Riding Through The Waves: From Politician To A Champion Of Life Sciences With Bob Coughlin

Some of us plan our life ahead, navigating through careers and whatnot. However, just as we've all come to know, life happens, and sometimes our plans fall through. That is why Robert "Bob" Coughlin is a great believer in not thinking too much about it, which led him to become the person he is now and impacting so many lives. In this episode, he joins Tony Martignetti to share the flash points that took him from politician to President and CEO of MassBio to Managing Director of Life Sciences at JLL, where he is a strong partner in life science companies to help them identify opportunities to optimize their portfolios, whether it's through site selection, tax incentives, or operational efficiencies. Bob shares how he is trying to change laws to make Massachusetts better for the life sciences, getting the academia-industry and government to work together. Through it all, Bob's journey is all about riding the waves and finding the compass to his life's work in it. Join him as he takes us deeper into his story.

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Riding Through The Waves: From Politician To A Champion Of Life Sciences With Bob Coughlin

It is my honor to introduce my guest, Bob Coughlin. He is the Managing Director of Life Sciences at JLL. Bob knows that for life science companies, solving complex human challenges is their top priority. That's why he is thrilled to make the transition into real estate, coming from his past life as the head of MassBio. In this role, Bob is a strong partner in life science companies to help them identify opportunities to optimize their portfolios, whether it's through site selection, tax incentives, or operational efficiencies. He lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, on the weekends and at the Seaport during the week. Bob, his wife, his children and his dog love spending time by the ocean. I want to welcome you to the show. I’m so thrilled to have you on, Bob.

Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here at the show with you.

We're stoking the fire. We’re making this nice and warm. I love this whole concept of having a fire because it's about deep conversations where we get to discover people and their journeys to get where they are. Our intro doesn't even touch the surface of the impact you've had on people's lives. Through your organization, MassBio, and what you're doing now, you've truly had an impact on many lives throughout the years.

It has certainly been an interesting story. As we share it, I hope the audience appreciates the fact that I went on to have the best job in biotechnology, perhaps the best place in the world for biotechnology. If you wanted to talk to some of my teachers back at Dedham High School, I had quite a bit of challenge trying to pass Biology. I'm looking forward to telling the story and talking about how this happened.

To give you a little bit of insight as to how we roll. What we do here on the show is we're going to help you to share your story through what we called flashpoints or points in your journey that have ignited your gifts into the world. What I'm going to do is I'm going to turn it over to you in just a moment, but share what you're called to share. As we go along, we’ll pause and see what's showing up when themes are arriving.

I never thought I would work in biotech and life science real estate. What I try to explain to people and even to my own kids and young people that we try to mentor and help as they try to navigate their way through careers and whatnot is, “Don't think too much about it because life happens and things happen.” I grew up the youngest of six boys. I went to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to learn how to run the planted ships or run boats for lack of better terms. When I was there, I fell in love with the Student Government of all things. I like student Government better than I like my Engineering classes, back to Biology and Chemistry thing there.

While at maritime, I got elected to be a student member of the board of trustees. I went on to become a student member of the board of regents representing all 29 colleges and universities in Massachusetts. What that meant was during my senior year at maritime, I could not go on my semester at sea because I represented Cape Cod Community College, UMass Amherst, Bridgewater State, at the time Westfield, etc. While I was home, my dad said to me, “You're a good kid, but you're not going to live in my house for two months without having a job or doing something productive. What are you going to do?” I said, “I don't know. I looked for a job. I couldn't find anything.” He said, “You seem to like politics. You have a good resume for a college kid in doing student government. Why don't you run for the school committee here in the town of Dedham?”

I was only nineteen at the time. It was before social media. My dad was a selectman for a long time in the town. We decided to run for the school committee and I won. There were no social media and we didn't put my picture on anything. Everyone thought they were voting for my dad. Keep this in mind and bear with me here. That's how I got into politics. Now I go back and finish my time in college and graduate. I couldn't ship out in the Merchant Marine because I had two years left in my term as a member of the school committee in Dedham. I got an entry-level job at a startup company called Clean Harbors Environmental Services.

While in Clean Harbors, I grew with the company. It turned out to be a great career. I didn't choose it. It chose me because I couldn't ship out, and then I decided I was going to run for selectman. I finished my term on the school committee and ran for the board of selectmen. Long story short, I love politics. I ran for selectman. I got elected. I served three terms on the board of selectmen. I grew up at Clean Harbors and bumped into my first in a series of 3 or 4 midlife crises. I've had several. The first one was when after three terms on the board of selectmen in Dedham, I felt that democracy wasn't being served in my district by the existing state representative.

