Dr. Valerie Young
Author; Impostor Syndrome Expert

     Dr. Valerie Young is an internationally recognized expert on impostor syndrome who has spoken to over 80,000 people at such diverse organizations as Apple, Chrysler, Boeing, Microsoft, Merck, Intel, IBM, Ernst and Young, BP, Procter & Gamble, Society of Women Engineers, and The Space Telescope Science Institute as well as at over 80 colleges and universities including Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, MIT.

Valerie is the author of an award-winning book with Random House which is now available in 5 languages… 

And her career-related tips have been featured in dozens of business and popular media outlets from India to Brazil including BBC radio, The Wall Street Journal, Chronicle of Higher Ed, Science, Psychology Today, and The Chicago Tribune.

 She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts. And later spent 7 years in management at a Fortune 200 company. 

In addition to her work at ImpostorSyndrome.com, Valerie is the founder and Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com where she’s been showing change seekers how to make a living without a job since 1995.

Mary M. Mitchell
President, The Mitchell Organization

Mary M. Mitchell is dedicated to helping women scientists become more professional so they can expand their careers.

She has been privileged to live and work on four continents. Building on a robust corporate career, she devotes her energies to supporting postdocs and physicians, a passion that began with the pioneering program at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004..  As the author of 9 books, now in 11 languages, her message is clear:  Good manners create good relationships.  Good relationships create solid careers.  It’s not the other way around. 

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, CNN, “The Today Show”, and “Good Morning, America”, among many others.    She is an experienced coach, syndicated newspaper columnist, and certified Zumba and Aquafit instructor.  She is a pioneer in the benefits of wellness and mindfulness as they apply to human behavior, which broke new ground in her book “Class Acts,” in 2002.  Mitchell was the protégé of Letitia Baldrige, who served as White House Social Secretary during the Kennedy administration.   Early in her career she hosted a daily radio commentary on an NPR affiliate called “WOW:  Words on Women.”
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Her website is themitchellorganization.com

Dr. Christine S. Grant
Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement, Professor of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University

​Dr. Christine Grant is an Academic Resilience Strategist who partners with individuals and organizations to empower women and men in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).   She obtained her degrees in Chemical Engineering (B.S., Brown University; M.S. and Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology). An international speaker, Grant conducts career coaching and professional development workshops across the U.S., in Ghana and Australia, empowering both women and underrepresented minorities on the STEM pathway. Her consulting company, CoolSci Productions, LLC (drchristinegrant.com) designs custom, targeted programming for corporate and academic environments. A Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at NC State; she’s also the Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement in the College of Engineering.  She is one of less than ten African-American women in the U.S. at that rank.  Her research has focused on surface and interfacial phenomena in the areas of electronic materials, polymers and biomedical systems. She has served her profession as a leader in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) as a member of the Board of Directors and as a Fellow. She has been a Visiting Senior Scholar at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an Expert in the NSF Engineering Directorate and a visiting faculty at Caltech, Duke and UPenn.  Grant has been recognized with several awards for broadening the participation, promotion and retention of underrepresented minorities (URM) and women in STEM including: the AAAS Mentor Award and the NSF Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM. Her book, “Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor” by Elsevier/Academic Press is the culmination of Grant’s over 30 years of leadership broadening the participation of diverse populations in STEM fields.

Dr. Fanuel Muindi
Assistant Director of Graduate Studies, Harvard University & Co-Director and Co-founder of the Stem Advocacy Institute

Fanuel Muindi, PhD, grew up in Tanzania and the UK. He completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Morehouse College and his PhD in Biology at Stanford University. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship in neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now Assistant Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He is also the co-Director and co-founder of the Stem Advocacy Institute (SAI) - a science development think tank - that is based in Boston. As part of the institute, he is also the co-founder of the Journal of Stories in Science. Fanuel likes to meditate, run, and an avid photographer. He is a fan of black and white photographs and is the curator of the Reflections book series.

Dr. Bruce V. Lewenstein
Professor of Science Communication Cornell University 

​Bruce V. Lewenstein is Professor of Science Communication and chair of the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Trained as a historian of science, he works across the field of public communication of science and technology, including informal science education, citizen science, and communication training for scientists. 

Dr. Erin Solovey
Assistant Professor
​Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Solovey’s research expertise is in human-computer interaction, with a focus on next-generation interaction techniques, such as brain-computer interfaces, physiological computing, and reality-based interaction. She designs, builds and evaluates interactive systems that use machine learning approaches to adapt and support the user’s changing cognitive state and context. She also investigates effective human interaction with complex and autonomous systems and vehicles. Her work has applications in areas such as education, transportation, medicine, creativity support, gaming, and complex decision making. Her research has received awards including the NSF/CRA Computing Innovation Fellowship and three ACM CHI Best Paper Award Honorable Mentions. She serves on several editorial boards and program committees including the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and the ACM CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harvard, and her Masters and Ph.D. in computer science from Tufts. Before joining the WPI faculty, she was a professor at Drexel University and a postdoctoral fellow in the Humans and Automation Lab at MIT.

Dr. Brindha Muniappan
Director of Education and Public Programs, MIT Museum

Brindha Muniappan is the Director of Education and Public Programs at the MIT Museum. Her passion for science communication shifted her from the research bench into the field of informal science education where she actively produces programs for the public, including educational workshops for middle and high school students, speed-geeking programs for adults, and hands-on explorations of art, science, engineering, and technology for people of all ages. Brindha is very interested in continuing to broaden the Museum’s audience and creating sustainable connections with local, non-traditional audiences

Dr. Kavitha Scranton
Scientific Editor at Immunity, Cell Press

​Kavitha Scranton is a Scientific Editor at Immunity, a Cell Press journal that publishes research articles that report significant advances in immunology. She holds a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her doctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms of gd T cell differentiation and function. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard on T cell-mediated autoimmunity. 

Dr. Angela Abitua
Outreach Scientist, Addgene

​Angela Abitua, Ph.D, is an Outreach Scientist at Addgene, the nonprofit plasmid repository which is dedicated to open science, scientific reproducibility, and accelerating research. In her free time she volunteers as a board member at BosLab, a nonprofit community lab in Somerville, MA. She received her PhD from UC Berkeley where she investigated regeneration of germline cells in crustaceans. Through her work at Addgene and BosLab, she aims to make science more inclusive, accessible, and open.

