Before working at VIC, Mr. Brauns was the Chief Operating Officer of SmartPharm Therapeutics, where he managed the development of non-viral plasmids and gene delivery systems for the company and helped the company secure and manage a DARPA contract to develop a non-viral DNA platform encoding anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies. In addition, he held positions as vice president of strategic planning for Boston BioCom, a biotechnology company; vice president of marketing and communication for BL Healthcare, a home health monitoring technology company; assistant director of the international program in the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) at MGH; and director of program development at the Adelson Medical Research Foundation.