Amy Blase, CCRA is Associate Director of Clinical Operations at Gen-Probe Incorporated. She has over 22 years experience in the biotech industry, including assay development, quality control, and clinical affairs. For the past 12 years, she has designed, managed, and executed clinical studies for in vitro diagnostic and medical device products. She has a special interest in prostate cancer diagnosis and management. [Hide Bio]

Katherine S. Bowdish, Ph.D. is CEO of Anaphore, a platform-based drug development company, developing new class of biologics called AtrimersTM, based on the TrimerXTM platform for better biologics focused in autoimmune/inflammation and oncology. Prior to joining Anaphore, Katherine simultaneously served as President of Alexion Antibody Technologies, Inc. located in San Diego, California, and Senior Vice President of Alexion Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ: ALXN] located in Cheshire, Connecticut. Alexion Antibody Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alexion Pharmaceuticals was formed when Katherine led the September 2000 acquisition of Prolifaron Inc. by Alexion. Alexion Antibody Technologies build a robust portfolio of preclinical and clinical candidates during her tenure including ALXN6000, a CD200 blocking antibody for the treatment of CLL and multiple myeloma now in Phase I/II clinical trials.

Dr. Bowdish was Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Prolifaron, Inc., a privately held antibody discovery company that grew through large pharma partnerships and emerged as an innovative leader in antibody therapeutics with a focus on developing new treatments for cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. Dr. Bowdish previously worked with Richard Lerner, MD at The Scripps Research Institute in the area of antibody engineering, and Monsanto in agricultural biotechnology. She received her formal education in molecular genetics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (Ph.D.) and in biology at the College of William and Mary (B.S.). Dr. Bowdish has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and has an extensive intellectual property portfolio, primarily focused in the area of molecular immunology. [Hide Bio]

Jill M. Broadfoot joined Vical as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary in October 2004, and was promoted to Senior Vice President in January 2009. From February 1999 until joining us, Ms. Broadfoot held various positions at dj Orthopedics, Inc., a publicly-traded medical device company, most recently as Vice President of Finance and Controller with broad responsibilities in finance, accounting, treasury, risk management, and corporate governance. From September 1994 until joining dj Orthopedics, Ms. Broadfoot served as an audit manager at Ernst & Young LLP, where her clients included life sciences, computer software and telecommunications companies as well as government contractors. From June 1990 until joining Ernst & Young, she was Division Controller at Medical Imaging Centers of America, Inc., a chain of freestanding imaging centers and mobile imaging centers, where she held divisional accounting and financial reporting responsibilities. Ms. Broadfoot received her bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting from San Diego State University, and is a Certified Public Accountant. [Hide Bio]

Sara A. Courtneidge, Ph.D., was born in the UK, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Leeds and her Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research. Following postdoctoral study at the University of California, San Francisco, and an independent position at the National Institute for Medical Research, she joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in 1985, where she rose to the position of Senior Scientist. Changing course in 1994, Dr. Courtneidge joined SUGEN Inc. as Vice President of Research, where she guided novel kinase discovery and validation efforts in oncology. From 2001-2005 she was Distinguished Scientific Investigator at the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Courtneidge joined the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in May 2005, as Professor and Director of the Cell Adhesion and Extracellular Matrix Program, now known as Tumor Microenvironment.

Dr. Courtneidge's contributions to cancer research have been recognized with numerous honors, including election to the European Molecular Biology Organization (1990), the Jubilee Lecture and Harden Medal of the British Biochemical Society (2001) and the Feodor Lynen Lecture and Lynen Medal (2005). [Hide Bio]

Grace transitioned to the role of Director, R&D at Biosite Inc., an Inverness Medical Innovations company, in 2008. In this role she leads a nascent team focused on developing a medical device/diagnostic system for coagulation monitoring for patients on warfarin therapy. In forming a new team, she has challenged herself with the goal of establishing a vision for a "new company" within an established company. Previously, Grace developed a long career in the areas of enzyme engineering and development and high throughput screening for applications as diverse as enzyme for pharmaceutical applications to address inborn errors of metabolism, animal feed, transgenic crops, pharmaceutical synthesis, industrial processing and biofuels. At Diversa (now Verenium) she developed and lead a strong technical team in support of these activities and also concomitantly managed a series of strategic alliances with large corporations including, DSM, Pfizer, BASF, Syngenta etc. In her role as Associate Director R&D and Strategic Alliances at Verenium, she savored a unique position grounded in a technical role with whilst having a high degree of responsibility delivering on the financial goals to the Enzyme business units via negotiating licensing and alliance relationships and managing corporate sponsored research programs with full P&L responsibility.

