Megan Robertson, Senior Counsel in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was featured in the Clemson News, in “Women in STEM: The Stories of Five Women Scientists with Clemson Ties,” by Cindy Landrum.
Following is an excerpt:
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated globally each year on February 11.
To celebrate the day, we are highlighting five women with ties to the Clemson University College of Science who are making a difference with their work. …
Megan Robertson
Megan Robertson can credit the original spark for her career choice to two classes – one Advanced Placement course she took in high school and a history of law course she took as a senior at Clemson.
Robertson ‘14, an attorney with the Washington D.C. office of law firm Epstein Becker Green, originally was accepted at Clemson as a psychology major. But while her application was pending, she took an AP biology course at her high school and found genetics interesting.
“I visited Clemson my junior year in high school, and I knew it was the place for me. I applied to other schools, too, just to have a back-up, but Clemson was one of the only schools I applied to that had a genetics major,” she said. “I switched my major almost immediately after I was accepted.”
As an undergrad, Robertson realized she didn’t want to work in a lab.
“I realized that the science interested me, but being in the lab wasn’t what I was passionate about. I was excited about innovation and thinking through the scientific aspects more than actually doing the science,” she said.
She thought about becoming a genetic counselor to merge her interest in genetics and psychology. But then graduate teaching assistant (and now Clemson faculty member) Kimberly Métris suggested patent law as an option. It was around the time the Supreme Court was deciding whether human genes could be patented. After taking the history of law course at Clemson, she solidified her decision to go to law school.
Robertson ultimately attended George Washington University Law School, in part for its patent law program. But while she was there, Robertson discovered there was a whole field of law dealing with health care innovation. It was a perfect fit for a science background.
She is now senior counsel at Epstein Becker Green, where she helps clients navigate the unique compliance issues faced by companies in the life sciences industry, including drug and device manufacturers, clinical laboratories, research sponsors, clinical research sites and contract research organizations. She also works with clients interested in investing in these types of life sciences companies.
Robertson, who earned her law degree from GWU in 2017, said her practice area is growing tremendously with the rapid advances in science, technology and healthcare.
“People are thinking of wild new things — new business models, new technology and using old technology in a new way. It’s fascinating,” she said. “Helping companies navigate the complex legal and regulatory landscapes in order to bring their vision to light and, hopefully, further medicine and science, is so gratifying.”
