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Allison Winfield Kalloo had her idea for including minorities in the clinical process chosen by the Bull City Startup Stampede; Kalloo was given free office space for 60 days.
In addition, she will also have access to the resources available in downtown Durham.
Some of these resources include The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, LaunchBox, Joystick Labs, and The Small Business Technology Development Center at NCCU.
Kalloo was one of eleven people chosen by the committee to have their businesses located downtown.
Kalloo, a 1987 alumna with a degree in science, had the idea of getting minorities more involved in the clinical trial process of developing new treatments.
She will do this by informing the researchers about minority needs that are not being met and by providing feedback at the close of clinical studies to patients.
Her startup business, Clinical Ambassador, can flourish in Durham because after all it is the "City of Medicine."
"Clinical Ambassador revolutionizes scientific discovery through minority inclusion," said Kalloo.
Kalloo hopes to give local minority residents a place to obtain research literacy and health empowerment.
She plans to change the paradigm for minorities in research from being a victim to being the decision-maker. She is going to make the truth available about research through focus groups, community workshops, and other interactive events designed to get feedback from the community.
Although she is locally based she plans on serving people nationwide. The Bull City Startup Stampede was created to help companies develop their ideas. This is the first year that the event has been held.
Seventy-eight people submitted to the competition and the website had hits from over 400 cities and 30 foreign countries.
"I felt confident that my business concept would be attractive in this environment, on both the community and clinical sides," said Kalloo.
According to Kalloo there is not a business in existence that is qualified to assist the minority and scientific communities. Kalloo will have free office space from April 1 – May 31. Her business will be located at 201 W. Main Street in the Self-Help Building.
This location will give her the full experience of being in downtown Durham.
"There are great organizations here to work with entrepreneurs," said Adam Klein, Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, "and we'd love to work with students and entrepreneurs that have great business plans and ideas."
Klein stated that the winners of the competition had scalability potential, a tight focus on how their company would grow, and good synergy with the resources available in Downtown Durham.
"I see our selection as the Chamber's endorsement of a sound business concept," said Kalloo.
With this opportunity Kalloo feels that her hard work is beginning to pay off.
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