Grace completed B.Sc. degree in Biochemisty and Chemistry at University of Toronto during which time she completed summer internships in the department of Biomaterials (school of engineering). She stayed on at the University of Toronto to complete M.Sc. and Ph.D. work in the laboratory of Professor Bryan Jones in the department of Chemistry. There she worked on the design and synthesis of protease inhibitors during her masters work and then collaborated with Genencor Int. during doctoral work to re-design protease substrate specificity using protein engineering and chemical modification to introduce unnatural amino acid side chains. She then moved to the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla where she worked with Professor C. H. Wong on elucidating the mechanistic details and structure of DERA aldolase as well as developing enhanced variants of this enzyme for biocatalysis applications. This work led to a publication in Science in 2001. She has published nearly 30 research articles and is named on numerous patents and applications. Grace remains active in the San Diego biotech community through affiliations with: ACS, Athena, AWIS and PMI. She continues to be a student by nature via UCSD extension continuing education programs. [Hide Bio]

Marilyn has twelve years of experience in the biotechnology sector combining her scientific background with business development experience. Most recently, Marilyn was Director of Business Development at Vical Incorporated, where she played a lead role in all business development activities, including in-licensing and out-licensing, contract manufacturing, and technology evaluation. Marilyn also played a major role in the successful partnership of Allovectin-7?, Vical’s Phase 3 oncology product candidate. While at Vical, Marilyn was responsible for several strategic partnerships, and was team leader for a joint vaccine development project between Vical and the U.S. Military. She also served as a key interface between business development and other functional areas such as legal, regulatory, finance, manufacturing, and
R & D.

Prior to her business development role, Marilyn was a senior scientist at Vical responsible for formulation research and development and management of several scientific collaborations. She was also responsible for writing technical documentation in support of regulatory submissions. Before joining Vical, Marilyn completed postdoctoral research in biophysics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Marilyn holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA. [Hide Bio]

Judith Finlay [Hide Bio]

Erika Flora, MS, PMP, ITIL Expert is a Principal Consultant with Creative Enterprise Solutions, an IT and Project Management training and consulting company in La Jolla. Erika is an accomplished IT / Drug Development Program Manager with more than 8 years of experience in the pharmaceutical / biotech industry. She has a proven track-record of improving and impacting corporations through the redesign of processes and use of enterprise technology solutions. Further, she has led multiple Enterprise Project Management (EPM) implementations for both large and small companies.

Erika graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelors degree in Microbiology and a Masters degree in Food Microbiology. She is PMP certified, Microsoft Project / Project Server Black Belt certified, and holds an ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management. She is a skilled writer, blogger, and presenter on a variety of technical and business topics (networking, personal branding, etc.). Further, Erika is passionate about project management, mentoring others, and was voted "Volunteer of the Year" by PMI International in 2007. [Hide Bio]

Ms. Fernanda Gandara joined Synthetic Genomics in August of 2007 with business experience from a variety of industries and functional areas. Prior to SGI she worked at BP (British Petroleum) on Technology Strategy and Venturing, Planning and Performance for the Downstream/Retail business and Sales and Marketing for Solar. Prior to BP, Fernanda worked with management consulting at BCG and Accenture. Fernanda earned a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in California and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Escola de Engenharia Maua in Brazil. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Jennifer Grodberg has over 15 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, she serves as Director of Regulatory Affairs at Trius Therapeutics, a small, privately-held company developing antibacterial drugs for the treatment of infections caused by resistant bacteria. Before joining Trius, Jennifer worked at TargeGen Inc., in the Department of Regulatory Affairs and Drug Development, her first position in drug development. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in anti-infectives drug discovery and technology/assay development, coordinating research programs from the identification of early drug leads through advancement to the IND enabling phase. Jennifer held positions at Ontogen Corporation, IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Microcide Pharmaceuticals, and Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada). Before entering the pharmaceutical industry, she held a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School in the department of medicine.

