STEM Conference

Sikorsky Aircraft, a Division of Lockheed Martin
Quality Program Manager

Julianne Bowers is a Quality Program Manager with 20 years of experience, responsible for all aspects of aerospace quality across her rotorcraft program, including inspection, auditing, design review, and compliance with regulations.  She is responsible for managing the customer relationship with quality, oversight of team budget, data analysis and continuous improvement across the product and processes.  Julianne is the site Diversity and Inclusion lead and chair of the site's chapter of the Women's Impact Network.  She serves as a Trustee for the American Helicopter Museum and is active in STEM outreach.  She has authored 6 books including the first in a series on financial literacy.

Strategic Sales and Account Innovation Executive

Geny Caballero is a Global leader with strategic experience providing Innovative solutions for global leading Fortune 500 technology leader. Proven extensive background in digital transformation, Commerce, Cloud, and BIG data for pharma, oil & gas, consumer packaged goods, and Agricultural industries.  Known for client relationship development, strategic account planning, account management and pipeline development.  Recognized as subject matter expert in cloud and on premise new commercial models and for multi-faceted contract negotiations resulting in increased revenue growth. 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Senior Research Advisor

Dr. Maria Curry-Nkansah is a Senior Research Advisor at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As lead for the Circular Economy for Advanced Energy Materials, Maria is responsible for short-and long range strategic planning and implementation for projects that promote a closed loop system for increased resiliency, durability and recovery of critical materials, components and devices for decarbonized energy systems. Prior to NREL, she was a COO for Argonne National Laboratory; and Senior Researcher, Business and Market Development Manager at BP.  She holds a Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA, University of Chicago and is co-founder of an African American High School Research Program.

Bristol Myers Squibb
Director, Global Strategic Collaboration

Anthonise Louis Fields, Ph.D. serves as Director of Strategic Collaboration, Head of the COVID Taskforce, and Leader of the BOLD Marketplace pillar at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). She is responsible for accelerating BMS research through collaborations with top Academic Institutions. For 3 years, Dr. Fields convened oncology and health equity leaders to generate strategies targeting cancer disparities in vulnerable populations. Prior to BMS she served as Scientific Integration Lead at Janssen, developing analytical strategies for vaccine candidates and providing leadership to matrix teams. 

Brownfield Science & Technology, Inc.
Chief Science Officer

Tripp Fischer is the Chief Science Officer for BSTI in Cochranville, PA. He earned his BS degree in Geology from West Chester University in 1996 and his ME in Environmental Engineering from Penn State University. At BSTI, Mr. Fischer is responsible for developing, preserving, and distributing scientific knowledge throughout the company related to environmental assessment, protection, and cleanup. Mr. Fischer is also responsible for BSTI's scientific quality and participation in national and global initiatives. He is the Chair of ASTM International’s committee on Environmental Corrective Action and an advisor to the Dean of West Chester University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics.

West Chester University, Dept. of Communication and Media
Professor

Dr. Anita Foeman received her PhD from Temple University in 1982. She was one of the first in her field to publish on diversity as a positive development. For the past fifteen years, Dr. Foeman’s research has examined identity based on ancestry DNA data. She has written in publications including Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, and the journal Identity. Her work has received coverage in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NOVA and others. Her coauthored book Who Am I? Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing was released in 2021. She recently completed taping of a 12-part series for the Great Course organization entitled Identity in the Age of Ancestry DNA.

The Dow Chemical Company
Global Segment Leader

Dr. Joy Gallagher is the Global Segment Leader for Dow based in Collegeville. In her marketing role, Dr. Gallagher works closely with both commercial and technical teams at Dow to drive the road marking segment strategy, as well externally interfacing with key industry value chain players. Dr. Gallagher joined Dow’s R&D team in 2013 developing polymeric materials and formulations for coatings applications and moved into marketing in 2018. Additionally, Dr. Gallagher has held various roles globally and locally for GLAD- Dow's LGBT+& Ally employee resource group and participates in STEM Ambassadors. Dr. Gallagher has her PhD from Penn State University in inorganic chemistry; MBA and BS in chemistry from Wagner College.

