|
Graduate Student Career Retreat Speakers’ Information Please click on the names below for more information.
Dr. Joshua Boger is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. He has been the Company’s CEO since 1992, and also served in the additional role of Chairman of the Board from 1997 until 2006. Dr. Boger served as Vertex’s Chief Scientific Officer from 1989 until 1992 and has been a Director since Vertex’s inception.
Dr. Boger holds a B.A. in chemistry and in philosophy from Wesleyan University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from Harvard University. His postdoctoral research in molecular recognition was performed in the laboratories of the Nobel-prize winning chemist, Jean-Marie Lehn in Strasbourg, France.
Prior to founding Vertex in 1989, Dr. Boger held the position of Senior Director of Basic Chemistry at Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey, where he headed both the Department of Medicinal Chemistry of Immunology & Inflammation and the Department of Biophysical Chemistry.
Jacek Majewski is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre in Montreal, Canada. He heads a lab at McGill which uses both bioinformatics and wet lab experimentation to study differences in alternative splicing and pre-mRNA processing among individuals and tissues. His general interests also lie in evolution and population genetics.
Jacek is originally from Poland but came to the United States for college where he received a B.S. in Physics from Stanford University in 1990. He then went on to obtain a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford in 1991 before coming to Wesleyan University. Jacek received his Ph.D. in Biology from Fred Cohen’s lab in 1999 and then held a Postdoctoral position studying Statistical Genetics at Rockefeller University in New York from 1999 through 2005.
Patricia (Trish) Labosky is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenessee. Her current work focuses on the role of the transcription factor Foxd3 in both pancreatic development and the specification and maintenance of Neural Crest cells.
Trish received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 where she conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Roth on avian retino-tectal development. Dr. Labosky earned her Ph.D. in Biology in 1992 from Laura Grabel’s lab at Wesleyan University where she worked on the role of homeobox transcription factors in differentiation of embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells in vitro. Trish held a Postdoctoral position in the lab of Dr. Brigid L.M. Hogan at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Cell Biology where she was instrumental in bringing embryonic stem cell (ES cell) technology to Dr. Hogan’s laboratory as well as to Vanderbilt Medical School. Following several years spent as Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked on patterning of the vertebrate embryo as well as maintenance of pluripotency in stem cells, Trish moved on to her current position at Vanderbilt. She is a member of several professional societies and has experience teaching at all levels of education ranging from high school through graduate and medical school.
James (Jim) Mulrooney is currently an Associate Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. His current research interests concern the cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions that occur during early development. Work in his lab is focused on examining the contributions of two families of adhesion molecules; the integrins and cadherins that are involved in cell shape, function, and migration. In addition to his position at CCSU, Jim has held part time teaching positions at Sacred Heart University, Wesleyan University, and Manchester Community College.
Jim received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Connecticut and then went on to obtain a master’s degree in biology from Central Connecticut State University. In 2001, Jim finished a Ph.D. in Biology at Wesleyan University where he conducted work in Laura Grabel’s lab on the role of the β1 integrin in parietal endoderm cell migration.
Mark Barreuther is currently Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT. Prior to moving to Albertus Magnus in 1999, Mark worked in the lab of Joseph Madri in the Pathology Department at the Yale University School of Medicine. There he continued his work on cell adhesion molecules, specifically, their roles in vascular biology.
Mark holds a B.S. and an M.S. degree from Southern Connecticut State University. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Wesleyan University in 1996. While at Wesleyan, Dr. Barreuther worked in Laura Grabel’s lab on the regulation of cell adhesion molecules during mammalian development.
Kristen Martins-Taylor is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut Health Center where she is working under the guidance of Dr. Marc Lalande & Dr. Ren-He Xu. Her current project investigates the molecular mechanisms required to maintain pluripotency of embryonic stems cells (ES) as well as those required to differentiate ES cells into the trophoblast lineage.
Kristen holds a B.A. in microbiology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she focused on characteristics of eukaryotic physiology. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Scott Holmes’s lab at Wesleyan University in 2007. While at Wesleyan, Kristen’s work focused on investigating the events during the cell cycle that regulate the formation of heterochromatin.
Kristen received the Barry Kiefer Prize for Graduate Research and a Peterson Fellowship at Wesleyan in 2007.
Joseph (Joe) Carpentino is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Joe’s current project is under the guidance of Dennis Steindler and Ed Scott where he is studying methods of treating damage resulting from ischemia.
Joe holds a B.S. in Biology from Central Connecticut State University where he focused on mapping a novel rat genetic mutation. After graduating with his B.S., Joe worked as a research assistant in the Department of Toxicology at Pfizer in Groton, CT. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Jan Naegele’s and Laura Grabel’s labs at Wesleyan University in 2007. While at Wesleyan, Joe’s work focused on transplantation of embryonic stem cell derived neural progenitors into a mouse model of epilepsy.