Don't think too much about it as you try to navigate your way through careers and whatnot because life and things happen.

I decided to challenge in a primary the existing seated state rep who is the assistant majority leader in the House of Representatives. You have less than a 1% chance of knocking out an incumbent at the time in the Commonwealth. I decided I was going to retire my job and leave my job at Clean Harbors and become a full-time politician. While that was happening, life took a turn for the worst. It was quite tragic at the time, but the story gets better as it goes along. You're familiar with some of it, Tony.

My wife was pregnant with our third child at the time while I was running for the House. I thought this was great because having a pregnant wife. Pictures in the brochures are good for business and votes. Because of the standard pregnant screen screening tests and genetic testing on pregnant moms that didn't exist for my first two children, we found out in utero at twenty weeks that the unborn baby was going to have cystic fibrosis. Keep in mind that I was 30 years old at the time. I had two beautiful kids and a beautiful wife, and I was running for the legislature.

That changed our world forever. We were told that we had an unborn baby that was going to be born with an expiration date. You only can imagine what that does to you emotionally and psychologically. It's tragic. We did some research. We met with folks at Boston Children's Hospital, genetic counselors, and folks at the CF Foundation. Ironically enough, during my time as a member of the board of selectmen, I volunteered and became the honorary chair of the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk in Dedham. We’ve raised over $1 million for CF research before we even knew we were going to have a child with CF because I had other family members and friends that were touched by this tragic and horrible disease.

I immediately thought I was going to get out of the race, go back to my job, and take care of my family. While going through that process, I met some amazing social workers at Boston Children's hospital and counselors. One of them said to me, “Do you have anything big going on in your life right now?” I'm like, “Other than you telling me that I'm going to have a kid that's going to die, that I'm running for the House of Representatives, and I left my good job, yeah, I got a lot going on. That doesn't matter. I'm going back to my job.” She said, “Why would you do that? Why wouldn't you think of how much good you could do for sick people? Think of how much good you could do for places like Boston Children's Hospital if you were a lawmaker that cared about drug discovery and patient care?” I was like, “Wow.”

My wife and I have been together since we were sixteen years old and she hates politics. Keep in mind that I was already elected for about twelve years locally before this. We were driving home and I was expecting to say to my wife, “Forget it. I'm not running for the House and go back to my job,” which I don't think she ever wanted me to. I said, “Could you believe that lady, the shrink, the social worker?” My wife was like, “Yeah, she was smart. She knew what she was saying. You need to stay in this.”

I stayed in the rep's race, got elected, and started spending a great period of my time working with leaders of the life science industry. Companies like Vertex and Genzyme were working on cystic fibrosis research as it related to gene therapy. I started doing research about how policy and innovation can intersect for good or for bad. I was the go-to person in the House for the biotech industry early on in the stage of the game. It was because a person like Henri Termeer was at Genzyme. Josh Boger was at Vertex. Mark Levin was at Millennium. Deborah Dunsire had taken over Millennium at that time. James Mullen was at Biogen. They said, “We have a go-to person in the House that will fight for stem cell research, statute and legislation.”

I led the debate on somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is embryonic stem cell skin research. I was able to be a champion working with Governor Patrick on a ten-year billion-dollar life science initiative that put this industry on the map. Long story short, I was trying to change laws to make Massachusetts better for the life sciences. At the same time, I was working with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and my hero, Joe O'Donnell, from The Joey Fund. Joe came to me in the hospital the day my son was born, May 1st. He said, "Why don't we go raise $100 million and invest it in our own company so that your kid doesn't die as my Joey did. We're going to buy a cure for your kid." I'm like, "Buy a cure?"

Fast forward to that, I worked closely with Joe and so many other amazing people to raise money for cystic fibrosis therapeutic settings so that we could invest in our own pipeline. I learned about this industry from a policy standpoint and capital formation standpoint. Little Bobby was in six clinical trials before he was even six years old. I learned about how the system was busted. Lo and behold, that led me to leave the legislature to join the Patrick administration for less than one year. Once we got the life science initiative passed, there was an opening at MassBio. Folks felt that if I could go take over the industry trade association back on September 1st, 2007, we could get academia-industry and government to work together in a true partnership and perhaps become the best place in the world for the life sciences.