Dr. Brittany Pierce
Group Leader, Marrone Bio Innovations

​Brittany Pierce is the Group Leader of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at Marrone Bio Innovations. She earned a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Texas, Tyler where she spent three years working on insect-vector interactions with Xylella fastidiosa, causal agent of Pierce’s disease of grapevine. She earned a Ph.D in Plant Pathology under the guidance of Dr. Bruce Kirkpatrick at the University of California, Davis. While at UC Davis, she continued work on Xylella fastidiosa elucidating molecular methods Xylella uses to adapt to the plant during infection. Her academic foundation has culminated into her current position from a scientist into a group leader.  She oversees microbiology and molecular innovation research efforts in the discovery, understanding and development of novel, sustainable and highly relevant biopesticide and biostimulants for organic agriculture.

Dr. Iris R. Wagstaff
STEM Program Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science 

Iris R. Wagstaff, Ph.D. is a scientist, educator, mentor, researcher and STEM advocate. She currently serves as STEM Program Director in the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Department of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) where she manages programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels focused on broadening participation in STEM and workforce development.  Prior to joining EHR, she served as a 2015-2017 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Institute of Justice Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences where she led an agency-wide strategic diversity and inclusion initiative.  She is a native of Goldsboro, NC and obtained a BS and MS in Chemistry from the UNC-Greensboro and NC A&T State Universities respectively. She worked as a research chemist at the Dow Chemical Company for 15 years where she led analytical project teams to solve customer problems, as well as, company-wide diversity initiatives. She has over 20 years of STEM outreach and advocacy in the community developing informal science programs, resourcing parents, and collaborating with K-12 science teachers to develop engaging curricula that help students connect the science they learn in the classroom to their everyday lives. 
Dr. Wagstaff has expertise in culturally relevant pedagogy, mentoring, and building strategic partnerships between industry, academia, and community organizations to advance STEM education.  She left the chemical industry to obtain a PhD in science education research and policy analysis from NC State University where her research focused on employing statistical models to examine factors that predict science self-efficacy, science identity, and STEM career intent in high school students. Her research also focuses on the role of informal science and outreach experiences for students who are underrepresented in STEM. She serves on the Boards of several organizations that include the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), the Chemical Society of Washington (CSW), and Science, Engineering, and Math Links (SEM). She also currently serves as an adjunct chemistry professor at her Alma Mater – UNC-Greensboro leading diversity and inclusion efforts. She has received several honors for her STEM outreach that include the 2015 NOBCChE Henry McBay Outstanding Teaching Award, a 2016 nomination for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the 2017 Women of Color in STEM K-12 Promotion of Education Award and the 2018 NOBCChE Presidential Service Award for 25 years of service and mentoring in the chemical sciences. 

Dr. Joanne Kamens
​Executive Director, Addgene

Dr. Kamens is the Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, nonprofit dedicated to helping scientists around the world share useful research reagents and data. According to the Boston Globe, Addgene was the #1 2016 Boston Globe Top Place to Work. She received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 20 years as a researcher and director in pharma and biotech. Dr. Kamens founded the Boston chapter of the Association for Women in Science. She is active in creating and supporting a number of mentoring programs for science trainees. In Dr. Kamens was named one of PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspiring Commanders & Chiefs.  Joanne gives over 80 talks each year on career topics all over the world. She speaks widely to science and tech trainees, women in science groups and to pharma teams on topics such as Winning Company Culture, Implicit Bias, Management 101, Making the most of Mentoring Relationships, Work/Life Negotiation, Not Networking - Building Relationships for Success.You can find her @jkamens on Twitter and on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannekamens.
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Juliet C. Hart
Founder, Hart & Chin Associates, LLC

​Juliet C. Hart specializes in developing the leadership capabilities of scientists and their organizations.  She is the founder of Hart & Chin, a company that offers workshops, coaching, and consulting services.
She believes that strengthening the leadership and interpersonal skills of scientists will make them more effective leaders, who will have a larger impact and create greater value for the organizations they serve.
Previously working as a scientist and with scientists at Johnson & Johnson, she has seen the impact of her work drive employee engagement, increase collaboration, and stimulate innovation across functions.
Juliet established her expertise in learning and development through progressive roles within pharmaceutical giants such as J&J and Bristol-Myers Squibb.  In addition, she has obtained management training from the Yale School of Management. She began her journey in drug discovery as a laboratory scientist at small to mid-sized biotech companies and at J&J in San Diego, CA.  Juliet earned her Bachelor’s degree from the City University of New York - Hunter College in psychology.  There she conducted research in biopsychology as a National Institutes of Health - Scholar Fellow, published papers, contributed to the National Academy of Sciences, and presented at international conferences.

Dr. Piul Rabbani
Research Assistant Professor, New York University School of Medicine

​Dr. Piul Rabbani is a Research Assistant Professor at New York University School of Medicine, in the Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery. Her research focuses on adult stem cells in wound healing and tissue regeneration, particularly in her favorite organ, skin. She is curious about the lack of healing in patients with diabetes and is working with biomaterials labs to develop therapeutic solutions. She shaped and directs the Summer Research Fellowship program for medical students. Dr. Rabbani prioritizes finding opportunities for budding scientistas, from internships to public-speaking workshops, to employment options, including recruiting them to her own lab. She is a long term volunteer with BioBus, a science outreach organization, where she has the opportunity to build candy models of mammalian skin as seen through a microscope, share science trivia and  be inspired by the curiosity of young minds.

Lisa Cratty
Vice President R&D, Product Development & Strategy, BD

Lisa Cratty, Vice President R&D, brings over 20 years of experience in the areas of new product development, research and development and portfolio and project management.  Lisa first joined BD in 2010 as the Director of New Product Development in Preanalytical Systems (PAS), with responsibility for building R&D functional excellence (including core team leadership) and partnering with the commercial group to develop and evaluate new business opportunities and product strategies through the annual strategic review (ASR) process.
Since 2015, Lisa has been the steward of the BDX investment portfolio of innovation, technology and product development projects; including deployment of the strategic space identification process, tracking, analysis and management reporting of the R&D key driver goal metrics and responsibility for many of the strategic and corporate deliverables for the function.  Lisa also served as the Chief of Staff for the former EVP R&D and Chief Medical Officer, from 2015-2017.
Lisa is a member of the R&D Leadership Team (currently serving as the Secretariat), sits on the Technology Leadership Development Program (TLDP) steering committee and is actively involved in the company’s inclusion and diversity initiatives as the R&D representative on BD’s Global Inclusion Council and through BD’s Women in STEM associate group.
Prior to joining BD, Lisa spent more than 15 years working in automotive, consumer products and medical device new product development in roles with increasing responsibility.  Her past companies include Ford Motor Company, Lear Corporation and Evenflo Company, Inc. with technical roles ranging from individual contributor to project and people management.
 Lisa has a B.A. in Economics & Management from Albion College, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and S.M. in System Design and S.M. in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management.

