Scott is Director of Venture Commercialization with the Foundation Venture Capital Group where he plays a critical role in sourcing and evaluating potential investment opportunities. He also works directly with academic entrepreneurs and management teams of health-related early-stage startup companies to support their commercialization needs, including contributing to research and development plans, intellectual property strategies, and financial modeling. He earned two BS degrees from the University of New Haven in Forensic Science and Biology and completed his PhD in Neuroscience at Dartmouth College, where he studied the development and function of one of the structures responsible for neuronal signaling. He is passionate about supporting the innovation ecosystem through participation in conferences, serving on event panels, and mentoring students in entrepreneurship courses. He is also an advocate for increasing diversity in STEM and among startup founders.

"It was certainly a scary experience leaving academia, but the skills I learned during my time in my PhD program prepared me for a job in any industry - even in venture capital, where I had no previous experience. Resources like the Princeton GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowship will not only bolster your current abilities, but will also help lay an invaluable foundation of skills and experiences. Taking more advantage of the professional development resources in my PhD program would have certainly helped shorten my venture capital learning curve!

It was great to work with the GradFUTURES team to set up a Social Impact Fellowship and hear about the exciting and meaningful work that they are doing to provide professional development resources for graduate students at Princeton!"

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottalpizar/
Social Media Links: https://twitter.com/ScottAAlpizar