It happened. There are a lot of ups and downs along the way but think about that. I never chose my career. It chose me. Not to get to the end of the story, but I think it's important that the readers understand that during that time at MassBio, I was there for thirteen and a half years. In 2019, after eighteen years and $13 billion invested, Vertex was able to invent a drug called Trikafta that's keeping my kid alive. Since he has been on the drug, he has grown 8 inches, gained 50 pounds and his lung functions back to what it was when he was five years old. A few years ago, I couldn't say this, but now I can say I'm going to die before him and he's going to live longer than me and my wife. That's not something that we could say. It has been a blessing and a gift. I'm filled with gratitude.

First of all, I am forever grateful for being part of this industry. I've worked at Genzyme and Vertex. I was there for the launch of Kalydeco, which was one of my most proud accomplishments being part of that. I remember going to events where I would go into the National Jewish out in Denver, Colorado. They were saying, “We're having a struggle because we haven't had adult patients.” It didn't exist.

Now they're having to deal with that because people are living longer. I'm like, “That's progress.” That's something that we can look to. I often think about the model of how you can turn things on their head and say, "Instead of raising money to throw at different companies, put the force on incentivizing companies to do the right things and create the right vehicle for investment.” The CF Foundation was one of the innovators in that space.

The CF Foundation and Dr. Bob Beall invented venture philanthropy, which is the model that Michael J. Fox, multiple myeloma, ALS, and T1D all used. You raise money and create a venture philanthropy fund to invest in science, technology, databases, and companies that are all trying to solve that particular unmet medical need. Tony, I would be remiss if I didn't thank you for all that you've done for patients and people that work in this industry through coaching, mentoring, and everything that you've done to make this industry here locally and abroad as robust as it is. It creates tomorrow for sick people and generates gratitude and hope for so many moms, dads, brothers, sisters, etc.

I want to turn it back on you. One of the things that I wanted to reflect on is your journey. You said that you like the ocean and your path has been nothing but riding on waves. Looking at the beginning part of what you told the story, it was a ship lost along the rough waters and did not know where it was headed. All of a sudden, you found the compass setting and you moved at rapid speed. You found the wind and you went at it. We said there are rough waters, but you went with purpose and steed all the way towards your destination. It has served you well. I thank you for that. That's exactly why the MassBio organization has done what it's done. It's not just making ripples inside of the organization of Massachusetts. I look at the impact that's made outside of our state.

I love what you said. When we got the news about Bobby, it was a rough sea. It was turbulent, rocky and choppy for a long time. Once we were able to grieve, I realized that anything is possible. I talk to other young parents that are having kids with Duchenne and diabetes, and people that are stricken with ALS, Huntington's, and all these different elements, including cystic fibrosis. I say, “We can solve this. Look at what we've been able to do and these diseases that we can cure now.” Let's go back to that analogy. It was a rough sea. I always say that a smooth sea is never made for a skilled sailor.

You wouldn’t enjoy the smooth seas if you didn't have rocky seas. You wouldn’t know they were good, so bring it. We were able to chart a course and say, “This is the end game.” The end game is to come up with a therapy that keeps him alive long enough so that we can invent a cure. We're not at a cure yet but we're working on it. Think about This. Not being a doctor and not being a scientist, what could I do? This is different for everybody. What could my wife do? What could I do? What could other people do? Whatever that is, God bless you. Some people can't be public about things because they can't deal with it or they don't want to. That's fine. There's always something that you could do.

This is why I did it. This is just me. I'm not talking about anyone else. Not being a doctor and not being a scientist, but I was good at raising money. I had the ability to change laws. That's what I focused on. I was able to take that passion and that purpose and turn it into very productive activities. I'll cut right through it. I don't say this a lot, but the reason I did it was because, at the end of the day, I had to be able to look at myself in the mirror. If it didn't work out and he died, I had to be able to say, “I did everything I could do,” otherwise, I couldn't live with myself. On the flip side, if it works and we hit a grand slam, this is tough stuff to do and we did it.

People would always say, “Thank you so much for what you've done.” I'm like, “I didn't have a choice.” Thank you to the people that don't have a sick kid that helped. Think of the hundreds of millions of dollars that were raised to put into our own pipeline. That came from not just people with CF. There are only 30,000 families in the country that have CF. It was truly a team effort. The real heroes are the patients and the people that help that aren't directly related to the patients.

