2016 Panelists
Panels offer an opportunity to hear from experienced alums and Yale associates in a variety of fields!
We appreciate all of our 2016 panelists who made our Career Fair a success!
| Biotech & Pharma |
Science Communication |
| Consulting | Academic Research & Teaching |
Keynote Speaker
Jeff Settleman, Ph.D.
Jeff Settleman is the Head of Oncology Research at Calico Life Sciences, an aging-focused biotechnology company in South San Francisco. His research is focused on cancer cell biology and therapeutics. He is particularly interested in personalized cancer medicine, mechanisms of drug resistance, and the phenotypic heterogeneity within cell populations that drives tumor evolution. He received a Ph.D. degree in Genetics from Yale University in 1989, conducting thesis research under the mentorship of Dr. Dan Dimaio, and from 1989-1992 was a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at M.I.T. in Dr. Robert Weinberg’s laboratory. He joined the Harvard School of Medicine faculty in 1992, and was named the Laurel Schwartz Professor of Oncology at Harvard Medical School in 2008. He was also the Director of the Center for Molecular Therapeutics, the Scientific Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and the Leader of the Cancer Cell Biology program within the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. In 2010, Dr. Settleman transitioned from academia to industry, joining Genentech as the Senior Director of Discovery Oncology, where he oversaw efforts to identify and validate targets for oncology drug discovery and to discover predictive biomarkers for new cancer therapies.
Biotech and Pharma
Evan Bai, Ph.D. - Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Hanwen (Evan) Bai, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist in Computational Genomics at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a global biotechnology company headquartered in Boston. Evan's primary goal is to ensure there is strong human biology evidence supporting the therapeutic targets Vertex pursues. In his role, he serves as the computational genomic lead on several ongoing research projects, where he conducts genomic analysis to understand disease mechanisms, identify and validate novel targets, evaluate disease models, and discover biomarkers. Prior to joining Vertex, Evan earned his PhD in Genetics at Yale in 2015, under the mentorship of Dr. Murat Gunel. For his thesis research, Evan conducted integrative genomic analysis to understand the genetic cause for benign brain tumors to become malignant. In collaboration with Gilead Sciences, he also discovered a novel therapeutic approach. Evan was the recipient of the Carolyn Slayman Prize in Genetics for an outstanding thesis.
Meghan Kerrisk Campbell, Ph.D. - Genentech
Meghan Campbell is a postdoctoral research fellow in Morgan Sheng’s laboratory in the neuroscience department at Genentech. Her research is focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms and biochemical signaling cascades that regulate synapse formation, stability, and maintenance with a specific emphasis on understanding how synapses are compromised in neurodevelopmental diseases. As an industry postdoc, Meghan has been able to develop an independent research project, present internally and externally, as well as, learn more about drug discovery and pharmaceutical development. Meghan received her PhD in molecular biochemistry and biophysics from Yale in 2014 under the direction of Tony Koleske and her BS in physics from Georgetown University.
Kristie Ota, Ph.D. ’10 – Bayer HealthCare
Email: kristie.ota@bayer.com
Kristie Ota is currently Assistant Director, Global Regulatory Strategy at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In this role, Kristie is responsible for development of regulatory strategy and direction of product development and life-cycle management. Kristie completed her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Yale (laboratory of Glenn Schafe), and subsequently completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Division of Molecular Psychiatry at Yale (laboratory of Ronald Duman), during both of which she focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disease. While working on preclinical models in the laboratory, Kristie’s interests in the broader processes of drug development led her to begin her career in regulatory affairs as a Global Regulatory Affairs intern at Bayer.
Kanak Raina, Ph.D. - Arvinas
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Kanak Raina is a Senior Research Scientist and a Biology Program Lead at Arvinas Inc., based in New Haven, CT. Established in 2013, Arvinas is pioneering the use of a small-molecule based protein degradation platform as a therapeutic modality, with the goal of beginning a Phase I trial with its first drug in 2018. Along with its flagship AR and ER degrader programs in oncology, Arvinas is building a pipeline comprising a number of intracellular targets across several disease areas, including autoimmune and CNS. Prior to joining Arvinas in 2014, Kanak received his Ph.D. at Yale, studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the unfolded protein response in the lab of Prof. Craig Crews, the Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Arvinas.
