WEST Press Release

January 8, 2008

WEST announces new leadership

The WEST Board of Directors has appointed Gwen Acton, PhD to be President of WEST. She will be responsible for leading WEST and running the day-to-day operations of the organization. Gwen Acton has been involved with WEST since its early days, as a speaker, volunteer, and participant.

"This is a great organization, and I'm thrilled to be involved with it. There is so much potential for women entrepreneurs in science and technology. WEST helps provide a place to network, learn, and grow so that more women and men can fulfill their full potential," Gwen Acton said.

Acton added that WEST has many interesting events scheduled for 2008. She will help WEST as it continues to grow, with plans already underway to add new programs, and expand on existing efforts.

Gwen Acton is currently CEO and Founder of Vivo Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in improving the productivity and innovation of scientists and other highly trained knowledge workers. Prior to this, Dr. Acton served as Director of Scientific Development at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, where she established institute strategy for building long-term relationships with industry. Dr. Acton also ran the operations of the Functional Genomics Program at the Whitehead Institute/M.I.T. Center for Genome Research.

Dr. Acton received a doctorate in molecular biology and genetics from M.I.T., and later served as a faculty member at Harvard University in the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dr. Gwen Acton is the author of three industry reports published by the Cambridge Healthtech Institute, as well as scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature. She has also written over 50 articles as a freelance journalist for organizations such as the Associated Press Wire Service (AP), National Public Radio, and Technology Review Magazine. Dr. Acton is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Forsyth Institute in Boston Massachusetts.