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ElevateBio, 200 Smith Street, Waltham, MA 02451
WIB-Greater Boston: Biotech Workforce Development – Recruit, Revitalize, & Retain Top Talent
Top talent is key to the success of biotech organizations, and managers are challenged to recruit, develop, and retain employees with the right skills. Additionally, as novel technologies are created, companies must work to make sure they have the knowledge to keep up with cutting-edge science.
Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with industry leaders during the networking portion of the event and take a tour of ElevateBio’s BaseCamp Waltham manufacturing facility, followed by a panel featuring executive women leaders discussing workforce development in cell and gene therapy.
Ticket includes light food and beverages.
Program
5:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Registration
5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Networking & Tours
5:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Elevate Tours 1 & 2
5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Elevate Tours 3 & 4
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Panel Discussion / Q&A
7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Post-Networking Tours
Speaker Bios
Katie Jorgensen, Site Head at ElevateBio
Katie is a strategic, dedicated, and mission-driven operations professional with experience across development, manufacturing, maintenance, capital planning, project management, continuous improvement, engineering, and business strategy. Katie has direct experience within the biologics/large molecule drug substance, antibody drug conjugate, and cell & gene therapy spaces supporting a variety of clinical, commercial, and third-party programs. She is currently serving as Site Head at the ElevateBio BaseCamp Waltham facility, responsible for supply chain, facilities, technical operations, manufacturing, and program management, supporting strategic contracts and valued partnerships bringing innovative cell and gene therapies to patients. Katie enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, any activity that gets her outside, experiencing new places, and Mexican food (especially queso and spicy margaritas).
Sue Marrichi, Vice President and Site Head, GTMF at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical
Sue is the site head of Ultragenyx’s Gene Therapy Manufacturing Facility (GTMF) located in Bedford, MA. The greenfield site was opened in 2023 and is operational for clinical and commercial manufacture of the company’s portfolio of gene therapies. Prior to becoming site head, Sue led the Gene Therapy Engineering, Facilities, and Validation teams in the design, buildout, and startup of the GTMF, as well as the GMP QC laboratories in Woburn, MA. Before joining Ultragenyx, Sue received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Cornell University and went on to work at Regeneron, Allergan, Shire, and Takeda in various technical and leadership roles across biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing. With almost 20 years in industry, Sue is a leader who is passionate about building an inclusive culture that results in high-functioning teams who are ultra-committed to delivering treatments to rare disease patients. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family, watching her sons play ice hockey [year round], and snuggling her feisty Shiba Inu, Evie.
Kim Nguyen, Chief Technical Officer at Affini-T Therapeutics
Kim Nguyen has led Technical Development and Operations at Affini-T Therapeutics since June 2021. Affini-T Therapeutics is a precision immuno-oncology company based in Watertown, MA, that is focused on engineering TCR therapies targeting oncogenic driver mutations in solid tumors. She is responsible for process and analytical development, supply chain, manufacturing, manufacturing sciences & technologies, facilities operations, and Industrialization efforts for autologous TCR cellular therapeutics. Kim has been in the cell and gene therapy field for almost two decades and received her PhD in physical chemistry from Columbia University and her AB in chemistry from Princeton University. Prior to joining Affini-T Therapeutics, Kim served for several years as Vice President of CMC for Precision Biosciences in Durham, NC, where she led the 70-person CMC organization and the buildout and operations of their cGMP manufacturing facility for the production of genome-edited allogeneic CAR-T cells, AAV viral vectors, and mRNA.
Vaishali Shukla, Vice President of Quality at Kite
Vaishali is a proven leader with expertise in quality compliance and in developing the teams required to deliver it. In her current role as VP of Quality at Kite, Vaishali leads 700+ professionals globally across multiple manufacturing sites. In this role, Vaishali oversees functional and site strategies at each of the Kite manufacturing locations, setting overarching goals and objectives as well as developing and executing short- and long-term strategic direction. With ~ 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, she is an expert in a broad variety of subjects ranging from early clinical development to commercialization of Cell and Gene therapy, biologics & small molecules. Vaishali’s career includes work at BioVest International, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticals, and UniQure, where she implemented novel processes for continuous development. With a BS in biology, master’s degrees in botany, regulatory affairs, pharmaceutical economics and policy, and a PhD in pharmaceutical science. Vaishali lives in the Boston area and is the proud mother of her daughter Smita, who is following in her footsteps as a female trailblazer in the biosciences.
Becky Zoccola, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at ElevateBio, Moderator
Becky is a passionate talent acquisition professional with over 12 years of experience working with top-caliber talent in the life science and technology industries. Her successful approach is a consultative style with the ability to act at both a strategic and tactical level to provide top caliper experience to both internal business partners and the external market, all while keeping an enterprise thinking mindset. Becky’s focus is to always think about what the right thing is to do while keeping the people experience at the forefront of all decisions. Outside of Talent Acquisition, she loves spending time with her family, exercise of any kind (yes, I’m one of those people), and could happily live off of a slice of pepperoni pizza and a glass of cabernet!
Pricing Information
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Note: A confirmation email will be sent after registration has been completed.
Special Pricing for Guests
Members can register guests at member pricing.
Registration Deadline
May 13, 2024
Walk-Ins Accepted?
No, be sure to register early!
Maximum Capacity
150
Parking Information
Free parking is available on-site.
Sponsors
WIB-Greater Boston
Boston@WomenInBio.org
Disclaimer: by registering for this event you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy, the WIB Code of Conduct, our Refund Policy and our In-Person Event Waiver.