Join Women In Bio for an inspiring celebration of Women's History Month! This event honors the achievements of women trailblazers who have shattered the glass ceiling in the biotech industry. These trailblazing leaders have made groundbreaking contributions to life sciences and paved the way for future generations of women in biotech. The event will also highlight the importance of women empowering and supporting women in the field to reach their full potential. Hear from the trailblazers as they share their journeys, insights, and advice. Network with other passionate women in the life sciences and connect with mentors who can guide you on your career path. Whether you’re an aspiring biotech professional or a seasoned leader, this event is a great opportunity to be a part of this movement committed to shaping a more inclusive future for women in biotech.

Program

5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.  Check-in and networking
6:15 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.  Panel discussion
7:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  Q&A
7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.  Networking

Speaker Bios

Maryam Abdul-Kareem, MS, JD, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Arcellx

Maryam has over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, specializing in drug development, commercialization, strategic partnering, and risk management. Her experience spans global Fortune 500 to early stage/emerging pharmaceutical companies. She currently serves as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Arcellx, Inc., overseeing legal, intellectual property, and compliance functions. Ms. Abdul-Kareem was instrumental in negotiations at AstraZeneca, including a landmark license deal for the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine and advising on a $5B respiratory business and a $8.5B oncology collaboration. She has also held legal and business roles at Pepper Hamilton and in drug development and global marketing. Ms. Abdul-Kareem has been featured in American Healthcare Leader and BioPharma-Reporter’s Women in Science. She earned her JD from Georgetown University and an MS in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

Karen Boezi, COO of Thirona Bio

Karen has been involved in building, leading and investing in biopharmaceutical companies for more than 30 years. Karen is currently the COO of Thirona Bio, a clinical stage company with a skin fibrosis drug completing a Phase 1B human clinical study. Previously, Karen was the CEO of Redwood Bioscience, founded on technology from Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bettozzi's lab, which she led through its successful sale to Catalent (CTLT) under a staged acquisition option. Redwood, now a division of Novo Holdings, continues to be a pioneer in developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and toxin-linker-conjugation technology for improving oncology care, with two clinical stage products incorporating its SMARTag technology. Prior to joining Redwood, Karen was a founding Partner of Thomas, McNerney & Partners (TMP), a health care technology-focused venture firm with $600 million under management. She launched TMP with a colleague from Warburg, Pincus, where she was part of the seed stage life science team, and a partner from Coral Ventures, where she was a General Partner. TMP was recognized for managing one of the top performing 2006 vintage venture funds globally. During her venture career, she invested in 15 companies that went public and/or were acquired. Karen began her career as a member of Alex. Brown & Sons’s health care and insurance corporate finance teams. More recently, Karen has been an angel investor and advisor to academic scientists founding biopharmaceutical companies, including Design Therapeutics (DSGN) and Acrigen Bioscience, a gene-editing company on whose board she serves. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BS in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Trish Costello, CEO & Founder of Portfolia and CEO Emeritus of Kauffman Fellows San Francisco

Trish is the CEO and Founder of Portfolia, a venture capital firm that activates women’s wealth with nearly 2,000 women limited partners. Portfolia’s 14 VC funds focus on sectors like women’s health, active aging, sustainability, and diversity, making it the most active investor in women’s health in the US. The firm’s investments include unicorns Everly Health, GrubMarket, and Maven Clinic. Trish is recognized for her pioneering work with the Kauffman Fellows Program and as the Founding President of CVE Capital Corp. She has received numerous accolades, including Business Insider's Seed 30 and Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Most Innovative Women Entrepreneurs. Portfolia has been recognized with a Golden Stevie Award and Fast Company’s Top Ten Most Innovative Finance Companies.

Jennifer Grandis, MD, Professor at University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Grandis is a physician scientist who is interested in the impact of gender on career development in medicine and science. Her cancer research is focused on elucidating and targeting key signaling pathways and genomic alterations in head and neck cancer with the goals of enabling precision medicine studies. She has leveraged her access to head and neck cancer patients and their biospecimens to optimize translational research studies that include developing novel therapies in the laboratory for clinical application as well as generating and interrogating relevant preclinical models to determine the underlying mechanism of clinical findings. In her institutional roles at the University of Pittsburgh and since 2015, at UCSF, she has facilitated collaborations between clinicians and investigators with an emphasis on developing a robust research infrastructure to support clinical and translational cancer studies. She has published over 400 papers in peer-reviewed literature and has been continuously funded by the NIH since joining the faculty in 1993. Dr. Grandis is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. She is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor.

J. Dianne Keen-Kim, PhD, Senior Vice President of Laboratory Affairs & Quality and Executive Laboratory Director at Natera​​​​​​, Moderator

Dr. Keen-Kim is a distinguished scientist and laboratory executive with over 20 years of experience in strategic growth and resource optimization. She is the current president and board chair of Women In Bio. Her expertise spans implementing AI/ML algorithms in clinical diagnostics, building and staffing clinical laboratories, and providing board leadership in the medical device and diagnostic industry. Dr. Keen-Kim's career highlights include delivering a 5X growth in annual specimen volumes and validating over 50 tests. With a Ph.D. in Genetics from MIT and post-doctoral fellowship from UCLA Medical Center, she has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and holds multiple patents. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Laboratory Affairs and Quality and Executive Laboratory Director at Natera. She is also the Founder, CEO, and Board Chair of Arete Diagnostics, Inc. and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Keen-Kim is renowned for her ability to recognize potential problems in high-complexity diagnostics and clinical trials laboratories, making her a sought-after thought leader in the field.

Svetlana Lucas, PhD, Chief Business Officer at Scribe Therapeutics

Svetlana is the Chief Business Officer at Scribe Therapeutics, a genetic medicines company unlocking the potential of CRISPR to transform human health. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in strategy, commercialization, and business development leadership to the role, previously serving as Senior Vice President, Business Development at Tizona Therapeutics. In this clinical stage immunotherapy company, she was responsible for the company’s business development strategy and transactions, including global strategic collaboration with AbbVie Inc. Before joining Tizona, Svetlana was Head of Oncology and Inflammation External R&D Team at Amgen, where she oversaw business development activities including Amgen’s strategic cancer immunotherapy research collaboration and licensing agreement with Kite Pharma, and collaborated with Amgen Ventures on several investments in oncology and inflammation. Svetlana joined Amgen following the acquisition of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where she spearheaded the company’s oncology partnering strategy and due diligence of new opportunities. She has held positions of increasing responsibility in strategy, business development, and strategic marketing at Amgen, PDL BioPharma/Facet Biotech (acquired by AbbVie), and XOMA Corporation. Svetlana began her career as a strategy consultant in McKinsey & Company's life sciences practice. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Moscow State University and her PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

Pricing Information

• Members: $35
• Student Members: $25
• Biocom Members: $35
• Non-members*: $65
• Student Non-members: $35

*Interested in joining Women In Bio? Click here to learn more about WIB membership and gain access to our video library, mentorship opportunities, and more. 

Please read WIB's Code of Conduct, In-Person Event Waiver, and Refund Policy.

Note: A confirmation email will be sent after registration has been completed. 

Maximum Capacity

125

Parking Information 

Free parking on the premises is available.

Public Transit Information

From the South San Francisco Caltrain Station, walk to the South San Francisco Caltrain commuter shuttle stop (0.4 miles). Then, take the One Tower Place (OTP) shuttle to One Tower Place and walk to Biocom California (0.1 mile).