SDSU alumnus launches innovative course to guide STEM students beyond traditional careers

San Diego State University alumnus Court Turner (‘96) returned to campus this fall, applying his nearly 30 years of biotech experience to teach an innovative new course.

From Invention to Patient (BIOL/CHEM 596) was offered for the first time this fall semester. Employing a practical, multidisciplinary perspective, the course exposes science majors to career paths they can pursue with a STEM degree, beyond traditional routes in medicine, academia and research.

Turner’s course is a reflection of his varied career which he said was an “accident.” After graduating from SDSU with a psychology degree, he covered a two-day temp agency job for his Kappa Sigma fraternity brother at local biotech company Aurora Biosciences. 

“I turned those two days into almost thirty years of a career,” he said.

Turner went on to start a leadership training company and attend law school at the University of San Diego while working full-time at Aurora Biosciences. He then worked in the legal and business development departments at a number of biotech companies before moving into venture capital, founding several corporations, supporting the development of multiple drugs, and contributing to numerous scientific papers.

“I've always done nine things at the same time,” said Turner, who now adds teaching his own class to his resume.

This job is one Turner says he feels “very lucky and blessed” to take up while maintaining leadership roles at healthcare firm LYZZ Capital, multiple biotech companies and not-for-profit Curebound, which advances cancer research. Through the course (whose thirty spots offered to chemistry and biology seniors and master’s students filled up immediately), he aims to inspire students to follow the right career paths for themselves, emphasizing that STEM majors don’t only have to be one thing.

“You would not have said, ‘If you want to do what I do, follow this weird path,’ but this is what happened for me,” he said. “I think part of that nonlinearity is comforting to students, that they can be curious and do different things, and they'll eventually find their path where they feel happy.”

“From Invention to Patient”

Open the image full screen.

The course covers every facet of the life sciences industry, providing the translational training necessary for students located in one of the nation’s top biotech hubs. Students learn the science behind prominent health issues and industry solutions for them, as well as legal elements involved in inventing new biotech products, such as patents and trademarks.

Turner also applies his business acumen to teach students how to effectively lead teams and look for market opportunities in the healthcare industry. He even challenges them to build a business model around a solution for an unmet medical need before presenting their inventive ideas with the class in a Shark Tank-esque exercise.

“It's one thing to be a good scientist but if you want to run a company, you become a manager of people,” he said. “Most STEM students are introverts by nature and most of the great scientists are introverts. So part of the goal is to get students to embrace that part of their personality and develop some extroversion skills in order to be effective in business.”

Open the image full screen.

Turner hosts leaders from all parts of the biotech industry to share their unique career paths with his class. Students were amazed to find the industry is not merely scientists conducting experiments then sending a drug to the FDA. By outlining the in-between steps, including project management, operations, business development, legal, banking and accounting, Turner broadens students' perspectives on potential career paths.

“The first day in class I asked, ‘How many of you think you could be a CEO?’” Turner said.  “Nobody raised their hand. I bet if I asked them now, 90% of the class would say, ‘Yes, I could do it.’

“Part of my job is to demystify all those things, like being a CEO, being a lawyer, starting a biotech company, being a venture capitalist. All those things are within reach, should they choose.”

What Do Students Say?

“I think it's always good to broaden your options and that's what this class has done for me because it's a different side to medicine that's not talked about as often,” said Lilianna Ruiz, a senior biology major. “It's a very empowering feeling being in this class, not just learning about biotechnology, but the business side of things, and how you are as a person, and how that can help you succeed. It's a life lesson class and I think that's what makes it so invaluable.”

Errys Frondarina, a third-year chemistry master’s student with an interest in entrepreneurship, said he’s never seen a course like this offered before. 

“This class is unique in that it's focused on the whole process of taking the research from the lab to bringing it into a business idea,” Frondarina said. “I see it as learning how to become an entrepreneur, in a way, because this class provides you insight you would have never learned in a regular class. I'm in my last semester so I'm happy I took this as my last class to go out into the real world.”

Turner’s “From Invention to Patient” course is planned to be offered again next fall.