Dr. Grodberg obtained her PhD in Microbiology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and completed post-doctoral work at both the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel and Harvard Medical School. She received Regulatory Affairs Certification in 2007. [Hide Bio]

Dave Jensen is the founder and Managing Director of CareerTrax Inc, and prior to CTI he was the founder and CEO of Search Masters International, a top biotechnology executive search practice founded in 1985. That company is now a unit of Kelly Services (Troy, MI) with its main offices in Chicago, IL.

In 2008, Dave Jensen is on sabbatical from the recruiting business and working with partners on the development of a new biotechnology company, ProActive BioProducts Inc. (Sedona, Arizona), a company focused on bringing traditional Scandinavian remedies through clinical trials and into the market as dietary supplements.

Dave Jensen's monthly column "Managing Your Career" has been a visible part of the biotech industry for more than fifteen years; the column ran for twelve years in BioPharm and is now in each issue of Contract Pharma where Jensen is the Contributing Editor. He has published over 250 papers on management and personal development topics for these journals. Mr. Jensen has delivered seminars and workshops in industry meetings internationally, including keynote presentations at career events held by the NIH, Johns Hopkins University, Karolinska Institute, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, University of Rochester, UCSF and the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB).

Dave is a member of the AAAS Science Careers Advisory Board and writes the popular "Tooling Up" column for monthly career tips and techniques (seen on the AAAS Science Careers website). He also works as the AAAS Science Careers Discussion Forum Moderator. [Hide Bio]

Gretchen Jimenez, Ph.D., MBA, has augmented over 20 years of cancer and infectious disease research with several years of consulting activities focused in the biopharmaceutical field. She earned a BA in Genetics from UC Berkeley, a PhD in Biology from UCSD, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute. While working on DNA vaccine programs at Vical Inc., she also earned an MBA from SDSU. Her consulting work in Product Development and Regulatory Affairs includes serving as a Product Development Team Leader, Project Manager in Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs, Pre-IND and IND submission lead and author, and client liaison to CROs and CMOs. She has worked in a variety of therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, diabetes, oncology, and blood disorders. [Hide Bio]

Tracy Johnson is Assistant Professor at UCSD, Division of Biological Sciences. She received her Bachelors degree in biochemistry and cell biology from UCSD, and her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from UC Berkeley, where she studied the regulation of transcription elongation. At Caltech, Tracy was a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow. As an independent investigator, she has received numerous awards for outstanding research and teaching, including an NSF CAREER Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Tracy has been active in education and outreach activities in math, science and engineering, and for these efforts she received a UCSD Diversity Award. She was also recently named one of San Diego’s “People to Watch in 2009” by San Diego Metro Magazine. [Hide Bio]

Ms. Johnson has been a Venture Partner at ProQuest Investments since November 2005. Prior to joining ProQuest, she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, at Salmedix Inc., where she led the effort to license their lead cancer therapeutic; the company was successfully sold to Cephalon in June 2005. Ms. Johnson has additional experience with device, diagnostic and drug discovery and development and regulatory affairs. She held senior business and corporate development positions at Women First, Prizm Pharmaceuticals, Cytel Corp., Symbiotics Corp., and Murex Corp. (Cambridge U.K.). Additionally, Ms. Johnson served as Assistant Director with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Johnson holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University, an M.S. in Clinical Microbiology from the Hahnemann Medical School and a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland. [Hide Bio]

After earning her Ph.D. in chemistry from UCSD in 2001, Hima Joshi served as a teaching post-doc and lecturer at the University of San Diego for five years. During this time, Hima was a co-chair of the AWIS-SD Newsletter Committee and a member of the Executive Board. In 2006, Hima left San Diego to accept a tenure-track organic chemistry position at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Although Hima loves being a professor at Cal Poly, she is anxious to rejoin her husband, friends and colleagues in San Diego. Beginning July 1, Hima will take a leave from her position and move down to San Diego, where she is currently exploring employment opportunities. Hima has a feature-writing certificate from UCSD Extension, and she has been studying classical voice for 20 years. [Hide Bio]

Stephen Mayfield is a Professor of Cell Biology, and Associate Dean of the graduate school at the Scripps Research Institute. His research focuses on the molecular genetics of green algae, and on the production of therapeutic proteins and biofuel molecules using algae as a production platform. As an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute Steve was the first person to achieve transformation of the C. reinhardtii nuclear genome, work that allowed this algae to become the dominant genetic organisms for the study of photosynthesis and gene function. Recent studies in the lab on gene expression, and on the three-dimensional structure of ribosomes, have expanded our knowledge of the basic rules of gene expression in algae, and helped define key aspects of gene expression essential to developing algae as a biotechnology platform.

