Helena Mendes-Soares

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT HELENA MENDES-SOARES

I chose to pursue a career product development because I like making someone’s life easier, whether this is through changes in processes or improvement or even creation of brand new products. If something is broken or inefficient, I don’t stop until I find a solution. Today, I leverage this trait to develop precision medicine products and help optimize the performance of innovative clinical research teams. I began my career as an academic researcher specializing in microbiome and comparative genomics. While working at the Mayo Clinic as a Research Associate in the Microbiome Program and Senior Program Coordinator in the Pharmacogenomics Program, I became interested in product management after collaborating with two start-ups. In 2021, I joined OneOme, where I am now Director of Clinical Products charged with scaling the RightMed family of precision medicine products and scaffolding innovation. I excel in this role because of my unique combination of scientific expertise and business acumen—I hold a doctorate, along with an MBA and PMP® certification. My facility with the languages of both science and business also allows me to serve as a translator, fueling easy communication across diverse individuals to grow revenues and lead high-performing teams. I am driven to identify efficiencies and establish processes that create the foundation for successful product development and commercialization. For example, under my leadership, product cost was reduced without affecting sample quality at OneOme after having a personally difficult time returning a sample kit via FedEx. I realized that returning a FedEx package requires the patient take several steps that are significant barriers to a timely turnaround. Following this insight, we moved OneOme’s sample shipping to USPS, reducing both customer hassle and shipping costs. I constantly look for win-win scenarios like this and seek to make products as easy as possible for patients to use. I’m a hands-on leader who doesn’t shy away from stepping into unfamiliar territory to get the job done. When the job has called for it, I’ve learned to code and lead engineering teams in SCRUM cycles. I view my teams as peers who work me, not me; as such, my job is to ensure they have the resources needed for success. I lead by clearly prioritizing projects, then working to provide my team with the peace of mind they need to get their work done.\': m••••••••@gmail.com