Building BioLabs

With locations from Europe to Japan to the United States, BioLabs are co-working spaces for life science startups. According to its mission statement, BioLabs strives to create unique spaces for scientists to cultivate their revolutionary ideas, transforming the ways in which biotechnology impacts innovation. BioLabs has over 14 sites worldwide, and at the core of their practices are the principles of science, kindness, and diversity, which contribute to community-building between employees. It also provides opportunities for scientists to have a lab space and access to research equipment for a small monthly fee. Specifically, BioLabs aims to decrease the monetary barrier to the process of innovation.

 

Since launching, BioLabs has supported more than 500 life science companies, provided over 800 jobs, and raised more than $5 billion. Arriving to Dallas at Pegasus Park in March 2022, the North Texas location utilizes its 37,000 square feet of lab and office facilities to develop collaboration throughout the area. Dr. Gabby Everett, who works on the business side of BioLabs and holds a doctorate in biochemistry, helps bring in new companies to work in the lab space, manage existing partnerships and ecosystem development.

 

“I see BioLabs as an ecosystem as you would see in biology,” Everett said. “It is a community of systems, and if one drops out, there is a lack of function in the community.”

 

This year, Hockaday launched an opportunity for Writing Center interns to work with BioLabs. Everett hopes that this partnership will inspire Hockaday students to pursue leadership opportunities in the STEM field.

 

“The young women from Hockaday with whom I have had the privilege of interacting are some of the brightest, most driven people I have met,” Everett said. “I hope that discovery around what it means to be a woman in a leadership position in biotech and life sciences inspires someone along the way.”

 

For Sophie Karthik (Class of 2025), the opportunity for scientific writing after participating in a biotechnology class in the summer drew her to become engaged with BioLabs. In this partnership, Karthik and other interns aim to help with writing that can promote business

with investors.

 

“The issue is that a lot of people do not see Dallas as a biotech hub and the facilities have a lot of equipment for research with only about half of its total capacity filled,” Karthik said. “We want to partner with local newspapers and do vlogs with researchers who work at BioLabs.”

 

With her current involvement in BioLabs, Karthik has also been able to hone her communicative and imaginative skills. “I have gotten a lot of practice talking to marketing people, and I have seen lots of ideas that I have had to make more realistic by combining them with my own,” Karthik said.

 

For Everett, the mindset and problem-solving skills of Hockaday students make the partnership exciting and promising.

 

“I would love to engage Hockaday students with what BioLabs is doing and give students novel problems to see how they would approach and solve them,” Everett said.