Eukaryotic algae are an excellent system for biotechnology applications including the production of human therapeutic proteins, industrial enzymes, and biofuels. Algae can produce biomass at more than ten times the rate of terrestrial plants, making algae a potentially significant and economically viable source of both proteins and biofuel molecules. Algae contain lipids and other hydrocarbon-rich molecules, which are natural fuel precursors that generate fuel fully compatible with the existing transportation fuel infrastructure. To developed algae as a biotechnology platform the Mayfield lab has generated both molecular genetic tools, as well as production strains of algae that can be used to produce either recombinant proteins of engineered biofuel molecules. We have developed a number of expression vectors that allow for robust accumulation of complex mammalian proteins including monoclonal antibodies, mammalian growth factors, and a variety of potential industrial enzymes. These studies resulted in the founding Rincon Pharmaceuticals, a startup company focused on the low cost production of human therapeutics. We have also generated expression vectors that allow for expression of recombinant proteins from the nuclear genome, and that allow for secretion of these proteins from the cell. These new vector will increase the repertoire of recombinant proteins that can be produced in algae thereby expanding the platform.

To engineer algae for the production of hydrocarbon molecules that can be used as biofuels. We are using our molecular genetic tools to engineer algal strains with increased accumulation of lipids. As algal lipids can be readily converted into gasoline, diesel or jet fuel using existing petroleum refining technologies. As algae can be grown using sunlight and CO2 as primary inputs, the potential of algae as a sustainable energy source is obvious. Our continued genetic, biochemical and structural studies should lead to a greater understanding of the mechanism of gene expression in algae. With this understanding we should be able to design appropriate transgenes to affect higher levels of therapeutic protein expression, and allow algae to become a viable source for sustainable biofuel production. These studies resulted in the founding of Sapphire Energy, a company developing biofuel production by metabolic engineering of algae and photosynthetic bacteria. Steve was Chief Scientific Officer of Rincon Pharmaceuticals until 2007, and is now is the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Boards of Sapphire Energy. [Hide Bio]

Siobhan Malany is a principal research scientist at Tanabe Research Laboratories where she leads pharmacology drug discovery efforts in the areas of inflammation, diabetes and immunology. Siobhan received her PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Iowa where she characterized inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, an important target in Alzheimer’s disease. Siobhan then joined the pharmacology department at UCSD as a postdoctoral candidate. She was the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship and spent 18 months in Frankfurt, Germany at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research before returning to San Diego and entering the biotech industry in 2002. Siobhan has worked at Structural Bioinformatics and Neurocrine Biosciences, the latter where she led pharmacology efforts to advance drug candidates for treating Parkinson’s disease. She was previously co-chair of the Newsletter committee for AWIS-SD and currently serves on the board. [Hide Bio]

Edward R.B. McCabe, M.D., Ph.D. is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Human Genetics, as well as Physician-in-Chief of the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and Executive Chair of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. McCabe founded and serves as Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics. He previously held faculty appointments at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. McCabe was the first to show that DNA could be extracted from newborn screening blotters, which formed the basis for the use of blotters for molecular genetic diagnosis, forensics (including the DNA dog tag) and infectious disease diagnosis. He developed molecular genetic strategies for the confirmatory diagnosis in newborn screening programs for Sickle Cell Disease, Cystic Fibrosis and Medium Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency. He established the first DNA follow-up laboratory for newborn screening for Sickle Cell Disease, and trained personnel from newborn screening programs in Puerto Rico, Texas, and Washington, and from the molecular genetic confirmatory testing in the Centers for Disease Control. He has also been involved in molecular genetic testing for microbiologic organisms, with the goal of decreasing the time for identification of infectious agents.

