotech startup

May 13, 2008

Many scientists are content to spend their entire careers in
the laboratory, chasing new insights into the way the world works. Not
Abdalla Saad. Though he admires the scientists he works with as a research
specialist in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Saad has dreams
of launching a biotechnology company some day.

“That’s what I like about UW–Madison. There’s strong promotion of entrepreneurship and help for students who want to start companies.”

Abdalla Saad, student the M.S. in Biotechnology Program

With expertise gained through the Master of Science in Biotechnology Program, the aspiring entrepreneur is now taking a major step toward
his goal. Based on technologies developed by three UW–Madison
professors, Saad is writing a business plan for a company that would
market a better delivery system for drugs ranging from volatile
anesthetics to anti-cancer agents.

He hopes to finish his plan and begin showing to investors by
summer’s end. If the business gets off the ground, it will join five
others that have spun out of the Master of Science in Biotechnology
program during the past five years.

"That’s what I like about UW–Madison," says Saad. "There’s strong
promotion of entrepreneurship and help for students who want to start
companies."