Month: November 2020

Emma Hayes is currently pursuing her masters degree through the University of Notre Dame’s ESTEEM program. Prior to joining the University, she completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Saint Anselm College.

Emma is working with the GEO Group on their Continuum of Care Program aimed at reducing the recidivism rate in the United States. GEO focuses on providing in-custody rehabilitation programs which include prosocial classes, one on one counseling, and General Education Development (GED) classes. Despite these current programs offered by GEO as well as other more traditional programs, research has shown that post incarceration, individuals need 200 hours of prosocial programming, which can include counseling, group meetings, and parole meetings, in order to not reoffend. Offenders of more violent crimes need 300 hours of prosocial engagements. The traditional United States system only provides for approximately 120 hours of prosocial interactions in a six month period, falling far under the recommended 200 hours and even farther under the 300 hours for those higher-risk individuals. As it stands, the system is not providing even close to the recommended hours of prosocial programming let alone the minimum 200 hours.

GEO’s goal is to fill this gap with a prosocial game called “Course Correction” to supplement counseling hours, reinforce positive behaviors, and more properly risk assess individuals. “Course Correction” will be an avatar-based video game in which individuals will be able to practice prosocial behaviors in a low-risk environment. Emma will be assessing the opportunities for this type of game in order to better understand the impact that it will make on the community at large. Emma will also be analyzing existing research on gaming in community corrections. By the end of this academic year, Emma will have a business plan for how best to bring virtual reality and gaming into the U.S. Criminal Justice system so that recidivism can be reduced.

Gale Bowman, the Managing Director of the IrishAngels investors group, shares her expertise with ESTEEM students in a class on early stage financing. Students hear a series of five lectures and also complete final projects based on real-life companies that they select at the beginning of their time in the ESTEEM program.

Bowman earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing at Notre Dame in 2005 and an MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago in 2012, the year in which IrishAngels was formed and she became the founding director. The Chicago-based group, which has grown to over 150 investors in size, invests in high-potential startups in which a founder, board member, or active investor is a Notre Dame graduate, student, parent, or faculty member. IrishAngels has already invested more than $10 million across 22 portfolio companies. “They learn about different forms of financing for a startup and how to pitch to investors for funding,” she says. “We talk about bootstrapping, crowdfunding, debt, and equity options that startups have when they need to find capital to grow.”

“We make investments in early-stage businesses across a variety of sectors that are raising $1 million to $3 million in seed and Series A capital,” she says. Bowman, who also developed and teaches an Intro to Early State Investing course to MBA students in the Mendoza College of Business, says the ESTEEM students often raise excellent, questions regarding their thesis projects and business plans that they work on throughout the year as part of the ESTEEM curriculum.

“I think the ESTEEM students are a very entrepreneurial group,” she says. “It was a pleasure teaching them this year, and I look forward to the day when IrishAngels will be able to invest in a business founded by an ESTEEM student.”

Ashley Kalinauskas, a 2013 ESTEEM grad, was recently recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work with Torigen Pharmaceuticals. Ashley graduated from the University of Connecticut with an undergraduate degree in Pathobiology. During her time in ESTEEM at the University of Notre Dame, Ashley worked on a Capstone Project with Dr. Suckow, the Director of Freimann Life Science Center and a Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame.

Her project entailed developing a commercialization strategy for his novel cancer vaccine portfolio, VetiVax. Over the course of the year she developed a full-scale business plan and went on to win second place at the McCloskey Business Plan Competition. Post-graduation, Ashley assumed the position of CEO, working to launch Torigen’s first product VetiVax into the market.

Torigen Pharmaceuticals is focused on delivering affordable veterinary cancer treatment to the general public. With over 2 million companion animals diagnosed with cancer each year, and treatment options exceeding $10,000 per animal, the need for a new type of cancer care is real. The VetiVax treatment that Ashley worked to commercialize boasts a cost of just $1,000 and no negative side effects. VetiVax is a personalized immunotherapy where the animal’s tumor cells are combined with an extracellular matrix which allows it to fight off its own cancer using its immune system. So far, almost 700 animals have been treated.