WIB-Seattle Leadership Spotlight: Sarah Chan

Sarah Chan
WIB-Seattle Chapter Chair

Sarah holds a PhD in molecular biology from the National University of Singapore and has over a decade of global business development experience in technology commercialization, negotiating and managing strategic partnerships, and corporate innovation management. 

“I’ve always liked asking questions and learning new things. Science is exactly that,” Sarah said. “During my PhD, I realized I wanted to do something more downstream and applicable, so I pivoted to business development.” After completing her PhD, Sarah has held global open innovation roles at L’Oréal and Evonik, and at the technology transfer office of the Agency for Science Technology and Research in Singapore. “I really enjoy the commercialization of technologies and developing go-to-market strategies. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment when I’m negotiating and managing long-term business relationships, in any way, shape, or form, because that can have such a huge impact on patients,” she said. After moving to Seattle from Singapore in 2023, Sarah applied her skills and experience in developing strategic partnerships at Sage Bionetworks, where she accelerated biomedical research by building open science and collaboration networks.

In addition to scouting for, negotiating, and managing valuable alliances, Sarah has a passion for startups. She has contributed to numerous organizations that highlight entrepreneurship and has been a startup mentor in Singapore and here in the USA, with CoMotion at the University of Washington and Nucleate Seattle, where she can mentor and support the startup ecosystem in Seattle. “I was a founding member of Singapore Women in Science, and I wanted to find something similar here,” she said. “After I learned about Women In Bio, the first event that I attended was about how women in science balance their careers with having children, and that really resonated with me. That has been one of the biggest challenges for me. It’s hard to balance your personal life with your career. If you want an intense career, unfortunately, something has to give. You have to decide what your priorities are, what to delegate, and who to delegate to. And you need to know what your ‘must-haves’ and your ‘nice-to-haves’ are. Priorities can also change, so you have to be adaptable.”

Finding women who are in similar situations is what made Sarah decide to contribute more to Women In Bio. “I found a really nice group of friends through Women In Bio. Being new to the country and to the city, this has helped me a lot,” she said. “When I had any questions or needed advice, I knew I wasn’t alone. The support is invaluable. It isn’t trivial at all.” Beyond just attending events, Sarah found that joining the board has been where she has felt the most fulfilled in the community. “When you join the board, you aren’t participating passively—you’re actively contributing and shaping the future of what you want to see.”

Encouraging others to contribute is the backbone of Sarah’s leadership style. “When you have good people, you empower them to do great things. I believe when you find smart, self-motivated, and enthusiastic people, you should trust them and give them autonomy to make good decisions,” she said. “People like to be trusted. If you keep second-guessing them, it won’t work. Of course, let them know that you are there and the door is always open for anything that they need help with. Part of building that trust is checking in regularly with each other.”

We couldn’t be more grateful that Sarah has taken the monumental job of leading the Seattle chapter. Her passion for empowering and supporting women makes her an unstoppable force in the community, and she already has made a huge impact on the women in bio in Seattle. Thank you, Sarah, for your constant encouragement and excellent leadership!

Submitted by Mariana Huben