Science Communications
Barbara Cheifet, Ph.D. - Senior Editor Genome Biology
I received my Ph.D. in MCDB at Yale in 2014 in Valerie Horsley’s lab, working on skin stem cells during wound healing. While at Yale, I was on the editorial team of YJBM, which got me interested in the “behind the scenes” processes involved in manuscript publication. I chose to not to a post-doc, instead pursuing a career in academic publishing. I joined Genome Biology (part of BioMed Central at SpringerNature) as an assistant editor in 2014. I am now a Senior Editor at Genome Biology, based in NYC. Currently, I focus primarily on epigenomics, genome editing, and single-cell genomics submissions, although the journal publishes on all topics related to genomics.
Alan Dove, Ph.D. - Science journalist and co-host of This Week in Virology
Bio: After graduating from the Maryland public school system, where he earned consistently mediocre grades, Alan Dove went to Towson State University near Baltimore, began to take his studies more seriously, and graduated with a B.S. in biology and a minor in chemistry. He then pursued - and with considerably more effort obtained - a Ph.D. in microbiology from Columbia University in New York. His thesis research in the laboratory of Vincent Racaniello focused on how picornaviruses get into cells, using poliovirus as a model. In March of 1997, having taken the better part of his early adult life to discover that he was better at explaining research than doing it, Alan declared himself a science journalist. Twenty years later, other people continue believing that he is, so he hasn’t stopped yet. His writing has appeared in numerous scientific journals, trade magazines, and web publications. He blogs sporadically, podcasts regularly, tweets frequently, and films occasionally. He lives in western Massachusetts.
Jennifer Gaurino - Senior Medical Writer at BGB Group
Will Olds - Host of "The Incubator" Podcast by ProteinTech
After completing his PhD in 2015, Will joined Proteintech, an antibody manufacturer based in Chicago. As a scientific officer, he is involved in generating marketing material and plays a scientific advisory role for R&D. Additionally, his role has given him the opportunity to start several initiatives for career development for scientists. The first is a podcast called The Incubator (available on Itunes) and the second is the creation of awards for postdocs and lab managers. At Yale, he was a member of the BCC and helped organize the first Biomedical Career Fair.
Consulting
Mahala Burn - Parthenon-EY
“Mahala is the Life Sciences Practice Director at Parthenon-EY, the global strategy consulting arm of EY (Ernst & Young). In this role, she serves as the operational head of the Life Sciences leadership team and reports directly to the Global Head of Life Sciences. Her staff works with top pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic, medtech, consumer health, and data/informatics clients worldwide to provide innovative approaches to challenging issues facing senior leaders, as well as performing due diligence for major private equity funds. The practice brings to bear a strong expertise in Precision Medicine, providing clients with deep insights into novel trends at the intersection of therapeutics, diagnostics, digital, and consumer health.
Before joining Parthenon-EY, Mahala was a Senior Life Sciences Specialist at L.E.K. Consulting. There, she assisted life sciences clients in making critical strategic decisions by assessing market opportunities, performing commercial due diligence, and determining operational plans. She earned her PhD in Cell Biology with a focus on insulin signaling and egg development in the lab of Yale GSAS Dean Lynn Cooley. While at Yale she was a board member of Yale Science Diplomats, a founder of Science in the News at Yale, Funding Chair of GPSS, and a Women in Science at Yale Mentor.”
Brian Dunican - McKinsey
Brian is an Associate with Mckinsey & Company in the New Jersey office. Brian’s work is primarily in the pharmaceutical and private equity industries supporting client engagements in strategy, transactions, and operations. Brian earned his PhD in 2015 from the department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale. While a student he was a frequent attendee of the Biomedical Career Fair, a member of the Graduate Consulting Club, the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility, and the Chair of the Graduate Student Assembly.