Vanessa J. Herman
Assistant Vice President, Government & Community Relations, Pace University

​Since February 2013, Vanessa J. Herman has served as the Assistant Vice President for Government and Community Relations at Pace University. In this role Vanessa oversees the University’s Federal, State and local government relations portfolio and is the primary point of contact for the University’s 43 elected officials and staff who represent Pace throughout Westchester County and New York City. Vanessa also manages the University’s “town-gown” community relations throughout New York State and is an Adjunct Professor who teaches University 101 for Veterans and Tools of the Trade: A deep dive into the hidden political processes, and essential professional skills that determine the outcomes of law, policy and elections.
Vanessa is one of twelve recipients of the 2018-2019 Pace University Bronze Medal Jefferson Award and the 2018 Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association Woman of the Year. Vanessa is also the President of Millennium Strategies Consulting, a firm she founded in 1999 to provide primarily volunteer her public relations expertise to select charitable organizations.
Prior to joining Pace, Vanessa was Director of Government and External Relations at Applied DNA Sciences, a bio-tech company that utilizes botanical DNA as a security measure and criminal deterrent. Her responsibilities at Applied DNA, located on the campus of Stony Brook University, included creating Legislative and community relations agendas; identifying, developing, and overseeing strategic business partnerships; and identifying and pursuing federal and state grant opportunities.
Vanessa was the Assistant Director of Governmental Relations at Stony Brook for more than twelve years from, 1999 to 2011. During this time she served as the university’s sole registered federal lobbyist and was responsible for the creation and implementation of the University’s federal legislative agenda. Her responsibilities included securing federal appropriations (earmarks), monitoring federal and state higher-education policy, and promoting significant higher education legislative and policy oriented issues. She interacted directly with elected officials at all levels of government, raising the University’s profile and advancing its legislative agenda.
From 1991 to 1999, Vanessa served as a Press Secretary, Executive Assistant, and Director of Community Relations for former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) based in New York City. In addition to these roles, Vanessa got her start in politics working in the Senator’s Long Island Campaign Office.
Vanessa has an M.A. in Literature a B.A. in Political Science/Sociology both from Stony Brook University and an A.A.S. Degree in Criminal Justice from Suffolk County Community College. She and her husband, New York Army National Guard Master Sergeant Mike Donohue (RET), reside in Long Island.

Gail G. Mattson
​Associate Laboratory Director for Environment, Safety & Health, Brookhaven National Laboratory

​Gail Mattson is a registered professional engineer with over 35 years’ experience in environmental engineering, safety, radiological control, project management, and corporate relations. She received her BS in Biology & Chemistry, then her MSE in Environmental Engineering from the University of Washington. Presently, she has responsibility over the operations of the ES&H Directorate with 130 personnel and a $30M budget at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is one of the US Department of Energy’s multipurpose research institutions that operates cutting-edge large-scale facilities for scientific studies and a wide range of advanced technologies. She is a founding member of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES) and is currently is serving as the President for 2018-2020. She has also served in various local, regional and national positions with the American Society of Civil Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, American Association for the Advance of Science, and Girl Scouts of USA.

​Dr. Aisha I Abdullah
Associate Director, Global STEM Alliance, New York Academy of Science

​Aisha Abdullah received a BS in biology from the University of Houston and PhD in Neuroscience from Weill Cornell Medical College, where she studied the role of microRNA in embryonic and early postnatal neocortical development. Passionate about making science education accessible and inclusive, she worked with several K-12 science outreach programs at Weill Cornell and Rockefeller University during her graduate studies. Since completing her PhD, she has managed initiatives that broaden the pipeline to STEM careers including the Georgetown STEM Engagement Project and BioSTEM Clubs at the Center for Excellence in Education. Aisha currently serves as the Associate Director of the Global STEM Alliance at the New York Academy of Sciences, leading the Academy’s in-person mentoring and education programs, advancing the Global STEM Alliance mission to increase the number and diversity of students pursuing STEM careers, and helming the STEM City initiative to place a scientist in every classroom in New York City.

Dr. Carol O’Donnell
Director, Smithsonian Science Education Center 

​Dr. Carol O’Donnell is the Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), an organization of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to transforming the learning and teaching of science throughout the nation and world. In this role, Carol is responsible for all operational activities and planning for the division, including building awareness for K-12 science education reform among State and district leaders; conducting programs that support the professional growth of K-12 science teachers and school leaders; and, overseeing all research and curricular resource development, philanthropic development, and administration. In this capacity, Carol also serves as the US representative on the Global Council of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) Science Education Programme (SEP), the global network of the science academies. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Carol was a leader at the US Department of Education for nearly a decade, overseeing programs such as Title II Part A Improving Teacher Quality State Grants; Mathematics & Science Partnerships (MSP); Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF).  She also led in supporting States and districts as they built their capacity to implement and sustain education reforms and achieve continued improvement in student outcomes. Carol also served as the program officer for IES"s Cognition and Student Learning (CASL) Research Grant program at NCER. A former K-12 teacher and curriculum developer, Dr. O'Donnell is still in the classroom today, serving on the part-time faculty of the Physics Department at The George Washington University.

Dr. Doreen Badheka
Program Director, School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Rutgers University

​Dr. Badheka is the program director for special projects at the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Newark Health Science Campus. SGS is part of the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, an academic health center created in the year 2013. Dr. Badheka has carried out biomedical research in cell biology, biochemistry, and neuroscience. She has worked on the development of optic neurons, inhibitors for hepatitis C virus helicase, and pain sensitive ion channel – TRPM3. In the graduate school Dr. Badheka leads platforms for career and professional development, directs courses related to biopharmaceutical industry, and manages cross-functional communication & collaborations. 

Julie Yoo
Founder, Chief Product Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Kyruus​

​Julie is the founding Chief Product Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Kyruus. She drives the vision and strategy behind the company’s market-leading patient access products and go-to-market efforts, and oversees strategic partnerships and ecosystem development for the company. Julie previously played product leadership roles at Generation Health from inception through acquisition, and Knome, the world's first whole genome sequencing service for private individuals. Julie’s passion for search technologies and supply-demand matching businesses began as a member of the software engineering team at Endeca Technologies. She studied computer science and pre-medicine at MIT, and obtained an MS and MBA from Harvard-MIT HST and MIT Sloan. Outside of Kyruus, Julie is a member of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council Board of Trustees and a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum. She has been recognized for her thought leadership through numerous awards and honors from Becker’s Hospital Review, Health Data Management, MedTech Boston, and Rock Health.

