Melissa Kotterman's PhD research on gene therapy at UC Berkeley led directly to her becoming the first hire at 4D Molecular Therapeutics, where she helped take five engineered AAV gene therapy programs from early research into first human trials, and went on to co-found companies spanning gene therapy, oncolytic viruses, and oncology while raising over $200 million across grants, private funding, and an IPO. She has stayed closely connected to the Berkeley biotech community the whole way through, moving from student to founder to CEO to mentor to investor, which gives her a rare, hands-on understanding of how early scientific ideas actually turn into real treatments for patients.