Intersection of Computing and Biotech Panel Discussion
#WESTorg

Registration for this event is now closed as we have over 100 registered.

Listen to the inspiring journeys of successful women and men leaders in science as they talk about their careers at the intersection of computing and biotech. They will discuss their highlights, motivations, role models, career moves, guiding principles, biggest challenges, and more. The panelists will also share their perspectives on career development for women in computing/biotech including company initiatives, best practices, and what can be done to support the development and advancement of women in the field. This is a great opportunity for you to meet and network with the movers and shakers in the local science ecosystem.

PANELISTS
Paola Bronson, Scientist II at Biogen
Sandra Glucksmann, Entrepreneur in Residence at Third Rock Ventures
Georgia McGaughey, Senior Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Jonathan Sheffi, Product Manager for Genomics & Life Sciences at Google Cloud
Chris Winter, Chief of R&D at Silicon Therapeutics

Paola G. Bronson has been passionate about studying the genetics of human disease for more than 15 years. As a scientist in Biogen’s Statistical Genetics & Genetic Epidemiology group, she leads and interprets genetic studies to help Biogen identify novel targets, stratify patients to improve outcomes, and prioritize the pipeline. Previously Dr. Bronson completed a postdoc in Human Genetics at Genentech. She studied at Duke University (Biology B.S.), and UC Berkeley (Epidemiology M.P.H. and Ph.D.). Her current research uses clinical trial data to examine the genetics of MS progression.

Alexandra (Sandra) Glucksmann is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures in Boston, Massachusetts where she is focused on new company formation. She has nearly 25 years of R&D leadership and operations experience. Most recently, Alexandra served as chief operating officer of Editas Medicine Inc., which she joined as a founder and first employee. Editas is a gene editing company whose mission is to translate its genome editing technology into a novel class of human therapeutics. Previously, she was senior vice president of R&D at Cerulean Pharma, which she also joined at its founding. Prior to joining Cerulean in 2006, she spent 13 years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, which she joined in 1993 as one of its first scientists. At Millennium, she held a series of science positions with increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming vice president of all platform technology groups before moving into a senior role in strategic program management and operations. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds a Ph.D. with honors from the University of Chicago.

Georgia McGaughey is the Senior Director of the global Modeling & Informatics group at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., comprised of molecular modeling, informatics and methods development. She is also a member of the Research Leadership Team, which sets the strategy for the research arm of the company. Through her twenty-year career in pharmaceuticals (Wyeth, Merck, Vertex) Georgia has contributed to the invention and advancement of several clinical candidates (e.g. BACE, orexin, PDE10, CFTR and KDR) and has contributed to more than 100 publications and presentations. She is a past member of the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and participant of multiple study sections for the NIH. Currently, she volunteers in the Boston scientific community through mentorship with high school and college students, is an editorial board member of F1000 and recently joined Silent Spring Institute as a board member. Georgia earned her B.S. degree in chemistry from Kennesaw State College and her Ph.D in physical chemistry from the University of Georgia. She carried out her post-doctoral studies with focus on electronic structure theory at Colorado State University.

Jonathan Sheffi is the Product Manager for Genomics & Life Sciences at Google Cloud. Previously, he was cofounder and CEO at Curoverse, a company that built an open source platform for managing and processing biomedical data (acquired by Veritas Genetics in 2017). He has spent many years in the biotechnology industry, including roles with Novartis Diagnostics, Amgen, Accenture, and the Broad Institute. He holds an MBA from Harvard, an MEng in computational molecular biology from MIT, and bachelor's degrees in mathematics and in computer science, also from MIT.

Dr. Chris Winter is Chief of R&D at Silicon Therapeutics and has held research leadership positions in pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotechnology firms over the past 15 years. During that time, he has delivered nine targeted cancer therapies into clinical testing. He joined Sanofi in 2013 as Sanofi Oncology’s Head of Discovery Biology and became site lead in 2015. He joined Sanofi from Blueprint Medicines, where he served as Head of Biology. The first biologist recruited by Blueprint, Dr. Winter built an outstanding interdisciplinary team and led the company’s first drug discovery project. The product of that effort, a first-in-class small molecule drug targeting FGFR4 for the treatment of liver cancer, is now advancing in clinical trials. Prior to Blueprint, Dr. Winter held senior research positions at Merck Research Laboratories and Exelixis, Inc. He received a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Binghamton University and a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Date and Time:
March 22, 2018
6:00 - 8:30 PM

Agenda:

5:50-6:10pm: Registration, mingling, and pizza
6:10-6:30pm: Facilitated networking
6:30-7:45pm: Panel Discussion
7:45-8:30pm: Optional networking

Location:
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Cambridge, 300 Third Street, Bella A, Cambridge, MA 02142

We appreciate Alnylam Pharmaceuticals donating the use of their event space.