Executive Women In Bio Selects Candidates for 2019 Boardroom Ready Program

NEW YORK, July 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Executive Women In Bio (EWIB), a group of senior leaders committed to promoting, empowering, and elevating executive women in biopharma and the life sciences operating within the national non-profit organization Women In Bio (WIB), today announced the 20 women selected to participate in the 2019 Boardroom Ready Program. Boardroom Ready is EWIB’s exclusive executive development platform, designed to support women’s participation on corporate boards in the life sciences.

“We are excited to welcome the fourth cohort of women to the Boardroom Ready program,” said Carolyn Brougham, Executive Liaison for WIB. “This group has breadth of expertise that spans all sectors in biopharma and life sciences. As the need for diversity in corporate boardrooms grows industry-wide, we strongly believe the Boardroom Ready participants are prepared to help satisfy that demand.”

The 2019 participants join a strong community of ambitious program alumnae, who have earned 35 boardroom appointments since the program’s inception in 2016. The candidates selected for this year’s Boardroom Ready program are:

• Shannon Dahl, PhD – Chief Scientific Officer, Cell Care Therapeutics
• Elizabeth Jeffords – Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, Alkahest
• Melita Sun Jung – Vice President, Head of Business Development, Sangamo Therapeutics
• Tracy Kinjerski – Vice President, Business Operations, Avid Bioservices
• Elisabeth Leiderman, MD, MBA – Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Development, Fortress Biotech
• Yvonne Linney, PhD – Former Chief Executive Officer, Transcriptic
• Jean Liu – Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Seattle Genetics
• Carol Marzetta, PhD – Retired; formally Vice President, Head of Portfolio and Project Management, Pfizer
• Caryn McDowell – Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Revance Therapeutics
• Kristine Mechem, PhD – Vice President, Diagnostics and Life Science Tools, Health Advances
• Stephanie Oestreich, PhD, MPA – Executive Vice President, Evotec
• Safia Rizvi, PhD, MBA – Managing Partner, The Blue Group
• Melanie Rolli, MD – CEO, PIQUR Therapeutics
• Mary Rozenman, PhD – Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy, Aimmune Therapeutics
• Lori Rudolph-Owen, PhD – Senior Vice President, Research and Development Strategy and Operations, Goldfinch Bio
• Barbara Troupin, MD, MBA – Chief Medical Officer, ERX Pharmaceuticals
• Martine van Vugt, PhD – Chief of Staff, Genmab
• Ramani Varanasi, MS, MBA – Co-founder, President, and CEO, X-Biotix Therapeutics
• Tina Ventura – Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Horizon Therapeutics plc
• Anabella Villalobos, PhD – Senior Vice President, Biotherapeutics and Medicinal Sciences, Biogen

“We continue to be impressed by the caliber of women the Boardroom Ready program selects each year,” said Michael Rice, Founding Partner at LifeSci Advisors and founding sponsor of the Boardroom Ready program. “The LifeSci Advisors leadership team is excited to partner with Executive Women In Bio, once again, and looks forward to supporting the selected participants throughout this year’s program.”

The Boardroom Ready program is designed to be a foundational resource for executive women interested in serving on corporate boards. Program participants are required to complete a five-day boardroom competency-building curriculum held at George Washington University School of Business. The course is designed to refine each candidate’s understanding of the structure, roles, and responsibilities related to serving on both public and private life science boards. In addition, each candidate is partnered with an experienced board mentor to help navigate the path to board service. Throughout the program and following completion, WIB, LifeSci Advisors, and other sponsors work to facilitate matching of program participants with companies seeking new board members. Program participants have been appointed to boards on leading public and private life science companies, including Entera Bio, Fulcrum Therapeutics, Seattle Genetics, and Spero Therapeutics.

EWIB is seeking qualified mentors to work with this year’s program selectees. Boardroom mentors play an important role in the program, offering guidance, encouragement, and experience-based strategies for networking, interviewing, and assessing the fit of a potential board seat. For more information please contact EWIB@womeninbio.org.

Women In Bio (WIB) is an organization of professionals committed to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship of women in the life sciences. Each of its 13 chapters hosts numerous events throughout the year, including networking, career development, professional education, and executive level-focused events. WIB also hosts a mentorship program which offers women the chance to mentor or be mentored, a Young Women In Bio program, which offers events and encouragement to middle-school aged girls, webinars, and the support of a large national organization with 13 chapters and growing. As a volunteer organization, WIB offers leadership opportunities at every stage of your career, and a chance to expand your network in a supportive and professional environment. For more information, visit www.womeninbio.org.

Executive Women In Bio (EWIB) is a committee comprised of senior leaders in biopharma and the life sciences operating within the membership-based, national non-profit organization, Women In Bio (WIB). EWIB champions for greater diversity and is committed to supporting female leadership through professional development programs, including Boardroom Ready. EWIB strives to be a foundational resource for women in executive roles, by fostering achievement and empowering women to be the best leaders and influencers they can be through formal education, training, and structured networking. EWIB offers a competitive, intensive board competency-building curriculum held annually at George Washington University to refine skills and to increase preparedness for the responsibilities related to serving on both public and private boards.

Peggy Vorwald
EWIB Communications Coordinator
pvorwald@cglife.com
858-457-2436