OutBio Event

OutBio Event
Evolving your career from Science to Business
September 29th @ 12:00 EDT

Science to Business – And Back: Career Considerations in Life Sciences: Because success in the life sciences industry requires expertise in scientific, technical and business disciplines, managing career decisions can be particularly challenging. Healthcare professionals, scientists and technical experts must assess whether to continue building experience in their disciplines, or to undertake business, project or people leadership roles to broaden their skills. Similarly, business professionals need to acquire the clinical and scientific knowledge to be effective in their roles. This webinar will discuss career management considerations and alternatives for life sciences professionals, with a particular focus on early- and mid-career development. Our panelists bring extensive experience in a range of research, development, executive leadership and investment roles in small and large companies.

Speakers:

Mira Chaurushiya – Partner @ 5AM Capital

Mira Chaurushiya joined 5AM Ventures in 2015 as an Associate, was promoted to Principal in 2018, and to Partner in 2020. Dr. Chaurushiya joined from Genentech where she was a Post doctoral Fellow in the Department of Physiological Chemistry studying mouse models of cancer and stem cells. Prior to Genentech, she completed her Ph.D. work at the Salk Institute, where she studied Herpes Simplex Virus infections and epigenetics. Her work has been published inScience and PNAS, among others. Dr. Chaurushiya currently serves as an Observer or Member of the Boards of Blue Light Therapeutics, TMRW, Precision Nanosystems, Purigen Biosystems, Escient Pharmaceuticals, NodThera, Magnetic Insight, and Novome Biotechnologies; and was previously an Observer at Ideaya Biosciences (NASDAQ:IDYA). In addition, she is a Fellow of the Society of Kauffman Fellows and serves on the Board of Biotech Connection Bay Area, a non–profit that focuses on career development for academic scientists.Dr. Chaurushiya received a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, San Diego in conjunction with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where she was awarded the Martin Kamen Thesis Prize in Biochemistry. She received her B.A.in Biology from Carleton College.

Emily Drabant Conley – CEO @ Federation Bio 

Emily Drabant Conleyis Chief Executive Officer of Federation Bio. Federation Bio is pioneering a new modality for treating intractable diseases which harness the power of microbes and transform them into cell therapy. Previously, Dr. Conley spent over a decade at 23 and Me, where she helped scale the company from 30 employees into the world’s leading platform for genetic–driven drug discovery. As Vice President of Business Development at 23 and Me she architected visionary partnerships across pharma and biotech. Dr. Conley was named one of the 30 Leaders Under 40 who are transforming US healthcare by Business Insider and one of the 25 Women Shaping the Future of Technology by Google Ventures. She currently serves on the boards of TMRW and Medrio, and formerly served on the board of Lesbians Who Tech and the UCSF Alliance Health Project. Prior to moving into industry, Dr. Conley spent 10 years in academia conducting genetics research. She was a research fellow at the National Institutes Health and is co–author on more than 35 academic publications. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University School of Medicine, where she held fellowships from the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense. She graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a B.A.

Kenneth Hillan – Head of Therapeutics @ 23 & Me

Kenneth Hillan joined 23 and Me in 2019 as Head of Therapeutics. He leads a dedicated discovery research and therapeutic development team that uses human genetic data to identify and pursue novel therapies for common and rare diseases. Dr. Hillan previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Achaogen. Prior to joining Achaogen, he held progressively senior roles at Genentech–Roche, including Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development and Product Development Strategy Asia–Pacific for Roche in Shanghai, China. He led the medical and scientific strategies for Genentech’s Immunology, Tissue Growth and Repair (ITGR) drug portfolio, and was responsible for numerous drug approvals. Dr. Hillanis a member of the board of directors at Zymeworks. He previously served on the boards of directors of Achaogen and Relypsa. He holds an M.B. Ch.B. (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) degree from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Glasgow, U.K. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS, Glasg), and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath). He has authored dozens of scientific publications and is a named inventor on almost 50 issued patents.

Matt Fust – Independent Advisor to Life Sciences Companies

Matthew Fust is an advisor to life science companies, executive teams and investors. He is a director of Atara Bio therapeutics, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, a senior advisor to Out Leadership/Quorum, and a mentor for the Women in Bio Boardroom Ready program. From 2009 through 2013, Matthew was CFO of Onyx Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as CFO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, CFO of Perlegen Sciences, and CFO of ALZA Corporation. Matthew began his career in the healthcare strategy consulting practice at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).He holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and an accounting degree from the University of Minnesota.