Career Possibilities – A Joint Event: SPC and WEST

Once again, the Society of Professional Consultants is teaming up with WEST – Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology – for a joint event: a panel discussion on career possibilities. Each of our six speakers will present a different perspective on career. And since this is an SPC event, those perspectives will include pursuit of a career as a solo professional.

Each panelist will make a brief presentation to the whole group. Then we’ll break out into smaller groups so that attendees can talk further with the presenter(s) whose message seems most relevant to them. It may sound a little like speed dating. But it should be a good way for you to make valuable connections.

About Our Panelists:

Christine Bellon has over 20 years of legal, intellectual property, and management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She is currently the SVP of legal affairs and corporate secretary for Relay Therapeutics. Before joining Relay, she served as VP of legal affairs and corporate secretary at Blueprint Medicines. There she played key roles in building Blueprint’s global IP portfolio and in securing strategic partnerships in rare genetic diseases and cancer immunotherapy, as well as in Blueprint’s initial public offering. She has a BS in chemistry from Yale and a PhD in organic chemistry from MIT, as well as a JD from Columbia.

Christina De Mur has more than 25 years of experience in global medical/healthcare device design, development, and commercialization. While at Draeger Medical Systems (based in Andover) she held various roles, including VP of R&D responsible for the patient monitoring and systems portfolio (including telemetry, bedside monitoring, and central stations). She began her career in Boston as a clinical engineer in the operating room first at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and then at Tufts/New England Medical Center. She graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University and has an MS in management from Lesley College.

Andy Moysenko is owner of Advyse, a consulting firm specializing in business transition planning. Advyse offers individual and group programs to enable successful late career transitions for business owners, professionals, and executives. Andy’s management experience has ranged from semiconductor products through public safety telecommunications systems. He has worked in DoD as well as commercial markets, and startup, mid-size, and Fortune 500 companies. Andy also has an interest in helping people learn how to manage their careers, from entry into mid-career and beyond. He holds BS and MS degrees from MIT in electrical engineering (solid state physics), plus an executive certificate in management and leadership from MIT’s Sloan School.

Natalia Olive has over 17 years of international experience in safety management with a strong focus on people and processes. She holds a master’s in environmental engineering from MIT. Her engineering background comprises a professional chemical engineering degree from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, and a postgraduate degree in health and safety from the National Technological University of Argentina. Currently, Natalia is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and a Certified Safety and Health Manager (CSHM). Her work experience spans supply chain management and oil production design, but has focused primarily on safety management. She now works independently with companies seeking excellence in their safety education and programs.

Wenlin Shao is director and project leader at AstraZeneca Oncology iMED. In this role, Wenlin is responsible for leading several multidisciplinary drug development projects and advancing novel cancer therapeutics from preclinical to clinical development. Before joining AstraZeneca last year, Wenlin spent 12 years in the Oncology Drug Discovery group at Novartis as group leader and senior investigator, where she led the development of several clinical candidates and was a key contributor to the oncology portfolio and strategy. Wenlin completed her postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She obtained her BSc in biochemistry and PhD in experimental medicine from McGill University in Montreal.

Anne Thessen worked as a research oceanographer and phycologist (phycology is the study of seaweed) until 2013, when she decided to start her own data science company, The Data Detektiv. Anne has a BS in biology and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Maryland. She worked on biodiversity informatics and data sharing at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. Anne made the shift from academia to industry in 2013 and is pioneering an alternative career as an independent scientist through her company and her affiliation with the Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship. She is passionate about science, helping other academics transition into industry, and animal rescue.

About Our Moderator:

Stephen R. Balzac, PhD, is a consultant, author, and speaker. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead (www.7stepsahead.com), an organizational development firm focused on helping businesses get unstuck and turn problems into opportunities. He is the author of The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development, and Organizational Psychology for Managers, as well as numerous articles and papers. 

** Note: New location **

This meeting will be at the offices of AstraZeneca, 35 Gatehouse Drive, Waltham, MA  02451. 

(If you attended SPC events when we were meeting at the Waltham Woods Conference Center, you may recall passing AZ on the way up the hill.)