Mary Beth Thomas, Ph.D.

Mary Beth Thomas is the senior vice president, science and business development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.  Prior to this role, she was vice president of NCBiotech’s Emerging Sector Development program.

As senior vice president, she is responsible for the Center's Emerging Company Development (ECD) and Science and Technology Development (SciTech) programs, as well as the Information Technology and Life Science Intelligence programs. The ECD and SciTech units administer the Center’s loan and grant programs. Thomas has also managed the Center’s Biodefense/Biosecurity and Precision Health initiatives.

Before joining NCBiotech in 2008, Thomas served as the statewide director of technology commercialization with the Small Business and Technology Development Center in Raleigh. Before that, she was the assistant director of the neurosensory program at Tranzyme Pharma in Research Triangle Park. She also served as an assistant director of the neuroprotection program at Cogent Neuroscience in Durham.

Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology at the Rochester Institute of Technology (New York), a doctorate in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati and served as a postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Neurobiology at Duke University.