A pediatrician and geneticist, Dr. McCabe served as a member of the Health and Human Services Select Panel on Newborn Screening for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau from 1987-2000. He was Co-Chair of the May 1999 Newborn Screening Task Force sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was additionally the Chair of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing from 1998-2002. Dr. McCabe is currently President of the American Society of Human Genetics as well as the 2009 International Congress on Inborn Errors of Metabolism. [Hide Bio]

Linda L. McCabe, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Human Genetics and Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She is the Coordinator of the Pediatrics Research, Innovation and Mentoring Experience (PRIME) Program, and Coordinator of the Human and Molecular Development Training Grant at UCLA. In addition, Dr. McCabe served as a member of the UCLA Medical Institutional Review Board. She previously held faculty appointments at Chapman College and the University of Colorado at Denver, and administered the Mental Retardation Research Center at the Baylor College of Medicine, the Baylor Laboratory Training Program, and the Baylor Child Health Research Center. She is also the Managing Editor of the journal, Molecular Genetics and Metabolism.

During her tenure at UCLA, Dr. McCabe developed and currently teaches the UCLA course Ethical Issues in Human Genetics. With Ed McCabe, she developed another course, Genomics and the Boundaries of Self, for which in 2007, they received the Eugen Weber Honors Collegium Teaching Award. Ed and Linda McCabe recently published their book based on this course, DNA: Promise and Peril, in 2008. DNA: Promise and Peril is currently offered as a lecture course to UCLA undergraduates.

Mentoring has been a consistent theme in Dr. McCabe’s activities since she and Ed McCabe developed their How to Succeed in Academics Workshop in 1991. In 2000, Academic Press published their book, How to Succeed in Academics. They have given workshops at many institutions throughout the country, and have also led workshops at professional meetings including the American College of Medical Genetics Annual Meeting, and the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting. [Hide Bio]

Darshini has worked in the biotechnology industry for almost 10 years. Darshini began her biotech career at Invitrogen in 1999 as a technical support scientist and then in 2000 moved on to become a technical writer. As a technical writer, she worked with cross functional teams across various corporate sites to create user manuals for researchers in academia, biotech, and pharma. In 2008, Darshini was promoted as Technical Publications Manager at Invitrogen, part of Life Technologies where she manages a team of writers and contractors. Prior to Invitrogen, Darshini was a research associate at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, creating chimeric phosphatases to identify their role in signal transduction during bacterial sporulation. Darshini completed her Postdoctoral training at The Burnham Institute, La Jolla, focusing on the biochemistry and glycobiology of lysosomal enzymes. Darshini holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Bombay, India. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Jane Moores is Assistant Vice Chancellor- Technology Transfer at the University of California, San Diego. She and the staff in the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) are responsible for protecting, managing and licensing the intellectual property of UC San Diego including inventions in the biomedical, life science and physical sciences sectors, copyright-protected materials such as software and images, and tangible research materials. Dr. Moores is also involved in establishing relationships with local, national and international business and academic communities.

Before joining TTO in 1999 as a Senior Licensing Officer, Dr. Moores spent 12 years at Stratagene, a San Diego company that supplies biological reagents and instruments to the research community. During her time at Stratagene, Dr. Moores worked in product research and development, and also in several aspects of business development.

Dr. Moores holds B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in microbiology from University College, London. She performed post-doctoral research at UC San Diego in the Chemistry Department, where she was involved in cloning bacterial genes, and in the School of Medicine, where she helped to develop retroviral vectors for gene therapy. [Hide Bio]

Fran Putkey earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, with an emphasis on cell biology, from the University of California, San Diego. Fran began her career in intellectual property law by joining the Patent Department at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a drug discovery company focused on RNA therapeutics. She became registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2005. Fran managed the Isis microRNA and cardiovascular patent portfolios, including the patent portfolio protecting Isis’ cholesterol lowering drug that is currently in Phase 3 development. In addition to managing prosecution activities, Fran was also responsible for developing patent strategy and participating in due diligence processes. In September of 2007, Fran joined Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a start-up biopharmaceutical company created to discover, develop and commercialize microRNA therapeutics. As Associate Director, Intellectual Property, Fran manages Regulus’ diverse patent portfolio, which protects platform technologies, emerging technologies, and pharmaceutical development candidates. Additionally, Fran works directly with executive management to devise and execute patent strategy and goals, oversees in-licensing efforts, and conducts patent due diligence activities for Regulus. An AWIS member since 2001, Fran was a member of the 2003 WIB Fundraising Committee and the 2004 Scholarship Gala organizing committee. Fran served as Scholarship Committee chair for the 2003-2004 AWIS San Diego scholarship program. In 2004, she received special recognition from AWIS San Diego for her achievements in outreach and community service. Fran was also an organizing member of the AWIS San Diego Strategy Session committee from 2003-2008, acting as chair of the committee from 2006-2007. [Hide Bio]

