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Behind The Scenes with Melissa Hagen

Friday, August 5, 2011

David Bertola
Buffalo Business First Reporter

Landing the perfect job in Buffalo: In 2005, Melissa Hagen and her husband, Douglas, a computer programmer, packed up and left the area so he could take a job with a defense contractor in Washington, D.C. In 2006, she ended up working as a financial analyst at the same company.

They returned to the area in 2008 when she was hired at the New York State Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences for an account administrator position.

What she does: Much of her work is assisting with projects through the state’s Centers for Advanced Technologies program, and those that are Centers of Excellence-based.

After companies obtain funding, Hagen helps them facilitate partnerships through a UB faculty member. Faculty members and companies determine a project’s scope of work. Hagen works on the execution side, which may mean helping with purchases or navigating logistics within the university.

“After the scope of work is defined, Melissa becomes involved,” said director of business development Marnie LaVigne. “Answering questions about the administration of the budget is her expertise, and she does all the financials.”

The perfect marriage: LaVigne and business development associate Renata Bator are the public faces for the center, as they meet with companies and sell programs.

Hagen’s role, LaVigne said, is a perfect marriage of outreach and administration.

“Melissa does all the back-end work,” she said. “The beauty is if something comes in, we can hand it to Melissa.”

Background in grants and contracts: Before she and Douglas left for Washington, Hagen worked at the University at Buffalo    (her alma mater) in the office of grants and contracts. Though she had never worked in bioinformatics, her experience made her a good fit for the account administrator position, which she enjoys.

“It’s great to be in the life sciences and helping companies match up their needs to the appropriate funding sources,” Hagen said.

How large are the projects? She has managed projects ranging from $10,000 to $200,000.

They can be clinical trials, prototype development for medical devices, software testing or lab work. Hagen taps an extensive referral network through UB’s Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering technology to find the appropriate fund or solution to meet a need.

Where are these companies headquartered? While Hagen works with many local companies, the center’s reach is statewide, so she is in contact with people with varying development needs to get their products to market.

What she loves about being back in Western New York: “I missed the sense of community here,” said Hagen, a Town of Tonawanda native.

People in Washington didn’t seem as warm or friendly as Western New Yorkers, she said. Little things, like being able to make small talk with the person in front of her in a checkout line, were also missed.

“You don’t strike up conversations with strangers in Washington,” she said.

Another reason to come home: “The huge draw was the opportunity to help the UB community and develop businesses so people who were in a position like my husband and me didn’t have to leave the area,” Hagen said.