Shir Mnuchin is committed to Corporate Social Responsibility.
She currently serves as Director of Partnerships at Bioforum, a service provider for the biotech industry, bridging together academia and government.
In her previous positions, Shir has lead cross-sector initiatives in third sector organizations and government agencies.
She is an avid advocate for sustainability issues and dedicates her time to leveraging diversity within the pharma industry.
Shir holds an international MBA with a focus on fourth sector development from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev.
What are you working on these days?
I’m responsible for driving the development and scaling of strategic partnerships, to accelerate growth at Bioforum. We identify strategic partnerships offshore and in Israel, to expand our audience and scope of services to meet the ever changing needs of the industry.
What was your first position In the Startup-Nation?
Director of Partnerships, Bioforum, almost two years ago.
Bioforum was established 20 years ago, as an applied knowledge center, bridging together academia, industry and government.
Since then, we’ve expanded our operations to the clinical trials community, that has been rapidly growing for the past 10 years, making Israel a hot spot for big pharma companies clinical trials.
We help accelerate the clinical development process (pharmaceutical and medical devices), providing clinical programming and biostatistics services for startups, hospitals and NFP institutions.
Like in other industries, what is left from a clinical trial, is the data.
We partner with our clients to make sure they are FDA approved to penetrate the North American and other global markets.
What was your first job ever?
Sweeping floors in my hometown
What life event or moment affected your life the most?
At 21 I set out as an Israeli Emissary to Alabama.
Yes, like the one in the song “Sweet Home Alabama”.
Growing up in a small suburban community in Israel, it was only in Alabama when I first learned the essence of community, 11,000 km away from my home.
Getting to know this new Southern culture, I was constantly observing and adapting new nuances to my set of behaviors, like learning to drink beer!
It was the unique individuals that I was privileged to meet that introduced me to a totally different culture than the one I knew.
But it was the common grounds I shared with them that made it possible for me to establish meaningful relationships with those who are so different than me, forming my own community.
Ten years later, my greatest learning: “Network gives you reach, community gives you power”.
To this day, this is the foundation for everything I do.
Best advice you received or would like to share?
“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” — Marilyn Monroe
