Today Amy introduces us to Bailey Surtees.  It won’t be the last time you will hear about her as the work she and a team of cofounders are doing is consequential.  Her career pivot is in progress, and we’re on hand to witness as she and her work evolve.

 

Bailey tells us she was interested in science at an early age.  She loved biology in high school, and she loved what she had learned to that point about engineering and problem solving.  As she headed off to college from home in Oklahoma to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, she wasn’t yet sure how her two interests would coalesce, but once she arrived, she fit in nicely as a bioengineering major.

 

Bailey’s career journey began in earnest during her senior year at JHU.  As an assignment in a senior design program, she and some fellow students were challenged with a problem solving project. They teamed with field clinicians and what they eventually came up with was   remarkable work they hoped would be game changing. Their project eventually led to the founding of a business, and Bailey became the lead.

 

 Originally, the team’s goal was to study both breast cancer diagnoses and treatments for patients in low resource countries.  But they soon modified their study after they learned professionals in the field were far more concerned about treatment than about diagnosis. This was because they had no viable way to treat in the field following a diagnosis. This revelation caused the team to put their focus on finding a way to provide treatment methods that would work in field conditions. They determined they’d spend a year researching this, and by the end of that year, they had come up with their own treatment method which was unlike anything else available. 

 

The team applied for grants to sustain their efforts post-graduation.  They wanted to work full time on the project as they’d become convinced that it had commercial potential.  They eventually were ready to move from research to development. Six years have passed and Bailey’s company, Kubanda Cryotherapy, is growing.  But what is this treatment?

 

It is a minimally invasive cryotherapy technique for lumps and bumps and is currently being used on pets, Bailey explains. Kubanda started in the pet therapy market to help them fast forward to human treatment.  It is a cost effective alternative to surgical resections, and right now it’s being used by veterinarians with the hope for an eventual go-ahead for human trials.

 

Bailey says the treatment trades a “knife for a needle”. She describes the simple procedure and emphasizes how inexpensive it is.  All that’s needed is a CO2 tank. No electricity is required.  A needle is inserted into the lump or tumor.  The needle is then chilled to -70 degrees.  This rapidly creates ice in the tissue, and those sharp ice shards quickly attack and burst the cells.  The patient experiences minimal pain and does not have to go through the traditionally long recovery period.

 

As they move hopefully forward to human trials, they continue to rely on grants but are now raising money through investors too. Bailey has nothing but confidence in the viability of their cryotherapy treatment, and she hopes her enthusiasm is contagious as fund raising is a part of her job now.  The founding group plans to continue expansion by reaching out to even more veterinarians around the country. She manages this task as part of what she does on a day to day basis as well.  She often fills in or helps out with the work being done by the other founders too. She describes how she loves being a jack of all trades for the business.  She says at present she’s learning about HR functions as the company takes on new hires.

 

Bailey gave Amy some advice and takeaways she would pass on to other entrepreneurs:

 

• It’s more doable than you think. Don’t be intimidated
• Reach out to other entrepreneurs for their support. There is a powerful network of people willing to help you the same they were helped when they began. Network with people who are a step ahead of you

• Be patient. It takes time to reach your ultimate goal
• Be open to taking on unexpected roles as you might learn something new about yourself in the process.

 

Links:

 

• com
• com/in/bailey-surtees