​Kyle Marian
Science Communicator

​Kyle Marian is a science communicator, former physical anthropologist, and comedian. She works with Guerilla Science on top of producing the monthly live show ‘The Symposium: Academic Stand-Up’ and workshops to help researchers, particularly minorites and underrepresented voices in academia, translate their work and research lives into comedy while reaching new audiences. She has cultivated a diverse community of public speaking practice with NYC's Caveat at the Scratch Paper Open Mic. Kyle Marian has a Masters in Science Communication and has extensive experience in international science outreach, multimedia, and live performance. An Alda Center and UK Bright Club Comedy alum, she is now on a mission to train up academics (especially minorities in STEM) in stand-up & spread the sharp, smart, intersectional funnies across the US.

Dr. Maomao Zhang
Scientist - Calico Life Sciences

Maomao Zhang grew up in Michigan and is currently a Scientist in Oncology Research at Calico Labs in the Bay Area. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, where she was first exposed to the exciting world of scientific research while working as a research assistant in a lab studying breast cancer. She completed her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied cancer biology and developmental biology. She completed her postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where she used the zebrafish as a model organism to interrogate melanoma metastasis. When not in lab, Maomao loves to go on nature walks and obsess over her cat, Dennis the Menace. ​

Dr. Dana Abramovitz
Conference Programming Consultant, SXSW

​Dr. Dana Abramovitz is passionate about bringing people together to innovate and improve health and health care.  She has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University and did her post-doc at The Scripps Research Institute.  She left academic research to join then startup Ingenuity Systems, which was later acquired by QIAGEN, to create software that assists other scientists with their research.  After starting and exiting from her own venture, Dr. Abramovitz received a Masters in Management with an emphasis on health care new ventures from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  After graduation, she worked with Strand Life Sciences to help shift their focus from life sciences research into health care, specifically genomics and personalized medicine.  Dr. Abramovitz currently works with SXSW, the Interactive Festival in Austin, as a Conference Programming Consultant where she manages the Health & MedTech track of programming, mentors women-led early stage startup companies, and promotes health and strength as the owner of The Bar Method Houston - Memorial.  She resides in Houston.

Alison Kalett
Editorial Director for the Sciences, Princeton University Press

Alison Kalett is Editorial Director for the Sciences at Princeton University Press, where she is also Executive Editor for Biology. Among the books she has published are How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction by Beth Shapiro, What Trust Science? by Naomi Oreskes, and Fundamentals of Mircrobiome Scienceby Angela Douglas. She has been a science editor at Princeton University Press since 2007 and prior to Princeton she was Editor for American History at Cornell University Press.  ​

Nancy Coblenz
CEO of Rebel Role Model 

​Nancy Coblenz is the CEO of Rebel Role Model  where she’s making a positive impact among young women and girls forging their pathway to success through STEM and to build a substantial movement for women entrepreneurs to gain business and career equity.Nancy has over 10 years of tactical marketing experience and currently she is the President of Female Founders of Dallas, National Women Tech Founders Finalist (in AR/VR), 32 Under 32 Most Innovative in Marketing/Advertising,  2018's DFW Woman of Influence and National Women's Day Entrepreneur of the Year. As a former boxer and motocrosser with 15 years of motorcycle experience, she has an edge with bridging the gap between generations' applications of technology and engineering.

Ashley Kalinauskas
Founder and CEO, Torigen  Pharmaceuticals

Ashley is the Founder and CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals—a startup
that resulted from her graduate thesis project at the University of Notre Dame. Ashley graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2012 with an undergraduate degree in Pathobiology and then chose to continue her education with the ESTEEM program at Notre Dame.
Torigen is the result of the research of former University of Notre Dame professor Dr. Mark Suckow.
Torigen focuses on providing veterinary cancer care solutions for companion animals. Torigen’s first product is an autologous cancer immunotherapy that uses the patient’s own tumor cells to create a personalized treatment to fight the cancer. With over 50% of companion animals over the age of 10 dying from cancer and with other treatment modalities being both expensive and having negative side effects, Torigen offers an innovative new treatment that is quickly gaining traction with veterinarians across the country.
Torigen is located at the Technology Incubation Program at the University of Connecticut and has assembled a team of cancer researchers and veterinarians. Ashley was named the an Emerging Pharmaceutical Leader in 2017, the 2018 Connecticut Women Entrepreneur of the Year, the winner of the 2018 Million Dollar Woman Pitch Competition, and Torigen’s technology was named the 2018 top Animal Health Innovation. Ashley is focused on making a difference in the lives of pets and their families, and loves snuggling
with her dog, Dave!

Rachel Cossar
Founder, Choreography For Business

​CFB Founder and lead facilitator, Rachel Cossar, is an embodiment expert with a unique background in nonverbal performance in extremely high-pressure contexts. For 15 years, she trained and competed as a Rhythmic Gymnast on the Canadian National Team. From this career, she joined the Boston Ballet, performing lead roles in front of thousands of audience members and on stages across the globe. With experience as a major gift fundraising professional at Harvard University and New England Conservatory, Rachel has experience applying all of the programmatic content in real-world business scenarios.
Rachel Cossar leads highly experiential workshops designed to identify and master nonverbal cues to align personal intention with positive power and impact. Her programs have helped meet the needs of consultants, sales teams, executives, hospitality professionals and political figures among others. Rachel’s world class, physical expertise enables an understanding and application of body language both for ourselves and for all social interactions.

Dr. Jessica Tytell
Executive Director, Biological Design Center, Boston University

Dr. Jessica Tytell is the Executive Director of the Biological Design Center, a new center at Boston University with the mission of understanding and re-engineering biological processes to solve problems in human health and the environment. In addition to an extensive interdisciplinary research background in fields spanning from basic cellular mechanisms to clinical biomarkers, Dr. Tytell also brings to the BDC significant experience in commercializing new technologies in industry and close ties to companies both in Boston and across the globe. Most recently, Dr. Tytell led business development and commercial strategy in a successful Kendall Square based startup company, Firefly BioWorks. At Firefly, Dr. Tytell spearheaded product development efforts for their new multiplexing assay - identifying new potential markets and integrating scientist needs across a broad range of fields - and helping transform the assay from an academic-focused product to one which helped address critical needs in industry, from early target research and preclinical development through potential diagnostics. In addition, Dr. Tytell identified new potential applications and strategic partners for their platform technology, leading to an acquisition by a highly respected reagents company, Abcam. Upon the acquisition, Dr. Tytell led the commercial integration, and developed global marketing strategies for the Firefly platform, while continuing to identify the new potential products and work closely with academic, industry, and government scientists from around the world to adopt and the Firefly technology and assays. Throughout this time, Dr. Tytell developed an expertise in designing and optimizing new technologies, as well as an in depth understanding of the driving forces in the biotechnology community and built a strong network across the Boston, and global, biotechnology scene.
Throughout her career Dr. Tytell has been committed to training scientists in both technical and professional skills, supporting career development for junior scientists, and increasing diversity in STEM research. Dr. Tytell has developed both technical and professional curriculum including a Nanocourse on Biosensors at Harvard Medical School, and an introduction to managing scientific teams for new iGEM mentors at the BDC, and has lectured frequently on commercializing new technologies in biotech and on applications for biomarker research. Dr. Tytell is currently on the faculty of the IMPACT Program (www.impact-program.org) which brings in scientists and business people from a broad range of backgrounds to help trainees hone and express their research. She has served as an Innovation Consultant for the Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB) a multi-institutional Science and Technology Center funded by the NSF to advance the study of mechanical forces in molecules, cells, and tissues in plants and animals where she helped build training programs and connections for undergraduate and graduate students affiliated with the STC to learn about commercialization of new technologies as well as industry research. Dr. Tytell is also helping to build the Innovation Ecosystem for a new NSF Engineering Research Center in Cellular Metamaterials (CELL-MET), headquartered at BU, building partnerships with biotech companies and working with science teams to bring in industry perspectives and connections for the scientific teams.