When you have a movement like this where you're trying to do something, you have to enlist the energy of other people. The only way you do that is by finding ways to help people to first see the issues that are at play, and then let them know that you don't have to be an expert in anything particularly. You don't have to be a doctor to solve this problem. What you need to have is able hands, people's minds, and some skills to come together.

We wouldn't know the sunny days if we didn't have rainy days. So take it in, feel it, deal with it, and work through it.

When you do that, amazing things happen when people are bound together for a common cause. That's what is so beautiful about what you shared. It's a great message for this particular show to help people not to feel like they have to give up. You can say, “What can I do with my abilities right now? If I keep on doing that, what will that end up accumulating to?’”

If you feel like you have a purpose, you are never going to hit the snooze button again. You want to get up every day and attack it. It's weird. I don't know how to explain this so that normal people will understand it. Something bad happened to our family, but I look at the good. I went for years where I had a bad relationship spiritually and didn't have gratitude. Now, we hung in there and I say, “What would my life be like if this didn't happen?”

Anyone who's going through adversity, what do they say? “It can't rain forever.” I remember my dad used to say when I was young, “If you didn't have rainy days, you wouldn't know the sunny days were nice. Take it in, feel it, deal with it, and work through it.” Lo and behold, we've had a pretty good life. I've had a pretty good career. I've got to do some amazing and exciting things that had I not had CF come into our lives, I don't know if any of that ever would have happened. It probably wouldn't. It's weird.

I hate to get all cliché and say that everything or something happened for a reason. It happened because you're an idiot. If you're not being an idiot, things that happen are true. My mom is a spiritual person. I remember what she used to say about why did Bobby get CF. She would be like, “The Lord thought he could handle it,” and we did.

It's paradoxical. Where it comes down to is it's like you get these things and they're a blessing in disguise. It challenges you but at the end of the day, you wouldn't trade it for the world in some ways because it created so much out of all that. I can also imagine that it bound your family together in a very tight bond.

That’s another life lesson type of thing. When you need to circle the wagons, it does make you tight. You develop bonds that otherwise you might not have. We don't take that for granted. Some of the things that we've experienced in our lives, I probably would have put off because of work, life and budgeting. We lived every day like our kid was dying, and there's something to be said for that.

I remember when we were getting close to finding out that Trikafta was going to be real for Bobby because, for a lot of years, we didn't think that the CFTR modulators were going to work for him because of one goofy mutation that he had. We didn't know if Vertex's science would work or if it did. Once we find that out, Bobby was like, “Dad, is the party over after this?" I said, "No, we're still going to have a fun trip every year. We're going to take nothing for granted. We're never going to let stupid stuff bother us because life is too short. It's too fragile.

I want to get the next part of your journey here. I know you have a lot to share about your time in the pandemic and your transition from MassBio. Share with me what happened in the past few years for you.

If I had a nickel for every person who said, “I can't believe you quit the job as CEO of MassBio, which is the best biotech trade association in the world.” If you want to Google it, you can read in the blog how much they paid me. It was a good wage. People say, “What did you do wrong because you didn't quit. You got fired.” I'm like, “Because I don't think things through, I decided that I didn't want to do that anymore.” It’s an interesting story. I share this with people and it surprises me how I came to this conclusion.

On November 9, 2019, Bobby got his first dose of Trikafta. That was before COVID. It was coming pretty close to COVID and he got that medicine. I wish I could bottle the emotion because I don't know if it's a relief or joy. It felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders. It's a weird feeling. I can't explain it. It’s like I would get in a road rage situation with someone and I would yell, “I love you.” Nothing could get me back. I felt like it was an emotion that was unknown to me, the joy, happiness and relief all in one. That happened and then COVID hit. I would drive to MassBio every day. There was no traffic. It was beautiful. I hated traffic. We'll close up around traffic because I'm never going to sit in traffic ever again in my life. I've figured it out

I was going to MassBio. I was by myself because people were working from home, but I still went in every day because my role had shifted. I became the cog, the go-between or the hub between 98 companies that were doing COVID-19 related diagnostics, therapeutics or vaccines in the government. We also set up the Massachusetts life science emergency supply hub, where we could get all of the supplies, masks and everything shifted from life science companies to the first responders who needed them. I had this job that was filled with purpose as a project manager.

