Bios for Networking Event invited industry participants

Keynote speaker

Dr. Judith Giordan is Vice President, Managing Director and founder at ecosVC, a venture development and investment aligned firm; co-founder of the Chemical Angel Network ; and a member of the board of directors and/or and advisor to science and engineering intensive start?ups, and currently serves as CTO of Qteros, Inc.

As a former Fortune 500 executive and venture founder, Giordan’s roles included Vice President and Global Corporate Director of Research and Development at International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; Vice-President Worldwide Research and Development for the Pepsi-Cola Company, the global beverage arm of PepsiCo, Inc.; Vice President Research and Development, Henkel Corporation, the North American operating unit of the Henkel Group, and co-founder and managing partner of 1EXECStreet, a successful San Francisco based boutique executive search firm.  Giordan has also served in various academic and government roles including Professor of Practice at the University of Southern Mississippi, Program Officer for the National Science Foundation IGERT Program and as a member/Chair of Visiting Committees, Advisory Boards and selection committees.

Giordan received her Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University (environmental science), her PhD from the University of Maryland (Chemistry), and was an Alexander von Humboldt Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Judy is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the recipient of the 2010 ACS Garvan?Olin Medal of the American Chemical Society.

Career panelists: 

Marisha Godek, PhD – Covidien Surgical Solutions

Marisha is currently a Principal Scientist at Covidien Surgical Solutions where she specializes in medical device technology innovation and testing. Marisha earned her Master’s degree in Chemistry at North Carolina State University and her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Colorado State University. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the Orthopedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory at Colorado State where she worked closely with Schwartz Biomedical to help launch BiopolyTM LLC.

Dmitry Kuksin, PhD – Nexcelom Biosciences, LLC

Dmitry is a Senior Research and Development Scientist at Nexcelom Biosciences, LLC (Lawrence, MA).  He focuses on developing biological reagents for use with their lines of automated cell counters and generates marketing and instructional materials for these products. Dmitry also is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Public Health where he teaches ‘Emerging Infectious Diseases.’ Dmitry earned his BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Microbiology program. His dissertation work focused on the cellular entry of Simian Virus-40 where he worked under Leonard Norkin.

Masha Fridkis-Hareli, PhD – Accelerating Translational Research, LLC 

Masha Fridkis-Hareli is an immunologist, consultant and inventor with over 20 years of experience in academia and industry. She holds a B.A. from the Technion, an M.Sc. from HebrewUniversity and a Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. During her post-doctoral training at the Harvard University she designed and developed a group of novel compounds for treatment of autoimmune diseases currently in Phase II clinical trials. After serving as Principal Investigator at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Fridkis-Hareli transitioned to industry where she held a variety of positions with increasing responsibilities at a number of companies including Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, Charles River Laboratories, Taligen Therapeutics and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Fridkis-Hareli is a co-author of over 100 publications and 13 issued patents. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Biopharmaceutical Leadership Program at EmmanuelCollege and a Founder and President of ATR, LLC that provides scientific consulting and laboratory services in translational research. In addition to her professional affiliations, Dr. Fridkis-Hareli is actively involved on boards of several professional organizations. She is a co-chair of the Drug Discovery Working Group at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and a Past President of the Association for Women in Science in Massachusetts.

Burnley Jaklevic, Ph.D. – Senior Licensing Officer for UMass Amherst Office of Commercial Venture and Intellectual Property 

Burnley is currently a Senior Licensing Officer in the Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP), where she is part of a team that works closely with UMass Amherst inventors and decides whether university resources should be invested in patenting, marketing and licensing efforts for UMass inventions. Burnley earned her PhD in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2004 and was a postdoc at UC Berkeley from 2005-2008. Before joining CVIP, Burnley worked in the technology licensing office at Texas A&M University.

Alexandria Papa, M.S., M.B.A – GenoSpace
Alexandria Papa is a biomedical systems analyst at GenoSpace; the company develops software systems for securely storing vast amounts of genomic and health data to diverse user communities, including clinicians, researchers, and patients.