Benjamin Greenberg, M.D., and David Greenberg, M.D., share more than a last name. The brothers are both acclaimed physician-scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Ben in the Department of Neurology and David in the Department of Internal Medicine. Beyond their work with patients and in the lab, both brothers also founded biotechnology companies. Recently, the Greenbergs sat down with Mason Smith of the Learning from Leaders to talk about surviving the biotech ‘valley of death,’ work-life balance, cross-pollinating ideas, and securing funding — all with a healthy dose of brotherly competition.
Work-Life Juggling Act
Because he wears many different hats, Ben is often asked by trainees how to achieve work-life balance. To him, a good way to describe this concept is through a juggling metaphor. Different aspects of his life represent different balls: “there’s my work as a clinical trialist, my work as a clinician, my work as a parent, my work as a husband.” As he reminds his trainees, “every day there’s a ball on the ground.” The “key,” he asserts, “is [rotating] which ball is on the ground” rather than striving for an elusive sense of harmony. While such a balancing act requires patience and hard work, it also means that every workday looks different, which Ben describes as “part of the fun of academic medicine.”
Both brothers are quick to point out that such a juggling act would be impossible without the many people who support them. As David says, scientific medicine is a “team sport.” Ben describes their many teammates: “people in the lab, people in the clinic, people in the administration, people balancing the budgets, helping with the grants staff, making sure that we work in a clean, healthy environment.” Without these individuals, “There is no way for either of us to do what we do,” Ben concludes.
“There is no way for either of us to do what we do without incredible teams around us.”
Benjamin Greenberg, M.D.
Biotech Start-Ups Born from Collaboration
In addition to their academic appointments, both brothers have built biotech companies founded on discoveries made in their labs. As David describes, they are both motivated by the bedside-to-bench approach, whereby they observe clinical problems in their patients and then conduct research in the lab to address those problems. Their companies help them take this approach one step further by scaling their findings and developing therapies – thereby helping even more patients one day.
It was once rare for clinicians and clinician-scientists to start biotech companies. Rather, they would hand their research to already existent pharmaceutical companies that would then create devices, therapies, and medication. As the brothers share, however, UT Southwestern is invested in helping clinician-scientists develop these companies themselves, both through funding and an emphasis on cross-departmental collaboration.
David’s company, Solenic Medical, spun out of a discovery he made with Rajiv Chopra, Ph.D., who was formerly in the Department of Radiology at UT Southwestern. Together, they pioneered a non-invasive method of eliminating biofilms, which are antibiotic-resistant infections that form on medical implants. Ben started his company, GenrAb, following the success of a biorepository he created for blood and spinal fluid samples at UT Southwestern for researchers focused on neurologic disease. He was able to build the biorepository thanks to funding he received from the university associated with his endowed professorship. A partnership that developed from the biorepository led to the discovery of “potentially therapeutic antibodies” with UT Southwestern researcher Nancy Monson, Ph.D. That discovery in turn prompted Ben to start GenrAb, which develops stem cell therapies to regenerate tissue and rebuild the immune system of individuals affected by neurologic disease.
Listen to the Podcast
“It has never ever been more important…to have diversified ways to support these projects.”
David Greenberg, M.D.
Traversing the Biotech “Valley of Death”
As scientists and biotech entrepreneurs, the brothers know the importance and challenges of securing outside funding. Ben describes the dreaded ‘Valley of Death,’ which “is that difficult stage where there’s a great idea with some preliminary data, but it’s a year or two…away from going into a human or a trial and really proving that it is worth the large scale investment that’s needed from pharmaceutical companies or tech companies to actually make it an accessible drug.” Further, he says, “in that ‘Valley of Death,’ lots of wonderful ideas wither on the vine and die because they can’t get the investment or the backing to make it through.”
As David continues, “it has never ever been more important—in my opinion, with what’s going on at the national level—to have diversified ways to support these projects.” The Greenbergs highlight the importance of leveraging the wider funding ecosystem as NIH grants dwindle, including foundations, state-led ventures, patient advocacy groups, and university funds. Ben emphasizes the significant role that the philanthropic community has played in Dallas in particular: “One of the things that’s just been extraordinary in Dallas, which is extremely different than so many places in the country, is not just the level of philanthropy, [but] the level of targeted philanthropy and partnership between the community and Southwestern.”
The brothers cite Pegasus Park, the Innovation Hub at UT Southwestern, and Southwestern Medical Foundation as key resources in that have helped transform Dallas into a biotech hub – and made DFW attractive to researchers and scientists. To Ben, these local efforts are extremely important because “one of the risks we have as federal funding gets cut is a loss of talent.” As he explains, “the more talented the team, the better the science and the faster the discovery.” That’s why, as David concludes, “it’s even more important than ever that we cultivate every opportunity to try to fund innovation.”