The week before everything shut down, I flew home from my last trip to Washington DC as a lobbyist for the industry, arguing about drug pricing and fighting with our senior senators and the senator from Vermont, and our president at the time who was bonkers too. It was just this crazy stuff that I was sicker. We're in the middle of COVID. Government loves us because when did we ever think that for the first time in our lives, the entire world's economy and safety would be relying on a vaccine. We never thought we would see that in our life.

Everybody loved the industry. I'm working on this meaningful project. I would go home every night. I wasn't traveling. When I went home, there was no traffic. I got home and my wife, as I said earlier, we've been together since we were sixteen years old. She said, “I've known you your entire adult life.” We're in the middle of a pandemic. People are depressed. People are loaded with anxiety. The future of our world is uncertain. I've never seen you happier. What is going on with you?” I'm like, “I don't know.” Is it because Bobby has medicine? Is it because I'm not in traffic?

I had a few years left in my final contract at MassBio, but I decided that life is short, fragile and precious. I loved the job. It was the best job in the world. I just didn't want to do it. I made a list of the things I loved about my job. I made a list of the things that I didn't love so much. I wanted to try to do something next that would enable me to continue to work on what I love in the life science industry and take some time off from the things I didn't love, just to mental health and physical health.

I've never been happier and more physically healthy than I am in my life right now. I attribute a lot of that to not having the stress that I had in my last job. It’s very important for people to know that stress is bad and I had a lot of it. I didn't realize how much I had because I was on that purpose-driven mission. I went to my board and told them I was going to leave. It was sad. I cried a lot when we were leaving because it's part of my life and I'm still on the board at MassBio. I still check in all the time, probably more than they want me to.

I will always be a supporter and part of the organization. MassBio is what got the industry, academia and the government to work together. What we did become the best place in the world for life sciences. That's going to continue but I wanted to make a change, and now I get to consult with large companies on site selection and negotiate tax incentives. I work with developers to make sure that they don't miss out on things that are important for a successful cluster. I was part of building out Kendall Square. I saw what we missed. I saw the mistakes we made. It’s the same for the Seaport and the innovation district. I've been involved with it since the beginning. I lend that advice to avoid mistakes.

We help companies solve unmet medical needs better. My favorite part is working with startup companies. It took Vertex eighteen years and $13 billion to invent the drug that's keeping my son alive. If we knew then what we know now, we could do it in five years for less than $500 million. My goal is to work with small companies to share that knowledge, wisdom, ideas and successes so that they can solve unmet medical needs quicker, better, faster and cheaper. At the end of the day, the patients are waiting and that's all that matters to me. I don’t care about money, fees or anything other than these companies succeeding. For the rest, success comes with it.

I love the transition you made and the idea of seeing the things that light you up and make you come alive. You’re doing more of that and then continuing to build your legacy even though you've got quite a legacy you've already been able to create for yourself. You're continuing to extend that using your knowledge and the things that you've learned along the way to continue to foster more of what's possible.

Life is short. Life is fragile. Life is precious.

The three words that come to mind when I think about what you've created are purpose, passion and connection. The connection that comes from all the relationships that you fostered because you show up the way you do. You are real and without any airs of being better than other people or anything like that. You're just a real person. That makes a big difference. That's how people connect well with you. You're able to get things done. That's powerful.

It's being put in a situation that you do not have a lot of control over. It can be very humbling.

We are coming to this idea of the things that we're trying to codify and lessons on what you've learned about yourself. If you were to say 1 or 2 lessons as you look back on your life, what are the two lessons that you want to share with people that you think are important that you learned about yourself?

First and foremost, anything is possible. Nothing is impossible. That's why we always say in Massachusetts, “We are #StateOfPossible.” That's real. If there are complicated problems, you can get the right people pooled together. That's where diversity comes in. The more diverse any group, the better the scientific outcome is. Never give up. We talked about it, purpose, passion, resilience and persistence. You don't give up when your kid's life is at stake. I've learned from that that anything is possible. My family is hysterical. The microwave might not be working and I'm like, “It's going to work. We won't give up.” They're like, “Chill out.” Nothing is impossible. That's a lesson that I try to share with everybody.

Another thing that's negative. If I could go back and do it all over again, there are not a lot of things I would change, but I would spend more time with my kids when they were younger. I'm trying to make up for a lot of that now. My wife and I had different trains of thought. She spent a ton of time with the kids and cared for Bobby. She was his primary caregiver. She's amazing, a saint. I was out trying to solve the problem. When Bobby was in his teens, we were able to meet more in the middle where she got more involved with the fundraising. I got more involved with the kids, but there were a lot of hockey games, practices, and things that I missed that we now spend a lot more time together. I honestly didn't feel that I had the time. I was too scared.

