Featured Speaker(s)

MODERATOR:
Laura Scott
Senior Relationship Manager
Silicon Valley Bank



Laura joined Silicon Valley Bank in 1999 as a Relationship Manager in the Life Sciences Practice. Currently Laura is responsible for leading the business development and portfolio management efforts of one of the Bank’s technology teams focused on software and services, electronic systems and communications.

Laura has over 19 years of commercial banking experience and prior to joining SVB Laura was a Commercial Loan Officer at Flagship Bank & Trust Company and held management positions at Fleet Real Estate Capital, Recoll Management Corp and at Bank of New England.

Laura holds a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from Boston University.

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Maggie Flanagan
Astrazeneca
Maggie has been in the bio-pharmaceutical industry for 20 years, working in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, holding business development, management and technical roles. Since joining AstraZeneca in 2001, Maggie has been the Global Alliance Director for Global Sciences and Information (formerly Enabling Science and Technology), where she leads an international group responsible for supporting evaluation, negotiation and management of GSI and Global technology platform collaborations. In 2004, Maggie and her group assumed the additional responsibility for supporting the Global Safety Assessment collaboration portfolio. Prior to 2001, Maggie held business development and scientific management positions at Hybridon, Inc.; Oncogene Science Inc.; and Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Originally trained as a biophysical chemist, with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Indiana University, she trained in molecular and cellular biology as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health.

Maggie O'Toole
Pervasis Therapeutics
A biotech start-up developing cell-based devices that induce repair and healing of blood vessels is where Maggie heads up the office operations. The company’s endothelial cell devices can treat vascular dysfunction and disruption across a broad range of important indications including peripheral and coronary artery disease.

Maggie began her career in marketing and business management for a small government contractor in Virginia where she became intricately involved in the proposal development process. Moving to Boston she focused her interests in marketing and management to that of high-tech start-ups in the Cambridge area. Brought on to Pervasis as the third employee, Maggie works directly with the President and is responsible for the office management of this fast growing biotech. Her responsibilities range from overseeing the build out of new office and lab space in Kendall Square, to establishing the company infrastructure in regards to HR and Finance alongside the CFO. Maggie works with various consultants to manage the website and assist in the development of corporate branding.

Maggie earned her Bachelors in Literary and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University.

Jean Qiu, PhD
Nexcelom Bioscience, LLC
Jean Qiu, founder of Nexcelom Bioscience LLC, a provider of innovative products for life science research and diagnostics. The combination of micro- and nano-structured polymer film, optical instrument, data analysis software provides a unique solution to automate routine tasks for biologists engaged in disease research and drug discovery.

Jean gained her experience in product development and commercialization from 3M Company, where she did basic research, developed products, and led cross-functional commercialization teams. She was a winner of the Rank Prize of Optoelectronics in 1993 for a breakthrough in semiconductor laser technology. Jean has numerous technical publications and holds more than 12 US patents.

Prior to starting Nexcelom Bioscience, Jean worked for SRU Biosystems, a biotechnology start-up company, as director of process development and manufacturing, where she was instrumental in developing a novel biosensor technology into manufacturable products.

Jean earned her PhD from the School of Electrical Engineering at Purdue University.


Joan Wood, Vice President Workforce Development
Genzyme Corporation
Joan is responsible for the overall development of Genzyme Corporation’s global biotechnology workforce. Her focus is in the areas of management and leadership development, and organizational development, diversity and college relations. Programs under her direction include Genzyme's Mobilizing Talent initiative, and Genzyme's MBA Management Development and Summer Internship Programs. Through these programs Genzyme recruits graduate level and business school students at select institutions to join Genzyme in short-term summer positions during their graduate programs, and for regular full-time positions upon completion of their graduate degrees.

Previously, Joan was Senior Vice President at Scudder Investments, where she led the Learning and Development function for Scudder's U.S. Mutual Fund Group and oversaw customer education for the AARP family of funds. Joan also previously was Director of Curriculum Development for Service Delivery University at Fidelity Investments. Joan's current special interest is in executive coaching, particularly in the areas of visionary and metaphoric thinking and conflict resolution. She has served as a speaker at international HR conferences for the past five years.