Olivia Kupfer
​Brand Manager, Diageo

​Olivia Kupfer graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2011 and started her career in public relations, working at PR agencies in New York City. In this capacity, she consulted on communications strategy for Procter & Gamble, Timberland and the Almond Board of California clients. In 2014, she left PR to attend business school at the Duke Fuqua School of Business, and graduated with her MBA in 2016. After graduation, she joined Diageo - the worlds largest producer of spirits - as a brand manager working on the Baileys & Liqueurs business. As an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College, she teaches a course on business analytics and the use of data in business decision making. 

Sukari A. Brown, PMP
Senior Consultant in Deloitte's Government and Public Services (GPS) Infrastructure & Capital Projects​

Sukari A. Brown, PMP is a former construction professional turned management consultant who leverages her platform to model servant leadership, raise awareness of innovative ideas that can help the communities who need them most, and serve as a resource to facilitate the building of strategic connections between people. Sukari operates at the intersection of social impact and business with the hope of offering society a different perspective on what it means to be a mission driven corporate professional. She is passionate about STEM, social impact, and coaching others.
 Sukari is dedicated to increasing the number of minorities and women who pursue education and careers in STEM. She credits this dedication to the example set by some of her biggest champions who exposed her to STEM at an early age through their active mentorship.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from New York University (NYU) and currently works as a Senior Consultant in Deloitte's Government and Public Services (GPS) Infrastructure & Capital Projects practice in the Metropolitan Washington, DC Area.

Kate Sheridan
Reporter, STAT

Kate Sheridan is a reporter at STAT covering the life sciences and biotech industries in the Boston area. Previously, she was a science writer at Newsweek in New York and completed internships at STAT and the Montreal Gazette. Kate graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science in 2014 and from Concordia University with a graduate diploma in journalism in 2015. She prefers Montreal’s bagels to New York’s.

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Dr. Catherine Espaillat
Astrophysicist, Founder and Director of LUMA

Professor Espaillat is an astrophysicist who studies planet formation. Planets form out of the building blocks and raw materials that were present in their planetary nurseries, known as protoplanetary disks. In order to catch planet formation in action, Professor Espaillat searches for the telltale footprints that actively forming planets leave behind on these protoplanetary disks.  She employs both computer simulations and astronomical observations in her research, working with multi-wavelength data spanning the X-ray to radio wavelengths.​Professor Espaillat received her bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 2003 and earned a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Michigan in 2009.  She went on to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow and she was later also awarded the NASA Carl Sagan Fellowship. Dr. Espaillat joined the Department of Astronomy at Boston University as an Assistant Professor in 2013.  She is 2016 Sloan Research Fellow and a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award. For the past decade, Professor Espaillat has been committed to diversity and access in the STEM fields and she has directed mentoring programs for underrepresented groups in STEM. Currently, she is the founder and director of the peer-mentoring program League for Underrepresented Minorities in Astronomy, otherwise known as LUMA, which serves women of color astronomers.

Dr. Chris Caires
Chief Scientist and Innovation Officer, Perricone MD

Chris earned his B.S. degree in Creative Studies from UC Santa Barbara, his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University, and his MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.  As a researcher at Stanford University, Chris developed methods to image very stage cancer and inflammation. Upon graduation he joined Johnson & Johnson where he led the development of some of the most successful consumer products in the history of the Neutrogena brand, including Rapid Wrinkle Repair and Neutrogena Naturals.  After leaving J&J Chris worked at BASF leading many successful collaborative innovation projects with customers across the consumer, industrial, and medical industries. Chris joined Perricone MD in 2016 in the newly created role of Chief Scientist & Innovation Officer. He is responsible for the innovation strategy and all research and development activities, product development, safety, intellectual property, scientific affairs, and regulatory affairs.  During his tenure at Perricone MD Chris has lead the launch of over 30 products, including Cold Plasma+ and a CBD cannabis-based skincare line.

Brenda So
Research Scientist, Red Balloon Security

Brenda is currently a security researcher at Red Balloon Security. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union, graudating summa cum laude. In college, she interned at Nvidia on the SHIELD team, where she worked on developing firmware for their consumer electronics. At Red Balloon Security, she performs hardware and software reverse engineering on embedded devices to find exploits and vulnerabilties in their firmware. Most recently, she reverse engineered an ATM, which has appeared at various cybersecurity conferences such as CSAW and Hushcon. Brenda has four years of programming experience, primarily in C and Python. ​

Dr. Ellen Ferraro
ICS Chief Engineer, Space and Airborne Systems, Raytheon Company