In hindsight, the advice that I would give to other people is that your work is something that you do during the day. It's important. It helps you pay the bills. If you're passionate about it, even better, but don't ever sacrifice those beautiful moments that don't happen for long periods of time because I missed all that. It's important that you have that balance and moderation. Take a pause and think about it.

You and I talked before about if it weren't for COVID, I wouldn't have taken a pause so that I could get the clarity to realize that it was probably in my best interest, my family's best interest, and the people who care in our circle’s best interests for me to do something different. If that pause had not happened, I would have been on cruise control like I was for 32 years, just going and going. If you don't or if you're not taking time to smell the roses, you are going to miss it.

The advice and thoughts that you're sharing are right on point. I couldn't say it better than you did. I can't think about a better reason why people should hug their children now while they're young, while you have them, because life is fleeting and it happens in a flash. Take advantage of every moment while you have it. This next question is our last question. I'm going to shift gears a little bit and I'm going to get into something a little unrelated. What are 1 or 2 books that have had an impact on you and why?

You can have a whole show where you could use different books through the different stages in your life. I'm a big fan of history. I love reading biographies because I think you can learn so much. Let's talk about different flashpoints. What made me decide to be a politician? I read two books in a row. I'm going way back. I can't remember what I had for lunch and now I'm going back literally to 1999 or 2000. I read Jack Welch’s Straight From The Gut. A poor kid from Salem went on to be the CEO of the largest corporation in the United States of America.

I'm sitting there saying, “I'm working at Clean Harbors and I'm a selectman in Dedham. I want to do more with my life,” then I read right after it McCullough’s John Adams. It is still one of my favorite books because it's a history lesson in a book. The excerpts written by Adams, I had to read them 3 or 4 times because they seemed like a different language to me. When I read Adams, I felt at the time that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was not behaving like a democracy. If Jack Welch can come from Salem and be the CEO of the largest company in the United States of America

, and John Adams can invent, with a bunch of other like-minded people, a country and a constitution, why can't I run for the House of Representatives in Massachusetts against a sitting fellow Democrat who was the assistant majority leader? The whole world said it couldn't be done and we crushed it. Those books count as one because I want to fast forward to the end of the story. The last book that I read is called Breath From Salt by Bijal Trivedi. It's the entire story of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation from 1956 when she started, all the way until when Trikafta was approved for my kid.

My family was mentioned in various spots. It's the whole story of how and when if you want to solve a problem, granted it might take 65 years of a disease foundation crushing it and not giving up. I read that book and I learned so much about the organization that I've been involved with for over three decades. For the last twenty years of my life, it has been a daily involvement. The amount I learned from that book about resilience, persistence and overcoming adversity was truly amazing.

I love what you described because the way you brought to life the first two books are fantastic. I've read the John Adams one, which is something that I remember from a while back. Now I'm going to go back to the Jack Welch one. I'm definitely going to pick that up. In the Breath From Salt, we interviewed Bijal on the show when it first came out. It’s an amazing book, an amazing person, and I was just honored to have her on the show. I can't thank you enough for coming to the show. This has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, just hearing all of the stories that you've shared. I also feel energized by you coming on. I feel like I want to go take on the world.

Thank you for all that you do. You've done so much for so many people in this industry. The patients around the entire world or globe are benefiting from the persistence and dedication that so many amazing people have here to go to work every day to solve unmet medical needs.

Before I let you go, I want to make sure people have a place where they can look you up if they want to reach out and say hello or learn more about you.

On LinkedIn, it's @RobertCoughlin. My Twitter handle is @BobCoughlin. If you want, you can hit me up. My email address is on my LinkedIn account. I don't use LinkedIn messaging because it's too many people selling stuff. Reach out. If you or your company has any real estate needs, you got me.

Thanks, readers, for coming on the journey. I know you're leaving with so many great insights and you're ready to take on the world like I am. That's a wrap. Take care.

 Important Links

• JLL
• MassBio
• Straight From The Gut
• John Adams
• Breath From Salt
• Bijal Trivedi – Past Episode
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• @RobertCoughlin – LinkedIn
• @BobCoughlin – Twitter