Dana Watt, PhD, is a Partner at Breakout Ventures, where she drives the firm’s seed investment strategy and supports company founders as they achieve commercialization milestones. She has led due diligence on notable Breakout investments, including Canaery, Phantom Neuro, and Vitra Labs. Dana earned her doctorate in cellular and molecular neurosciences at Washington University in St. Louis; her biomedical research culminated in her co-founding a molecular diagnostics spinout company. Dana’s involvement in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in St. Louis continued as she joined the university's entrepreneurship center to institutionalize support for SBIR/STTR-funded spinouts. Before joining Breakout in 2021, Dana was a Senior Investment Associate for the strategic healthcare venture fund Ascension Ventures. Dana has nurtured a robust professional network through her mentorship activities and engagement as a Kauffman Fellow.