Veronika Redmann is the President of Crane Group, previously Veronika Redmann Medical Writing, LLC, which she founded in 2018. Since its founding, her company has assisted over 60 companies with their SBIR/STTR grant applications. Dr. Redmann is an entrepreneur and scientist whose passion is assisting tech companies with seeking non-dilutive funding through the SBIR/STTR grant program, with a particular expertise of creating well-written commercialization plans. Before jumping from academia to the tech start-up world, Dr. Redmann spent 10+ years at the bench designing and leading research projects in virology, immunology, molecular biology, public health, and models of human disease. Her favorite research experience was working hands-on with a live bat colony and assisting with the preparation of specimens for rabies virus testing at the Wadsworth Center’s Griffin Laboratory (Guilderland, NY). She actively serves as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and partners with the Missouri SBDC to teach workshops several times a year on NSF SBIR/STTR proposal preparation. She has served as a past Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a BS in Biology and a BA in German Studies from Randolph Macon Woman’s College.
Rhiannon Koehler is a veterinarian and when not in the clinic enjoys writing educational articles for the veterinary and human medical spaces. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Missouri. As a clinician, she performs surgeries for animal shelters and provides wellness care for pets. Her hobbies include reading, writing, and hiking. Rhiannon enjoys working on SBIR/STTR grant projects because she feels the work of start-ups is vital to progress in the medical field. She especially enjoys projects that allow her to use her clinical knowledge. Bonus points if it has applications for both animal and human health!
Tara Steffen has been a freelance grant writer in the SBIR/STTR space since October of 2024 and has recently joined Crane Group full time as a Senior Medical Writer. Dr. Steffen received her PhD from Saint Louis University in 2023, and her thesis work focused on the role of B cells in protection from or exacerbation of diseases. After her PhD, Tara did a postdoc where she became very familiar with federal and private funding mechanisms of grants in the academic sector. At her next position as a Scientist with Eurofins, a contract research organization, she operated as an immunology subject matter expert, consultant for clients, and wrote study plans in aid of the study director. In this time, she developed relationships with VCs and startup companies while gaining a deep appreciation for transfer of pre-clinical projects developed in non GLP/GMP spaces to manufacturing. In her free time, Tara plays soccer, spends lots of time with her dog, and participates in the fiber arts community.
Alexander Jonsson holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business with specializations in Healthcare and Strategy, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering with Highest Honors from Georgia Institute of Technology. He previously served as Business Operations Manager at Cordance Medical, a venture-backed neurotechnology company, where he secured and managed over $2.4M in NCI SBIR/STTR funding, supported a $10M Series Seed financing, and led efforts resulting in FDA Breakthrough Device Designation. Prior to that, he spent five years as a Strategic Analyst and Project Manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, leading enterprise technology deployments and building analytics infrastructure in one of the nation’s leading NCI-designated cancer centers. Alex is passionate about helping early-stage life science companies translate complex technical programs into compelling commercialization plans that resonate with grant reviewers and investors. Outside of work, he can usually be found training for his next triathlon.
Stephanie Erjavec received her PhD in Genetics & Development from Columbia University for her thesis work in the functional genomics of autoimmune disease, Alopecia Areata. After her PhD, Stephanie joined IQVIA as a consultant where she conducted various Value & Access strategic projects for biopharmaceutical clients. Her projects primarily focused on commercial evaluations, disease landscape assessments,pricing strategies, competitive landscape analyses, and evidence generation strategies. At her next role at Cambrian Biopharma, Stephanie was responsible for leading the operational strategy of pipeline companies as well building out Cambrian’s Market &Commercial Insights function. She is passionate about improving patients’ access to lifesaving medicines and is thrilled to support innovative startups in winning SBIR/STTR grants to bring their medicines one step closer to patients.
Anthony Rush received his PhD in Chemistry from UC San Diego for his thesis work in DNA-encoded polymer-based nanomaterials for gene delivery. Anthony continued on as a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at Stanford University where his work focused on the genetic engineering of commensal gut and skin bacteria as living immunotherapies. Since his graduate and postgraduate work, Anthony has been working as a scientist and project lead in the biotechnology industry focusing on therapeutic applications of cell-based medicines. As a scientist and engineering team lead at Federation Bio, Anthony spearheaded company efforts in engineering commensal skin bacteria as living therapies for applications in immuno-oncology. Anthony is passionate about unlocking creative pathways for empowering our collective wisdom and intelligence to build and nurture healthier, more sustainable, and more harmonious global cultures.
Dahlia Perez is a postdoctoral fellow in the field of cardiac regeneration at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Prior to this, Dr. Perez received her doctorate in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in cancer cell biology. She has also published in the fields of centriole duplication, cell division and heat shock proteins. A constant throughout her scientific career as she studied across varied biological disciplines has been the desire to understand basic mechanisms of biology in a translational manner. To that end, she looks forward to learning about new scientific fields and innovations, and contributing positively to the journey of start-ups through SBIR/STTR grant writing.
We offer complete or partial assistance with preparing and submitting a grant application/proposal:
We have grant-writing experience with these federal agencies: NIH, NSF, DoW/DoD, USDA, NASA, and the Department of Education. We provide template grant documents to all clients, kept up to date with information from that agency and opportunity.
We specialize in the federal SBIR/STTR and ARPA programs and the Texas-sponsored CPRIT program.
At the initiation of your grant project, we work with you, based on the terms of your award, to establish a compliant book-keeping system, putting you on the path to easier grant project reporting later. If requested, we provide guidance specific to the agency and the award (e.g. drawdowns, expense reimbursements and continuous book-keeping support) throughout the grant project.
We also offer writing or editing services around the technical reports/documents describing the completed grant project work (annual or project close-out). With your input, we can help to prepare and submit most reporting documents for the agency.
We offer in person and virtual workshops (ranging from one hour- several days of content), for STEM entrepreneurs on the following topics:
We are always open to developing new or personalizing workshops around a certain topic and audience.
We engage with our Midwest community, participating as volunteers for pitch and accelerator competitions, and spreading knowledge at job fairs and through talks in academia about alternative science careers, entrepreneurships and the start-up environment, and specifically the medical/technical writing profession.
This process can be difficult and involve steps which you and your team don’t have time for. We’re experts in the field and can get going within days. Let’s chat about your needs.