Dr. Ellen Ferraro was named the Chief Engineer for Integrated Communication Systems (ICS) in Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems business in November of 2018. In this role she is responsible for all engineering aspects of the ICS programs including technical, cost and schedule performance.  Prior to this position, she was the Director of Research and Technology within the Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) Advanced Technology business area where she was responsible for driving the development of technologies and differentiators for future generations of Raytheon programs working with government Science & Technology (S&T) contract agencies, businesses, suppliers and universities. 
 Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2017 sales of $25 billion and 64,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
 Headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, IDS has 31 locations around the world. Its broad portfolio of weapons, sensors and integration systems supports its customer base across multiple mission areas, including air and missile defense systems; missile defense radars; early warning radars; naval ship operating systems; C5I™ products and services; and other advanced technologies. IDS provides affordable, integrated solutions to a broad international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security.
 Since joining Raytheon Company, Ferraro has held the role of Director of the Systems Architecture, Design and Integration Directorate (SADID), Director of Engineering Operations, Director for the Strategic Architecture Directorate and acting IDS Technical Director, Deputy Director for the System Validation Test and Analysis Directorate, Department Manager and Systems Engineering Integrated Product Team Lead.  In addition, Ferraro has spearheaded efforts for the business in Model Based Systems Engineering, Program Protection Planning and Agile Methodologies for Systems Engineering.  Her technical experience ranges from RF systems to Over the Horizon radars with expertise in analysis of scattering and propagation over the ocean and investigations in spread clutter mitigation techniques for enhanced target detection. Ferraro has authored and presented more than a dozen technical papers at conferences, universities and IEEE meetings around the world.
 Ferraro received her PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst under a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship. While working in the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) at the University of Massachusetts, her graduate research included the development of an airborne radar altimeter for the investigation of surface and volume scattering from the Greenland ice sheet. 
 Ferraro is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She was a member of the IEEE 2007 Radar Conference Committee and vice chair of the IEEE 2010 Phased Array Conference. She is an active member of the Boston Section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and is the recipient of the Mass High Tech “Women to Watch in 2006” Award, the SWE 1999 Distinguished New Engineer Award,  the SWE 2007 Emerging Leaders Award and the SWE 2016 Fellow Award.

Dr. Ka-Pi Hoh
Organizational Change Management Director, The Lubrizol Corporation

Ka-Pi Hoh is currently an organizational change management director at The Lubrizol Corporation. Dr. Hoh joined Lubrizol in 1988 as a research chemist. At Lubrizol, she has held a variety of leadership positions involving research technology, commercial development, operations and resource management including expatriate assignments in the United Kingdom and in China. She spent almost four years on assignment in China as the head of research, development and testing for Lubrizol Additives China. Upon her return to the US in 2016, she was the operations manager for finished products, driving global initiatives on product development and commercialization excellence. She started her current role last August, managing the change aspects for the global SAP upgrade of Lubrizol’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.
 Dr. Hoh graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a B.S. in Polymer Engineering and a minor in Economics. She received an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science from CWRU. As a CWRU alumna, she is currently on the Case Advisory Board and chairs the Industrial Advisory Board for the Department of Macromolecular Science; she also recently served on the Search Committee for the new dean of the School of Engineering. She is an emeriti board member for the Alumni Association and for the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women. She also serves as a professional mentor for WISER (Women in Science and Engineering Roundtable).
 At Lubrizol, Dr. Hoh is actively involved with Lubrizol’s diversity initiatives; she has been a member of Lubrizol’s Corporate Inclusion Steering Committee and is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Resource Group as well as Women in Lubrizol Leadership.
 Dr. Hoh was recently re-appointed as the chair of the Board of Directors for The Lakeland Foundation at Lakeland Community College. She is a board director for the Lake Humane Society, Apollo’s Fire, and the Andy Nowacki Foundation. In China, she has an appointment as an Associate and Visiting Professor at the Zhuhai College of Jilin University.

Dr. Elizabeth Young
Director of Creative Services, The Scientist​

Betsy is currently serving as Director of Creative Services for The Scientist (Magazine/Media Company) where she works alongside a team of erstwhile bench scientists to create engaging, educational, and enjoyable scientific content for life scientists. Unlike academic journals, The Scientist is renowned for its refreshingly conversational tone; some have referred to TS as the National Geographic of the life sciences. As perfect of a match as the role is for Betsy's interests, she didn't set out for a career in scientific content creation or publishing. Instead, like most science majors, she planned on being in the lab for the rest of her life. After college graduation, she took roles in biopharma (Millennium Pharmaceuticals & Amgen), but eventually opted to pursue a PhD in Neurosciences. Upon completion, she searched high and low for ways to incorporate creative communications with her scientific credentials, and lightening struck when she was hired as a technical writer at New England Biolabs. Since then, she's made it a point to help educate other about alternative careers in the sciences.
This career may be for you if: you've ever found yourself changing the words to popular songs to explain a biological mechanism or assay workflow!

Mandy Gardiner
​Director of Global Brands, Twitter

Mandy has spent her entire career building technology companies. Over the past 15 years, she has helped build four major start-ups. Mandy started her career at Multex Investor, one of the first financial data companies,  which was purchased by Reuters in 2003. She then went on to lead the Financial Vertical team at Google in San Francisco and Cambridge.
After Google, she was very interested in early-stage growth companies. She joined ShareThis, a social data company, that captured signals on sharing across the web. She helped build the CPG and Political efforts at ShareThis. For the past four years, Mandy helped build a start-up out of Boston, ViralGains. ViralGains was an AI startup that is using AI to transform the video advertising space.
Mandy has her Certificate Degree from MIT in the Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Business. She has her BA from The College of William and Mary. She remains passionate about helping start-ups grow. 

Dr. Judith Glaven
Senior Scientific Officer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Judith Glaven serves is a Senior Scientific Officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She serves as a liaison to HHMI Investigators at universities and research centers in the U.S. regarding scientific and administrative matters. Her activities include management of HHMI’s Investigator reviews, scientific meetings, and competitions for the Investigator program. She also manages the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program. The goal of the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program is to recruit and retain individuals from gender, racial, ethnic, and other groups underrepresented in the life sciences, including those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Through their successful careers, HHMI Hanna Gray Fellows will become leaders in academic research and inspire future generations of scientists from America’s diverse talent pool.
 
Dr. Glaven joined HHMI in 2015, coming from Harvard Medical School, where she served as the associate dean for basic and interdisciplinary research. For over 15 years, Dr. Glaven has been active in the development of programs and policies in support of academic biomedical research, early career development, and postdoctoral training. Prior to that, she worked as a senior scientific editor at Cell.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a PhD in molecular pharmacology from Cornell University.

Angela Liu
Associate Director, Hack.Diversity

​Angela Liu is the Associate Director of Hack.Diversity, a division of the New England Venture Capital Association. Hack.Diversity was founded in 2016 to tackle the underrepresentation of high-skilled minority employees in Boston’s innovation economy. Through an 8-month Fellowship, we recruit high-achieving Black and Latinx students from often-underrepresented talent sources and pursuing careers in software engineering, IT, or data analytics, into the city’s fastest growing companies. Uniquely, Hack.Diversity provides training, coaching, and mentoring for employers and employees alike - recognizing that success hinges on effort from both. Now in its third cycle, Hack.Diversity has grown to partner with 15 Host Companies and to serve 50 Fellows. 

Prior to joining Hack.Diversity, Angela spent three years at MIT, conducting STEM education outreach and building pathways towards higher education for students, ranging from elementary school to undergrad, who are traditionally underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields.