Judith (Judy) Dunn is Executive Medical Director in CNS Clinical Development at Sepracor in Massachusetts. She is currently Chairperson of the CNS Therapeutic Assessment Team where she has various responsibilities in both Clinical and Business Development and provides scientific input necessary for the research and development of therapeutic products. Prior to this position, Judy was employed as Director, Worldwide Medical, in Antipsychotics at Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals in New York as well as Senior Associate Director of CNS Development at Pfizer in New London, CT. In both positions, Judy was involved in the development and implementation of clinical drug trials. She has held Research Fellow and Research Associate positions in the areas of Immunology and Neuropharmacology at the Center for Brain Research at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, Applied BioTechnology in Cambridge, MA, and Cambridge Neuroscience Inc.
Judy has a BS in neurobiology from the University of Rochester in New York. She finished her Ph.D. in Biology from Wesleyan University in 1997 following her work in Jan Naegele’s lab on the presence of immunoglobulin molecules in the cerebral cortex of the postnatal rat brain.
Anne Schmidt is an Associate Research Fellow in CNS Discovery Biology at Pfizer Global Research and Development in Groton, CT. Anne’s career at Pfizer began as a Lab Assistant in CNS at Pfizer Central Research. Over several years, she has worked as a Scientist in the Department of Neuroscience, and has subsequently moved to CNS Discovery Biology. She has also spent a year as Life Sciences Research Assistant II in the Department of Neurology at Stanford Medical Center in California.
Anne received her B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University and then went on to finish a M.A., also at Wesleyan, in 1985. While at Wesleyan, Anne worked in David Bodznick’s lab on the electrosensory system of the little skate, Raja erinacea.
Katrina Catron grew up wanting to be the female equivalent of Jacques Cousteau and entered college planning to major in marine biology. However, a course in molecular biology taught by a smart, funny and engaging professor led her down a different path. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in Biology and a minor in English and went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Virginia. Her post-doctoral work at both the University of Virginia and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey focused on the regulation of mammalian gene expression during development. She joined the Department of Immunology and Inflammation at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 1986 as part of the early drug discovery team, where her job is to investigate cellular and molecular targets for drug intervention for such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. In her alternate life, she enjoys reading, writing poetry, singing in a choir, chasing after her 8 year old twin boys and a nice dinner out with her husband at a restaurant with no children’s menu.
Bethanie Wilkinson is currently Associate Director and Clinician at Pfizer in Groton, CT. Bethanie has greater than 16 year’s experience in Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industry. She has experience in basic scientific research, clinical research, project management and business development for medical products. Selected achievements include: managed and trained a scientific team in discovery of 9 biopharmaceutical products, successfully applied technology and designed new approaches for the development of recombinant protein products for therapeutics or vaccines to treat or prevent emerging diseases. She has prepared and presented Investigational New Drug (IND) applications to FDA and successfully completed 15 clinical trials of biopharmaceutical products. Also, she has authored 20 publications and presentations, 3 patent applications and one accepted patent.
Dr. Wilkinson has held Clinical Scientist positions at Purdue Pharma in Stamford, CT and Bristol Meyers-Squibb in Wallingford, CT as well as various research and management positions at Protein Sciences in Meriden, CT.
Bethanie holds a B.S. in Biology and Education from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in 1992 from Wesleyan University where she worked in William Firshein’s lab on the initiation and repression of DNA replication in Bacillus subtilis.
Jessa Forte Netting is currently a science editor for McGraw-Hill and Access Science. She has also written for Discover Magazine. Through her writing career she has published in many places and interned in a variety of locations including; Popular Science Magazine, New York; Scientific American Magazine, New York; National Public Radio Science Friday, New York; Monterey County Herald, Monterey, California; and Nature, Washington D.C.
Jessa holds a B.S. in Zoology from the University of California at Davis and a M.S. in Entomology from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Link to an essay entitled “Zoology in a Pizza Box” by Jessa Forte Netting: http://prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/past/1990-1991/netting.html
Adam Whelchel’s eighteen year career in the environmental arena has included employment with regulatory agencies such as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Division of the U.S. Navy, ecological restoration focused consulting firms, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations such as Point Reyes Bird Observatory.
Adam has a Bachelors degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management a master’s degree in Conservation Biology and most recently, Adam completed a Ph.D. in Wetland Science at the University of Delaware where he developed functional wetland models throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Adam has conducted extensive ecological research/restoration on some of our most important estuaries: San Francisco Bay, Delaware Bay, and Long Island Sound. Dr. Whelchel is currently the Director of Conservation Science for The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut. Adam is currently responsible for leading an effort by the Conservancy to improve the ecological management of and plan for the climate change impacts on Long Island Sound ecosystems.
Link to the Connecticut Page on The Nature Conservancy Website: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/connecticut/
As executive director at the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Jane Brawerman currently manages the district operations, planning, fundraising, and finances. She also directs the Connecticut River Watch Program, which is a nationally recognized citizen monitoring program. Jane is a recipient of two prestigious Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Protection Agency awards. She has produced numerous water quality publications and serves on her local Conservation Commission and Board of Directors of the Middlesex Land Trust.
