An "a-ha" moment born from seeing drugs brought to market I've always loved science and looked for positions where I could expand my knowledge. It didn't take long for me to discover my real passion is in business and working to develop products for the marketplace where there is a real need. I started in manufacturing and quality control, in the gut of operations. It was my first introduction to corporate life. As I noticed the marketing people on my team, I began to appreciate the value that marketing plays within an organization; they are the hub of the wheel. They were the ones who decided which new products were necessary, worked with customers to determine unmet clinical and medical needs, and worked internally with all the departments within the organization to get new products out the door. That was the a-ha moment for me. I realized I should keep a toe in science but also get involved in driving product development forward. I decided I would pursue an MBA and compliment the scientific training that I had. I was going to school at night and working full time. Ultimately my goal was to move toward a marketing capacity. I eventually had the opportunity to join a new company started by a group of scientists that developed a very successful device. I led manufacturing and operations there, finished my MBA and eventually landed a marketing position with Baxter Healthcare, a company where I remained for the next 17 years. I began to notice that one of my real strengths was that I'm a very strategic thinker. When I was charged to create from scratch an oncology business within Baxter, I learned of a company that was being divested. It became clear that we should acquire this business. It was mature with commercial sales in more than 100 countries and already had state-of-the-art Food and Drug Administration manufacturing facilities with many drugs in development. I convinced the chief executive and ultimately the board to move forward with the acquisition. We did. The oncology business became the fifth global business for the company. We added incremental revenues and operating income, merged other small product lines with the newly acquired business and further improved operating margins. We were also able to reduce operating costs by consolidating our customer channels. Later, when I became chief executive of a venture capital-funded company, Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, I got the first two drugs into the clinic and closed a financing of $35 million for the company. Then I ran a $1 billion business within Beckman Coulter, where I regained our market leadership position and established a number of strategic partnerships. After they were acquired by Danaher, I ended up leaving to join GenVec as the chief executive. I saw that it was a combination of good science, core technology, a very experienced board of directors and very exciting development programs. My vision is for GenVec to be the recognized leader in gene-delivered therapies. Interview with Vanessa Small