Charles Avery Fisher
President and Co-Founder, Fisher Wallace Laboratories

Charles Fisher earned his BA from Harvard University in 1978. After graduation, he worked for IBM in the Data Processing Division. He later founded and sold several companies before founding Fisher Wallace Labs in 2006 with the late Martin Wallace, PhD. Chip serves on the boards of the Avery Fisher Artists Program and the Virutal Music Academy. He resides in New York City.

Abigail Cabunoc Mayes
Practice Lead, Working Open at Mozilla

MORE ABOUT ABIGAIL

• Named in "100 Awesome Women in Open Source"
• Mentioned in GitHub's State of the Octoverse 2016
• Editor Emeritus, Journal of Open Source Software
• Selected Keynotes: CLS 2017, EuroSciPy 2016

FEATURED ARTICLES

• My Grandmother, My Work, and My Open Science Story
• Abby’s 2016 Year in Review
• Increasing developer engagement at Mozilla {Science|Learning|Advocacy|++}

Jairus (Pryor) Khan
Outreach, Internet Health at Mozilla

Jairus is a design, security, and web communications professional. He remembers NCSA Mosaic, his first email address started with uunet! and he has been making websites since Netscape 2 was the new and buggy browser.
While he spends most of his working hours designing and implementing digital strategies, he also enjoys hosting workshops on why public institutions should use social media, speaking to publications and media on the subject of digital culture, and writing in the third person.
He consulted with Industry and Heritage Canada on the technological effects of copyright reform, and has been organizing events in support of independent music since he was old enough to attend them. Possibly even before that.
Prior to moving to Toronto, Jairus worked as the Web Communications Coordinator for the Bank of Canada. While in that role he lead the development of a new presentation layer, wrote the social-networking guidelines, liaised with the Federal Reserve, and unsuccessfully lobbied to have Wolverine replace Sir Wilfred Laurier on the five-dollar bill.

Dr. Gauri Nair
Associate Director, External Research Collaborations, Academic Partnerships and External Innovation at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc.

Gauri is an Associate Director, External Research Collaborations, in Academic Partnerships and External Innovation at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc. in Cambridge, MA. The External Research Collaborations team at Novartis drives external innovation via research partnerships and strategic collaborations with key partners in the academic innovation ecosystem.Prior to joining Novartis, Gauri held a business development role at the Office of Technology Development, Harvard University, where she supported OTD’s mission to build strategic relationships with industry to enable effective development and commercialization of Harvard technologies.Gauri holds a Ph.D. in Biology from University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), an MS (Innovation) from D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University (Boston), a B.Sc in Microbiology and Biochemistry from St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai, India) and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Pune University (India). Gauri’s postdoctoral research was on the molecular biology of retroviruses at the University of Maryland.”

Patricia Y. Siguenza
Vice President, BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, Inc.

Patty is Vice President of BioAnalytical Sciences in Development Sciences at Genentech.  In that capacity she leads a top-notch department dedicated to enable drug development by providing key pharmacokinetic, immunogenicity data and soluble biomarkers for non-clinical and clinical studies for all Genentech molecules from late stage research through post marketing.  Patty has set the strategic direction of the organization to meet the ever-changing business needs, continuing to provide high quality assay methods and data using proven, as well as, state of the art technologies.
Patty joined Genentech in the late 1980’s, after receiving her B.S. in Clinical Sciences, San Francisco State University.  During her career, she has made significant contributions to many of Genentech’s product approvals, and to a large number of molecules in world-wide development in the areas of oncology, autoimmunity, and asthma.  Patty strongly believes in Genentech’s commitment to patients, the myriad of learning opportunities, and the endless possibilities to contribute to advance science. She has been part of the evolution of Genentech over the last three decades and she thrives by working with her colleagues - all with a common purpose in service of patients.

Dr. Iris Berent
Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University

Iris Berent is a Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. Most of her work to date has examined the basis of the human capacity for language and its interaction with reading skill. In a recent line of research, she further explores how people reason about human nature and why we are blind to our own psyche. She is the author of The Phonological Mind (Cambridge, 2013); her next book (The blind storyteller) will be published by Oxford. Her scientific papers have appeared in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychological Review, Cognition, Language, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Phonology, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and Current Directions in Psychological Science. Her work has been supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Arthee Jahangir
Assistant Director, Postdoctoral Affairs
NYU School of Medicine

Arthee is a biomedical scientist and an advocate for women and underrepresented communities in STEM. She’s trained as a cancer immunologist but is currently using her strengths to advance career development for early career scientists. At work, she is in charge of a comprehensive and NIH-funded career development program for grad students and postdocs. This includes a women leadership program that culminates into a 100-mile thru-hike. Her office is also in charge of hosting the largest career symposium for life scientists called What Can You Be With A PhD? Outside of work, she runs a NYC science outreach meetup group, SOWING (Science Outreach Working to Inspire the Next Generation), a science policy internship for local government, Sci4NY, and is a proud sister of Homeward Bound, which gave her the opportunity to visit Antarctica with other women “STEMists”in 2019.

Saina Ghandchi
​Product Manager, Boston Dynamics

Saina Ghandchi is a product manager at Boston Dynamics working on quadruped robots that may one day help us with our everyday chores such as doing our laundry. She started her career as an engineer at NASA-Jet Propulsion Lab and has been lucky to have had major roles in the success of three Mars Rovers: Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. But her career expands beyond robots, she also has worked on multiple medical devices and has been active in giving back to her community by volunteering for a homeless shelter and with a foster children organization. She has a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Masters in Astronatical engineering and an MBA. As an immigrant who migrated in the US at the age of 15 without knowing English, Saina strongly believes in the importance of dreaming big and perseverance. Today, she will talk about the ups and downs of her career journey and how she choses to see the glass half full and create amazing and challenging career opportunities for herself. ​

Annu Jain
Fast Trak Leader at GEHC

• Current position: Fast Trak Leader at GEHC
  
  • Manage a team of Scientists who partner and provide services to our customers to develop bioprocess protein production.  Our Scientists also train our customers on various technologies and processes.
    
• Master’s degree in Biotechnology
  
• 19 years of biopharma industry experience in downstream process development for companies like Sanofi, Genzyme and Human Genome Sciences.
  

Cynthia DeRosa
Senior Manager, Akamai Technologies

Cynthia DeRosa has been in the computer hardware and software industry for over 20 years.   She is currently a Senior Manager at Akamai Technologies running a global end user and systems support team. 
Prior to that she worked as an environmental engineer in the private and public sector and taught English as a second language in South America. She earned an environmental engineering degree from Brown University and was a varsity athlete. 
​My career path has not been straight nor well planned since graduation from college.  It resembles more a squiggly line. However, my professional choices did satisfy some core goals of mine.

• Work that is intellectually engaging

• Supportive work environment
• Enables Work Life Balance.

