Blog

LabCentral wrapped up our annual Winter Chill last week and is back in the office this week ready to go for 2026! We are eager to get started while still holding the memory of 2025, what the last 12 months have encompassed, and how those events have prepared us for what comes next.  

2025 for us included exciting transitions and heart wrenching farewells, along with several new partnerships and initiatives at a time when the life sciences industry was (and is) adjusting to the impacts of dramatic and often unpredictable policy and funding shifts. But the undisputable theme of the year was ‘community’ in every possible meaning of the word, and I continue to be enormously grateful for that – more than a few words here will convey.  

We have long talked about the importance of community as core to the LabCentral resident experience – creating beneficial and serendipitous ‘collisions’ that spark new friendships and expand networks. This year, our definition of community has expanded in new, different and exciting ways.  

First, we started the year with the terrific news from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative that LabCentral was receiving a grant for the new AI BioHub to support entrepreneurs working at the intersection of tech and bio. Working in concert with new partners, C10 Labs, we expanded our offerings to support teams working at this vibrant seam between the traditional biotech and technology worlds. Along the way, our community expanded dramatically and impactfully, for which we’re forever grateful. We’ve had the opportunity to work with a cohort of amazing teams doing important work, and to think deeply about how we can best support theirs and others’ needs in the years to come. We’ve also had the opportunity to work with numerous thought partners who are energetically committed to accelerating the industry’s progress in this new direction – all motivated by the opportunity to get cures to patients faster and more efficiently. 

Then, in May, our co-founder, Johannes Fruehauf, transitioned his role from CEO to Chairman, and welcomed me as LabCentral’s new President and CEO. We’re delighted that Johannes continues to be deeply connected to our community in his new role. I have felt enormously supported by Johannes and the entire LabCentral Board of Directors as I’ve moved into this role, driven by a vision of redoubling our efforts to support early-stage life sciences founders in new and different ways. Community is a core part of that vision.   

In preparing for BIO 2025 in Boston, the challenges to the industry – and the community we support – were ever-present. And the community – both inside and around LabCentral – got to work to move science forward in the face of new roadblocks. We convened our inaugural Luminescence: Rise and Fun(d) event where sponsors awarded $250,000 in Golden Ticket value to two winning teams. Chosen from an incredibly competitive field, Bayer and Takeda combined their Golden Tickets to award a single $200,00 ticket to one company, Brilliant Strings. CKD awarded their first-ever $50,000 ticket to InnDura Therapeutics. Beyond the Golden Tickets, 37 companies took part in the digital postering event that brought together investors, pharma companies and other entrepreneurs shortly before the doors of BIO opened. Boston BioMed Realty was kind enough to share their magnificent location with us.  

In the middle of the summer, working with The Engine, BioLabs, and our new partner, The Termeer Institute, we co-hosted the annual Boston Biotech Investor Day (“B-BID”, as it’s affectionately known) to bring the industry together. Dozens of startups participated in the pitches and digital postering sessions, once again showcasing the power of community to create meaningful connections. Paula Soteropoulos, Chairman of Ensoma, biotech investor and entrepreneur, was our keynote, sharing her perspective on this moment in our industry.  

We then experienced the most unwelcome transition with the loss of Mike LaRhette, our Chief Business Office, dear colleague and friend. At that moment and all those that have followed, we have had the benefit of our far-ranging community. Together, we have supported each other's heavy hearts through this tragedy and space that follows. [For an appreciation of Mike, please read our reflections here.] There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of Mike and his intentionality in making everything at least 10% better. 

In early September, the dynamic team at Nucleate welcomed me to their annual Nucleate Summit to join a panel conversation about Kendall Square – a community that I treasure and actively support – and a fireside chat about women in life sciences. Both of those conversations and others throughout the day provided numerous opportunities to connect with the entrepreneurs building the next life sciences companies around the world and to understand the challenges they face. While the technologies and modalities change, the hurdles are distributed across the science, businesses, and cultures they’re developing. I am so very grateful for the warm welcome from the Nucleate team and community, and to Heer Joshen and Oliver Dodd, who co-chaired this year’s event. 

September closed out with Brilliant Collisions, a showcase of the first cohort of companies that had come through the AI BioHub accelerator program. They were brilliant, illustrating the range of innovation that is happening in this multidisciplinary world. The event also included a panel conversation about the different ways the Commonwealth is supporting entrepreneurs – now and in the future. I joined Kirk Taylor, MD, President and CEO of the MLSC, Sabrina Mansur, Director Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Shahid Azim, Managing Partner, Cofounder and CEO of C10 Labs, and moderator, Naomi Berlin, Assistant Secretary of Business Growth for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Massachusetts’ Business Front Door can be found here). The common thread throughout the conversation were the numerous and creative ways that the assembled economic development agencies and private industry – in partnership with the Healy-Driscoll administration – are creating pathways for entrepreneurs while focusing on workforce development and expanding opportunity.  

October brought LabCentral to Japan where we announced a new partnership with Shonan iPark to welcome a cohort of their entrepreneurs to the Kendall Square ecosystem. 15 teams joined us in November and 8 of those were selected to return in 2026 for a program that includes mentorship, networking, and executive education during their stay here. We’re grateful for the opportunity to expand our community and share this ecosystem more broadly.  

November 's most beloved community event – the annual Cultural Celebration – includes a mindboggling array of foods from all over the world representing the cultures of the LabCentral community – residents, employees, sponsors and others. It’s a truly amazing event that brings everyone together to share bits of home. (This blog will give you the flavor of the event.)  

In addition to a celebration of our international community, we introduced LabCentral First, a new program that offers first-time founders free access to LabCentral benches for six months. We also announced reduced bench pricing for 2026, and both were very well received. When combined with our Golden Ticket program, which granted more than $1,000,000 in Golden Ticket value in 2025, we continue to expand the ways we support the early-stage life sciences community.  

The featured event of December was The Dish Live, featuring Nobel Laureate, Dr. Phil Sharp, and our Chairman, Johannes Fruehauf, for an engaging conversation about the history of the biotech industry, some of the forces that shaped where we are today, and so much more. We so appreciated Dr. Sharp’s willingness to share his time and experience with our assembled community and were grateful to all who were able to join. 

While there was so much that happened in the year, the power and importance of community is constant throughout, and will be in the year ahead. For everyone who has engaged with the LabCentral team, residents and our many partners, heartfelt thanks. As we continue our vital work, the power of our community and the network will continue to be essential elements in our collective successes.