Carleen joined the University of Virginia’s Seed Fund in 2018 as a Venture Associate, and is responsible for identifying and evaluating early stage venture investment opportunities emerging from the University. She also works to support the growth of the Fund’s five portfolio companies.
Before joining the Seed Fund, Carleen was a Principal Scientist for a university start-up that focused on the development of advanced materials and devices, where she led R&D programs in the design of novel polymer and nanocomposite materials. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship under the direction of Professor George M. Whitesides at Harvard University, where she investigated the thermodynamics of protein-ligand binding and mechanisms of charge transport across bio-organic films. Carleen earned her doctoral degree in physical chemistry from Duke University and holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Virginia.