Carrie Brockway, Ph.D.: 'Everyone here is aligned with the goal and we are moving it forward.'
“We’re here do to what’s right with Seattle.”
For Carrie Brockway, Ph.D., doing what’s right is mainly centered around the shepherding of post-doctoral fellows and their primary investigators through a two-year program affiliated with the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeattleHub) at the Allen Institute and its efforts to reprogram human cells. The other essential component, and likely equally demanding, is helping build Seattle’s biotech community to become “the epicenter of synthetic biology.”
“I’ve only been here a year, but I love and believe in the cultural mantra that ‘We all rise together,’” said Brockway, the Executive Director of SeaBridge, composed of the fellowship program and LaunchPad, the start-up business incubator. “Our endeavor is really working well and we want to share this collaboration widely and so others may take advantage of it.”
Learning to take advantage of opportunities might be considered a core element of the SeaBridge curriculum.
The first cohort of eight researchers was selected in last January. Each fellow incorporates SeattleHub’s cell and genome programming technologies into their research projects in laboratories at University of Washington or Fred Hutch Cancer Center. All are receiving two years of financial support, as well as funding for structured career development, mentorship training, and networking opportunities.
The fellowships are supported by a $10 million grant from the Washington Research Foundation, with additional funding from Biohub and the Brotman Baty Institute. SeaBridge’s second of five cohorts is expected to be onboarded in September; more information, including the application process, is available here.
“The fellows work with Seattle Hub mentors to learn and apply cell and genome programming technologies to address key research questions, as well as opt into either ‘Entrepreneurial’ or ‘Discovery’ tracks, depending on each fellow’s desired focus,” said Seattle Hub Co-Director Marion Pepper, Ph.D., who also chairs the UW Medicine Department of Immunology. “This is an exceptional opportunity for early career scientists.”
Brockway also recognizes the “exceptionalism” of SeaBridge.
“When I started in this role I had not yet fully absorbed how many facets had come together across both Seabridge and LaunchPad, as compared to other fellowship programs across the country,” she said. “The marrying of those two is super rare.”
Given her experience, it’s a safe bet Brockway would know about other fellowships comparable to SeaBridge.
After completing a Bachelor’s Degree and a Ph.D. in Chemistry, she joined Pfizer, the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation, as a Research Scientist, in 2000. Over the next 17 years, Brockway served in numerous roles, including business development and operations. She later received an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and subsequently worked at the Broad Institute as a Senior Advisor. Brockway then pursued positions at Boston-area biotech firms, culminating in 2022 as a Senior VP at Ascidian Therapeutics.
She contrasted her current role with SeaBridge with others she has held.
“It’s baked into my DNA to have a sense of urgency: ‘Do something every day to make progress,’” she said. “ That was the mantra in start-ups. But doing things the right way matters, even if it takes longer. With SeaHub and SeaBridge, I believe it’s OK if we don’t make progress every single day, so long as we’re making directionally correct progress. Everyone here is aligned with the goal and we are moving it forward.”
