Review Committee
This Committee will grow- if you would like to be considered, please use the Abstract Submission form and we'll be in touch, or send a note to: info@biopharmaresearchcouncil.org Thank you!
Nicholas Bergman, Ph.D.
Senior Principal Investigator, Genomics
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center
Alexandra Glucksmann, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer, Editas
Joanne Kamens, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Addgene
Winston Kuo DMSc
COO
IES Diagnostics
John F. Reilly, Ph.D.
Global Head, Applied Human Genetics & Genomics
Biomarker Development | Translational Medicine
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Morten Sogaard, Ph.D.
Vice President and Head
Enterprise Scientific Technology Operations
Pfizer
Vilas Wagh, PhD
Sr. Scientist
Genetics and Pharmacogenomics
Merck Research Laboratory
Host Committee
Michele Cleary, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Genetics & Pharmacogenomics
Merck
Galya Vassileva
Principal Scientist
Merck Research Laboratories
Heather Zhou
Senior Research Fellow
Merck
Myung K. Shin, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Genetics and Pharmacogenomics
Merck
Richard Z. Chen, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Merck
Thomas Fare, Ph.D.
Director for Strategic Alliances
BioPharma Research Council
Ronnye Schreiber
President
PlanetConnect
Joanne Gere
Executive Director
BioPharma Research Council
Richard Z. Chen, Ph.D.
Richard Chen has 14 years of experience in biopharmaceutical industry. He received his Ph.D. in Toxicology from MIT and postdoctoral training with Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute where he studied genome stability and the Rett syndrome. He joined Merck in 2001 as a senior scientist and spent the next 9 years working on drug discovery projects for treating metabolic diseases. From 2010-2013, he held senior positions, first at WuXi AppTec and later returning to Merck, responsible for external collaboration. In his current role, he focuses on establishing and utilizing new platforms including CRISPR technology and iPS cells for target ID and validation. He has a long history of interest in complex chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and aging.
Joanne Kamens, Ph.D.
Dr. Kamens is Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, nonprofit dedicated to helping scientists around the world share plasmid reagents. She received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 15 years at BASF/Abbott, ultimately serving as Group Leader in Molecular Biology. In 2007 she joined RXi Pharmaceuticals as Senior Director of Research. Dr. Kamens founded the Boston chapter of the Association for Women in Science and was Director of the Boston Healthcare Businesswomens Association Mentoring Program. She was recognized as one of the 2013 PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring and a Forty Over 40 Woman Making an Impact.
Winston Kuo DMSc
Winston Kuo is the founder of Harvard Medical School’s Laboratory for Innovative Translational Technologies, which was an integral part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award program, Dr. Kuo has founded and supported many programs that spur biomedical research.
He initiated and participated with the FDA in a large-scale comprehensive study evaluating the clinical utility of gene expression technologies, published in Nature Biotechnology (July 2006). He sits on the NIH/SBIR grant review study section and is a peer reviewer for the Qatar National Research Fund.
Dr. Kuo's clinical and translational initiatives have expanded globally in developing countries such as Brazil, China, Mongolia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, focusing upon accelerating understanding of mechanisms that affect human disease; catalyzing the identification and development of useful biomarkers; and speeding the development of therapeutics in patients. Dr. Kuo has also instructed in the Innovation for Economic Development program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Kuo is a founder and Trustee of the Otto Heinrich Warburg Cancer Research Foundation.
He sits on the editorial boards of multiple peer reviewed journals, and is Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Circulating Biomarkers and NanoBioMedicine (both of which he founded). He has consulted with the NIH on interdisciplinary outreach, and sits on a number business and nonprofit Scientific Advisory Boards, including the BioPharma Research Council.
He received is Doctor of Medical Sciences (DMSc), Oral and Computational Biology from Harvard Medical School.
John F. Reilly, Ph.D.
John is currently Global Head, Applied Human Genetics & Genomics at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, where he leads a multi-disciplinary department with responsibility for driving advancements in genomic technologies and application to clinical trials across general medicine indications. Previously at Merck Research Laboratories, he led the anti-PD-1 biomarker efforts and was responsible for developing and qualifying biomarker assays in for use in lead-op and early-stage clinical trials across multiple programs. John received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, has worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for 15 years and contributed to more than 30 publications.
Vilas Wagh, PhD
Dr. Wagh has extensive experience in generating cellular assays based on isogenic backgrounds as a potential use in drug discovery. He strongly believes that, such tool sets have capacity to address important questions concerning the pathogenesis of human genetic disease. He has over 12 year of research experience both in academia and industry. His experience includes a postdoc appointment at Harvard Medical School and University of California, San Francisco, as well as roles at Novartis and Aventis Pharma.
