Lynn Banaszak Brusco is executive director of the Disruptive Health Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to her appointment at CMU, Lynn was Vice President and Chief Relationship Officer at the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, a biotechnology investment organization, where for nearly a decade, she worked with 400 start-up companies, helped deploy nearly $20M in direct investment in 75 companies, leveraging over $900 million in additional capital to the region. In addition, she shaped the organization’s strategic direction and the region’s global position as a life sciences industry leader.
Lynn was also one of the original Directors of the $8.1M Accelerator Fund, LLC venture firm. Lynn is a founding Board member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Women in Bio, a non-profit organization to support and recognize and emerging women leaders in the biosciences industry of Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia and a member of the founding board that created the Association for Corporate Growth Women’s Council. In addition, Lynn was recruited by the University of Pittsburgh to facilitate the first Bench to Bedside course for the $5M Coulter Program, a campus-wide effort led by Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering that identifies, selects, funds and mentors translational research by clinician-bioengineer teams that address unmet clinical needs through innovative technologies. She is an entrepreneurial mentor for Alphalab Gear, a hardware and robotic startup accelerator that provides physical product companies with investment, mentorship and connections. Lynn was recently nominated for the 2013 Athena Award and was named one of the Pittsburgh Business Times 2013 BusinessWomen First award winners. The National Diversity Council named Ms. Brusco one of Pennsylvania’s Most Powerful and Influential Women of 2012. She is also a contributor to TEQ Magazine. Ms. Brusco is a graduate of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership’s Women in Leadership Program and Leadership Pittsburgh XXIV. Lynn has a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and education from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently pursuing her MBA.