Rachel Brennesholtz
Researcher Communities, Elsevier

Rachel Brennesholtz is responsible for Researcher Communities at Elsevier, which includes the over 5000-member Mendeley Advisor program and the Engineering Academic Challenge. In this role, she works with researchers around the world to make them feel connected to the Elsevier tools they use and the people who build them.  She has a BA in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Binghamton, an MS from Hunter College in New York City and an MBA jointly issued by the Welingkar Institute of Management in Mumbai and Temple University in Philadelphia. She is also a founding member of the South Philly Food Coop and an award-winning artist.

James Picken
Content Strategist, Elsevier

James Picken is responsible for content strategy at Elsevier, focusing on researcher needs. In this role he works with researchers to understand their challenges and pain points with the aim of making the researcher workflow as rewarding as possible. Prior to this James launched ResearcherAcademy.com, Elsevier’s free elearning platform supporting early career researchers become successful in their research careers. He has a BSc in Anthropology from Oxford Brookes University and an MSc in Governance and Ethics from Birkbeck College, University of London. Unhappy on land, he holds a pilots’ license and is a PADI open water diver.

Phyllis White Thorne
Faculty Consultant, Sanctuary Institute, Andrus Child Development Center

​Phyllis White-Thorne is a faculty consultant with the Sanctuary Institute, at the Andrus Child Development Center in Yonkers, New York.  For the past two and a half years she has worked with schools helping them to create and sustain trauma informed environments that mitigate the effects of trauma and provide safe, nurturing environments that support the healing, growth, and development of students, staff, and the families they serve.
In 2013 she retired from her work as Manager of Public Information and Government Affairs at Con Edison where she was a company liaison to community and government leaders and not-for-profit organizations.  She also co-chaired the Minority and Women-owned Business Committee at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.   Phyllis worked for Con Edison for 43 years, during which time she created and organized many programs and partnerships to enhance and support the education of children and adults, especially in underserved communities.  She believes that education is the key to personal fulfillment and to improving the quality of life in our communities.   Her passion is to support the education and the development of others, and to assist them in achieving their goals, and living purpose driven lives.
Phyllis Chairs the Board of the North Brooklyn YMCA, and is Co-chair of the Board of Bridge Street Development Corporation.  Phyllis Chairs the Education/Scholarship Committee of the New York Metropolitan area chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), and represents the Northeast on the AABE National Scholarship Committee.  She is also a founding member of the Cardinal McClosky Charter School Board of Directors.  The School will open its doors in September 2019 implementing the Sanctuary Model.  She is a past trustee of The NAACP Act-So, The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and Lighthouse International.  Phyllis is also co-founder of The Donor’s Forum NYC.
Phyllis has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Iona College, and a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) from Mercy College.  
Phyllis has been an Adjunct Professor in the Masters in Organizational Leadership Program at Mercy College, and has presented workshops at New York University’s School of Continuing Professional Studies.  She has also presented leadership workshops abroad, to the Principals and teachers on the Island of Nevis, West Indies.   In 2014 she began working with The Volunteer Management Group where she presents workshops and one-on-one consultations with clients on subjects pertaining to philanthropy and volunteer program development and management.   She is also a panelist on Brooklyn Savvy, a weekly cable television program that gives voice to important social issues from a woman’s perspective.
Phyllis has a daughter, Lisa White, and lives with her husband, Hugh, in Hartsdale, NY.

Dr. Nietzsche Lam
Director, Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience

Dr. Nietzsche Lam is a director of neuroscience at Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, where she oversees consumer research and education for several clients in both the US and China. She received her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Her research there specialized in understanding brain networks by studying the role of neuronal oscillations in human language processing. An expert in MEG and EEG methodologies, she also has experience with fMRI, genetic and behavioral analyses. Dr. Lam has published several articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, such as PNAS and Neuroimage, and she enjoys presenting at industry conferences where she can speak about science in 5 languages. ​

Katie Helke
Acquisitions Editor, MIT Press

Katie Helke acquires the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) list at the MIT Press. She has worked in various roles in acquisitions at the Press for eleven years in subject areas ranging from economics, finance, and business to new media, game studies, design, and education. Her most recent notable signings include a forthcoming book about tokenism by Roxane Gay, Mission Moon 3-D by David Eicher (editor of Astronomy Magazine) and Brian May (astrophysicist and lead guitarist of the band Queen), and Programmed Inequality by Marie Hicks. She holds a Master’s degree in publishing and writing from Emerson College and a Bachelor’s degree in English literature from Michigan State University.

Dr. Teresa Nelson
Principal, The Impact Seat

​Teresa Nelson, Ph.D., is a Principal at The Impact Seat (impactseat.com) where she directs consulting projects around innovation capacity building through diversity, inclusion, and equity. Analyzing data, programs, and attitudes, she works with companies to build their understanding and commitment to a strong workforce realizing the value of difference. Teresa completed her PhD in business-strategic management at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana). She is an research, policy and practice expert in strategic management, entrepreneurship, and diversity, with a focus on gender with a specialized expertise in access to capital and commercialization by women in science. She acts as the Senior Director of Policy and Research for Astia, and as a member of the Paris-based Scientific Committee for Women Equity Growth, a project of private equity firm, Bryan-Garnier, and as a member of the Global Ambassador’s Committee of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, among other roles. From 2014-2017, she served as an appointed member of the federal National Women’s Business Council advising the White House, Congress, and the Small Business Administration on issues of women and business. She is currently a tenured, full professor at Simmons University in Boston. 

Millie Liu
​Founding Partner, First Star Ventures

Millie Liu has focused her career on helping entrepreneurs with deep technology turn their ideas into great businesses with global reach.
She was previously at APT, an enterprise data analytics startup acquired by Mastercard for $600m where she helped Fortune 50 clients such as Walmart and P&G make better strategic decisions leveraging data. She was also the co-founder of an MIT startup working on unsupervised event detection, which later pivoted and became Infervision, an AI precision healthcare platform backed by Sequoia China. Millie is on the advisory board of MIT CSAIL(Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab). She holds a Master of Finance degree from MIT and B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Olesya Levsh
Associate, The Engine

​Olesya is an Associate at The Engine, where she brings broad technical expertise in biology and biochemistry. Her graduate work in the lab of Dr. Jing-Ke Weng at MIT focused on fundamental plant metabolism research, with the translational goal of enabling biomanufacturing of specific plant natural products. While at MIT, she also spent time at Sloan learning about venture creation and strategy. Olesya has worked on diligence projects with local venture funds, consulted on program development and implementation for a national pharmacy corporation, and interned at The Engine for a year before joining the team full time. She holds a BS in Biochemistry from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Biology from MIT.