Jane is a graduate of Tufts University and Northeastern University, where she received her master's degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Link to the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District Website: http://www.conservect.org/ctrivercoastal/
Dr. Robert E. Marra has expertise in mycology, fungal genetics, population biology, evolution, and molecular biology. His research focuses on forest pathogens from various perspectives, including population biology, ecology, and mating system evolution. Dr. Marra, in collaboration with Dr. Sharon Douglas, has been instrumental in establishing the Molecular Plant Diagnostics Laboratory, in which state-of-the-art molecular technologies, including real-time PCR, are utilized to aid in the rapid identification of plant diseases. He is also an adjunct professor of biology at Quinnipiac College.
Robert E. Marra received a B.S. in Biology and Russian from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1990. He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology and Mycology from Cornell University in 1998.
Link to Dr. Marra’s Webpage at The Connecticut Agricultural Experimentation Station: http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2812&q=394858
Ben Muskin is the president of RB Muskin Associates which is a consulting firm providing technology transfer and corporate development services for colleges/universities and emerging life science companies. Prior to establishment of RB Muskin Associates, Ben was the Vice President of Business Development and the co-founder of CGI pharmaceuticals. During this time, Ben successfully negotiated multiple collaborations and licenses with international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, along with non-profit organizations. Prior to CGI, he was the Associate Director in the Office of Cooperative Research at Yale University where he formed collaborations with commercial partners in the biopharmaceutical, diagnostic, and device industrial communities. He also can be credited with many licensing agreements and sponsorship of research grants.
Prior to joining Yale, Ben was the president of Spectrum Medical Technologies, a medical device company responsible for developing sensor technologies for use in respiratory monitors for both adults and children. At Spectrum Medical Technologies, Ben was the co-inventor of many patented technologies. Ben was also a project engineer at the Emergency Care Research Institute where he was responsible for a variety of technical evaluation and consulting services related to cardiovascular diagnostic, therapeutic, and monitoring devices along with many infant care devices such as incubators, phototherapy units, and apnea monitors. During this time, Ben performed many hospital consulting projects such as needs assessment evaluations, oversee proposal review, and direct purchase and contract negotiations, along with performing accident and forensic investigation projects. During this time, he as served as Principal Investigator of the FDA Infant Apnea Monitor Standard Development program, leading to the creation of the Standard’s criteria and test protocols, and authoring the Standard.
Stephen (Steve) Dahl is in charge of directing the Biosafety program as Biosafety Officer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is responsible for ensuring that all research projects at the University involving biological toxins, infectious agents and recombinant DNA or animal subjects are in compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations. He also carries out Biosafety training and manages the Biosafety Office.
Prior to holding his current position, Steve was Laboratory Director of the Gene Profiling Center at Johns Hopkins where he managed the facility providing microarray and bioinformatics technology to the University. Steve has also held the position of Research Scientist and Laboratory Manager in the labs of Drs. Joseph Handler and Moo Kwon at JHU.
Dr. Dahl holds a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College and received his Ph.D. in Biology from Laura Grabel’s lab at Wesleyan University in 1988. While at Wesleyan, he worked on changes in cytoskeletal arrangement and integrin phosphorylation during the differentiation of F9 teratocarcinoma cells into parietal endoderm. Steve has held Postdoctoral research positions at both Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University.
Stephen Saxe currently serves as Associate General Counsel in Intellectual Property at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc in Cheshire, CT. He has been involved in the field of Patent Law since 1991 when he worked as a Patent Examiner at the US Patent and Trademark Office. He then went on to act as Patent Agent/Attorney at the law firm of Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti, LLP in Washington, DC from 1994 through 1997 and then at the law firm of Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, LLP in Washington, DC from 1997 through 2001. Prior to his positions in Patent Law, Dr. Saxe held a Postdoctoral position at the National Institutes of Health and was an Assistant Professor at the Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, NY.
Stephen holds a BS in Chemistry from Trinity College and an MS in Biochemistry from Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Wesleyan in 1985 for his work in Lewis Lukens's laboratory. Dr. Saxe also holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center which he received in 1996.
Roopashree (Roopa) Narasimhaiah is currently Assistant Director of Development, Corporate and Foundation Relations at Yale University.
Roopa earned her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the University of Mysore, India in 1996, following which she was employed at Biocon International, Bangalore India. In her role as a Senior Research Associate, she was responsible for the successful implementation of several collaborative projects between Biocon and other international partners. Roopa then returned to Academia to earn a Ph.D. in Biology from Wesleyan University working in Jan Naegele’s lab where she worked on examining the identity and mechanism by which cells die during cortical development in the developing rodent brain. Roopa received the Barry Kiefer Prize for outstanding graduating Ph.D. student in Biology in 2005.
Upon Graduation, Roopa went to the Yale University School of Medicine as a Post Doctoral Associate in the department of Psychiatry in 2005. She worked with Dr. Marina Picciotto, a leader in the field of Addiction Research. During her tenure as a Post Doctoral Associate, she studied the molecular, biochemical and behavioral effects of morphine and cocaine in rodent models genetically altered to increase susceptibility to the effects of these drugs. After the completion of two successful years of Post-Doctoral training, she assumed responsibilities as an Assistant Director in Corporate and Foundation Relations. In her current role, she serves as a liaison between the Yale School of Medicine and several corporations and foundations. |