Pathways to Leadership Success: Working Towards Gender Balance
#WESTsuccess

Join us for an exciting evening of discussion between senior men and women from diverse sectors of science and technology. These eminent leaders will describe their personal journey to success, and will share their thoughts on progress to closing the gender gap. 

This event, cohosted by WEST, Xconomy, and Biogen, promises to be a great opportunity to network with movers and shakers in the science and technology communities whilst supporting career advancement for women.

 

Panelists: 

Sangeeta Bhatia, Professor, MIT

Bruce Booth, Partner, Atlas Venture

George Scangos, CEO, Biogen (cancelled day of)

Sophie Vandebroek, CTO, Xerox

Moderators:

Bob Buderi, CEO, Xconomy

Jo Viney, SVP, Biogen

 

Sangeeta Bhatia is a cancer researcher, MIT professor, and biotech entrepreneur who works to adapt technologies developed in the computer industry for medical innovation. Trained as both a physician and engineer at Harvard, MIT, and Brown University, Bhatia’s laboratory leverages ‘tiny technologies’ of miniaturization to yield inventions with new applications in tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, medical diagnostics, predictive toxicology, and drug delivery. She and her trainees have launched more than 10 biotechnology companies to improve human health. Bhatia has received many honors including the Lemelson-MIT Prize, known as the ‘Oscar for inventors,’ and the Heinz Medal for groundbreaking inventions and advocacy for women in STEM fields.  She is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Director of the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, an Institute Member at the Broad Institute, and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and Brown University’s Board of Trustees.

Bruce Booth is a partner at Atlas Venture, where he helps create, fund, and launch new biotech startups working on high impact breakthrough medicines. Bruce is currently chairman of AvroBio, MiRagen, Nimbus, Rodin, and Quartet, and also serves on the boards of Zafgen (NASDAQ:ZFGN), LTI, Magenta, and Unum. He previously served on the boards of past Atlas companies Avila (acquired by Celgene), Padlock (acquired by BMS), Prestwick (acquired by Biovail), Stromedix (acquired by Biogen), and a number of other ventures. Bruce serves as an advisor in various capacities to UCB, Shire, Pfizer, and Takeda. He also serves on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. Bruce blogs about biotech and venture capital topics at LifeSciVC.com, which is syndicated on Forbes. Prior to joining Atlas in 2005, Bruce was a consultant at McKinsey, as well as an investor for Caxton Associates. As a British Marshall Scholar, Bruce received a D.Phil. (PhD) in molecular immunology from Oxford University. His work focused on the study of HIV and tumor immune responses. He received a BS in biochemistry, summa cum laude, from Penn State.

George A. Scangos, Ph.D. was appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in June 2010. He joined Biogen from Exelixis, Inc., where he served as President and CEO and a director since October 1996. From 1987 to 1996, Dr. Scangos held various positions at Bayer, Inc., including SVP of R&D, and President of Bayer Biotechnology, where he was responsible for research, business development, process development, manufacturing, engineering and quality assurance of Bayer’s recombinant products. Before joining Bayer in 1987, Dr. Scangos was Professor of Biology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Scangos has served on a variety of company and non-profit boards, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Exelixis, Agilent Technologies, the Board of Advisors for the UC Davis School of Medicine, the Board of Trustees for the Boston Museum of Science, and the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Sciences Training Program, which is focused on helping minority and disadvantaged students to have careers in science and medicine. He is also the Chairman of PhRMA. Dr. Scangos received a B.A. in Biology from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. He was a Jane Coffin Childs Post-Doctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Ruddle at Yale University.

Dr. Sophie V. Vandebroek has been Xerox’s Chief Technology Officer and the President of the Xerox Innovation Group since 2006. She is responsible for leading Xerox’s global research labs located in Europe, Asia, Canada and the US, including PARC Inc., a Xerox Company. PARC Inc. provides custom R&D services to enterprises, startups and government agencies. Dr. Vandebroek is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers and a Fellow of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation. She holds 14 US patents. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame and elected into the Royal Flemish Academy for Arts & Sciences in Belgium. Dr. Vandebroek is a member of the Board of Directors of IDEXX Laboratories and serves on the advisory council of the dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Previously she served on the boards of Analogic Corporation and Nypro. Within Xerox and beyond, Sophie is a strong advocate for diversity, including championing Xerox's LGBT GALAXe and Black Women caucus groups. Sophie earned a master's degree in electro-mechanical engineering from KU Leuven, Belgium, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. She and her husband, live in Lincoln, MA and enjoy spending time with their six adult children. 

Robert Buderi is Founder, CEO, and Editor in Chief of Xconomy, an online news company based in Boston that covers the business of technology in 11 innovation clusters around the U.S.. Before launching Xconomy in mid-2007, Bob was a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies. He previously served as Editor in Chief of MIT’s Technology Review magazine and was BusinessWeek's technology editor. Bob is also the author of four acclaimed books about technology and innovation. 

Dr. Jo Viney, PhD, is Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery at Biogen in Cambridge, MA where she currently leads the Cell and Protein Sciences, Biologics, Chemistry, DMPK, Preclinical Safety and Clinical Pharmacology departments and is a member of the senior R&D leadership team. Jo has advanced a portfolio of novel biologic and small molecule programs, ten of which have progressed to IND and into clinical development, for diseases such rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome. Jo has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Keystone Symposia since 2008. In addition to her SAB duties, Jo partners with Keystone on a number of programs for under-represented scientists. At Biogen, Jo is an active member and supporter of both REACHOUT (The LGBTQ & Allies Employee Resource Network) and WIN (The Employee Resource Network for Women; she was most recently co-chair of the WIN Global Steering Committee). Outside of Biogen, Jo is on the Board of WEST, a Boston-based non-profit learning community with the mission to provide women in STEM with the inspiration, knowledge, and connections to reach their full potential. Jo serves on the Board of Directors for Ataxion Inc in Cambridge, MA, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Vaxart Inc in the Bay Area. 

 

 

Date and Time:

November 14, 2016
6:00 - 8:45 PM

Evening’s Schedule

6:00-6:45  Registration, Networking, Appetizers, Wine
6:45-7:00  Welcome, Acknowledgement of Sponsors, Overview of the Evening
7:00-8:15  Panel Discussion
8:15-8:45  Networking

Location:
Biogen, Bio 8, Auditorium.  Enter through Building 9 at 300 Binney Street, Cambridge, MA 02142

Cost:
$55 for Members and Biogen employees, $75 for non-members 

We have ticket packages available: 

$700 for 10 tickets
$1,000 for 15 tickets
$1,300 for 20 tickets

Cancellation Policy:
All programs are non-refundable.

To Register

 

Become a sponsor and contribute to a great cause.  For more information, email [email protected], or call 857-600-2598.