Margaret "Marnie" Reed has been in the field of clinical research since 1989. She had previously spent time as a Project Manager at Georgetown University Medical Center and a Clinical Coordinator at the National Cancer Institute. In that time she gained experience in the areas of adult and pediatric cancer with an emphasis in genetic testing. Her global project experience is diverse (Biotech, mid and large Pharma) and she has worked on all phases of clinical trials. As a Director in Project Management, Margaret provides expertise and guidance to staff on all project deliverables: start-up, coordination, management, and close out. Specifically, she is a line manager for 8 direct reports and 18 second line reports as well as the escalation point for several projects, and is responsible for customer management of several biotech companies. [Hide Bio]

Robert Rickert earned his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1992. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at The Institute for Genetics in Cologne, Germany and was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Biological Sciencese at the University of California, San Diego in 1997. In 2004, Robert was recruited to the Inflammatory & Infectious Disease Center at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research as an Associate Professor. [Hide Bio]

Sandra holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cologne in Germany and completed her post-doctoral studies at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego. Following her post-doc, she worked in Clinical Research at Epimmune Inc. and led drug discovery projects as a Senior Scientist at Kirin Pharma Inc. In 2006, she transferred to the Product Development division at Kirin, where she was involved in late stage pre-clinical and early stage clinical drug development as a Project Manager. Currently, she is managing Drug Discovery programs as a Project Manager at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Sandra has been an AWIS member since 1999 and has served as Co-Chair of the Corporate Sponsorship Committee from 2006 to 2008. [Hide Bio]

Ms. Roemer joined Verenium in March 2008, as Executive Vice President of the Specialty Enzymes Business Unit. Prior to that, Ms. Roemer held several positions with BP, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies. She served as Chief of Staff to the CEO of Innovene, a $24 billion, global petrochemical and refining business within the BP Group. Ms. Roemer held executive level positions including chief executive of a $1.7 billion North American chemical business and general manager of a $700 million global chemical business. She had held various positions in strategic planning, and in sales and marketing with Amoco Corporation, which merged with BP in 1999. She began her career with Unilever as a chemist.

Ms. Roemer received a M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. [Hide Bio]

Kathy Rogers is an Associate Director of Program Management for Women’s Health at Gen-Probe, Inc. Prior to joining Gen-Probe, Kathy held positions of increasing responsibility with Applied Biosystems ranging from system integration to project management. She has over 11 years of experience in the Biotech and Life Sciences Industries. Kathy holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Vermont, and a M.S. in Microbiology from Yale University. [Hide Bio]

Barbara A. Sawrey is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, as well as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. She received her B.S. in chemistry from Baldwin-Wallace College, her master's degree in chemistry from SDSU, and her Ph.D. in physical inorganic chemistry jointly from UCSD and SDSU. She joined the faculty at UCSD in 1984. She served as the Vice Chair for Chemistry & Biochemistry from 1994 to 2007. In 2001-02 she served as Acting Provost of Revelle College, and in 2002-04 she was chair of the University of California's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools.

Barbara has received numerous teaching awards, including the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, the UCSD Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, and the American Chemical Society's Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences. Her research work is in the field of chemistry education. In her role as AVC-UE, she works together with the undergraduate colleges and academic departments and programs for the implementation of initiatives and programs to improve and expand undergraduate education at UCSD. [Hide Bio]

Cynthia Shuman graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a BSc in Biochemistry and received her PhD in Biochemistry from Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden in 2003. Her graduate work focused on characterization of viral proteases and inhibitors. She followed this with postdoctoral research in Biophysical Chemistry at Lund University and as a scientist at Biovitrum, a Biotechnology company in Stockholm Sweden. On returning to the US, Dr. Shuman conducted postdoctoral research at UCSD prior to transitioning to her role as an Applications Scientist. She has been an Applications Scientist with GE Healthcare since 2007. Cynthia Shuman has been an active member of AWIS since 2006 and is currently co-chair of the Events committee. [Hide Bio]

Adriana Vela has been at the forefront of the nanobiotechnology sector for the last six years. After 18 years of tracking leading-edge technologies in the high-tech industry and defining new markets, Adriana embarked in the Life Sciences arena through various client-led projects. In 2004, Adriana founded NanoTecNexus, a not-for-profit corporation whose goal is to promote safe and market-accepted advances in nanosciences by tracking nanotech applications in areas ranging from diagnostics to therapeutics to medical devices. She leads a team of high caliber scientists and business professionals and has developed an international presence for NanoBioNexus.

Under Adriana's leadership, NanoTecNexus was selected to participate in a $20 million, 5-year grant funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the creation of a Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) dedicated to the research, development and education of nanotechnology as applied to cancer. The center, named NanoTumor Center, includes an Educational Core where Adriana serves as project lead. The core is tasked with developing educational strategies, tools and outreach programs for within the center members as well as other CCNE's, the healthcare community and general public.

Prior to founding NanoTecNexus, Adriana was instrumental in building and shaping a similar organization from the ground up while in Silicon Valley. She has served on several boards and decision-making committees and held various management positions.

As a professional consultant and strategic advisor, she has assisted start-up companies in securing funding, doing market validation, customer acquisition and go-to-market strategies. Her Fortune 100 corporate experience includes management positions at Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computers and Tandem Computer with global responsibility for driving new technologies. Adriana has also brought dozens of technology products to market, has managed multi-million dollar corporate initiatives, and has been a dynamic public speaker with engagements worldwide. Adriana created the strategy and was the driving force behind a multi-company standards initiative leading to the creation of a new PCI SIG-sanctioned industry standard called Hot-Plug PCI, forever changing the architectural requirements of computers. She holds a Bachelors of Business Administration/Information Technology from the University of Texas in Austin. [Hide Bio]

Sharon Wampler, Ph.D. is Cofounder and Vice President of Bio4Front, Inc, a company which develops and delivers customized education and information programs in the areas of biotechnology and entrepreneurship. Prior to this new (ad)venture, she spent 6 years managing professional educational programs at UC San Diego as Director of Executive Education Program Development at the Rady School of Management and Director of Biosciences at UCSD Extension. Trained as a protein biochemist, she worked 8 1/2 years in the San Diego biotech industry in research, marketing and business development before to returning to academia. Sharon has always valued lifelong learning and believes education empowers change, both in an individual and in the community. This latest career move leverages her professional skills and experience, while combining her love of science and passion for education with lifestyle flexibility. Sharon has been involved with the San Diego chapter of AWIS since 1996, serving on both the chapter and the national executive boards in addition to chairing various committees. Born and raised outside of Philadelphia, Sharon received her B.A. from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Biology from University of California, San Diego in 1993. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Elaine Weidenhammer is a strategic marketing and business development professional with 10 years of experience identifying and evaluating new market opportunities. Currently, Elaine is Senior Manager of Market Development at ResMed, a medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets products for sleep apnea. In this role, Elaine is responsible for establishing and managing strategic partnerships to increase awareness about sleep apnea and its associated comorbidities. Elaine received her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. in molecular biology from Carnegie Mellon University. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at UCSD, Elaine joined Nanogen, Inc., a San Diego-based diagnostics company. She worked as a research scientist for several years before transitioning into business development and strategic marketing. Elaine was a member of the first student cohort at the UCSD Rady School of Management and received her MBA in 2006.

Elaine is the Associate Member representative on Athena's Board of Directors, Interim Co-chair of the Affinity Group Steering Committee, and Chair of the Forum for Executive Women Steering Committee. She has also served as Co-chair of the Associate Members Affinity Group. Elaine has also been very active in the San Diego chapter of the Association for Women in Science, including serving as president from 1999-2002. [Hide Bio]

Sue leads Sun Microsystems' Storage Global Technical Support Center, which is responsible for providing tiered remote service to Sun's customers in over 14 countries worldwide. Prior to assuming her current role, Sue served as Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Storage Products, where she was responsible for overall customer satisfaction with Sun's storage product portfolio.

Sue joined Sun in 1996 and has since held a series of leadership positions in Services, Engineering and Corporate Planning. Prior to Sun, she worked for a number of high tech companies, including Silicon Graphics, Cray Research, Supercomputer Systems Inc., ETA Systems, 3M, and Control Data. Sue has extensive experience in the areas of business planning, process excellence, technical support, education, software development, legal support and program management.

Residing in San Diego, California, with her husband and two daughters, Sue holds a B.S. degree in Quantitative Methods and Information Systems (QMIS) from St. Cloud State University. She also earned an international assignment at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and has received numerous awards for her vision and leadership. [Hide Bio]