National Institute of General Medical Science, National Institute of Health
Director, Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity

The Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity supports NIGMS research training, career development and diversity-building activities. Prior to coming to NIGMS, Dr. Gammie was a Senior Lecturer at Princeton University, where, in addition to teaching, mentoring and running a research laboratory, she served as an academic advisor, an Associate Member at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and the Director of Diversity Programs & Graduate Recruiting. Honors include Princeton’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Graduate Mentoring Award and the American Society for Microbiology Hinton Award for advancing the research careers of under-represented minorities.

Rohm and Hass/Dow Chemical
R&D Director, Innovation Source and Sustainable Technologies

Catherine T. “Katie” Hunt, Ph.D. was the Brenton S. Halsey Distinguished Visiting Professor in Engineering at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Dr. Hunt was drawn out of retirement by the opportunity to teach ENGR 4880, lessons learned during her nearly 30-year career in industry. As the R&D Director of Innovation Sourcing & Sustainable Technologies at Dow, she championed multimillion-dollar technology partnerships across academia, industry, national labs, and government agencies. Dr. Hunt is a past president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), an ACS and AAAS Fellow, and current chair of the NSF MPS AC (Math and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee). 

GlaxoSmith Kline
Vice President and Head of Oncology

Dr. Ramon Kemp is currently Vice President and Head, Oncology Early Development Leaders, GlaxoSmithKline, Oncology.   Dr. Kemp has direct line function responsibility for the Oncology team of Early Development Team Leads supporting the development of the early development strategy for an asset.  Dr. Kemp has had a very distinguished career in the Pharmaceutical Industry with over 24 years at Merck and Co.  He spent his first 18 years within Merck’s Research Laboratories engaged in drug development spanning from early Discovery Research to late Clinical Research with the majority of this time focused in Oncology.   Of particular interest, Dr. Kemp served as Early Development Team Leader for programs in HIV including HIV Integrase inhibitor, ISENTRESS, as well as many oncology programs including  PARP inhibitor ZEJULA (prior to out-licensing) and PD-1 inhibitor KEYTRUDA. 

University of North Florida
Associate Professor and Director for the Advancement of Women in the Natural Sciences

Dr. Amy Lane is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director for the Advancement of Women in Natural Sciences at University of North Florida (UNF). Her research focuses on discovering new druglike molecules from marine bacteria and determining the biochemical reactions that bacteria use to assemble these molecules. Her teaching and research have been recognized with awards from National Science Foundation, Dreyfus Foundation, and Research Corporation. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Indiana State University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Georgia Tech, and completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography before launching her faculty career at UNF in 2010.

Saint Joseph's University
Associate Professor of Biology

After graduating from West Chester University in 1994, Dr. Julia Lee-Soety worked as a Research Specialist before starting the PhD program in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lee-Soety remained at Penn for a post-doctoral fellowship and was hired by Saint Joseph's University to teach Immunology and Molecular Biology in 2006. Dr. Lee-Soety's research has sought to understand various molecular processes using baker's yeast as the model organism. At every stage of my training, Dr. Lee-Soety have had wonderful mentors, many still stay in touch with and support me to this day. Dr. Lee-Soety loves being able to interact with students in the classroom and in her research lab, and she passes on the wisdom of her mentors to her students.

GlaxoSmithKline
Senior Vice-President, Global Head of Experimental Medicine Unit

Anne-Marie is SVP, Global Head, Experimental Medicine Unit at GSK, responsible for translational medicine & companion diagnostics in Oncology. She also serves as Executive Board Member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition and of BloodPAC. Previously, Anne-Marie was SVP, Global Head of Precision Medicine at Novartis where she shared in the successful delivery of 10 NDA/sNDAs across the pipeline and she led the development and successful approval of companion diagnostics in support of 6 clinical. Before Novartis, Anne-Marie was VP, Biomarker Research & Diagnostic Development at Adaptimmune, a biotech company. She holds a PhD in Immunology from Hahnemann University.

National Science Foundation
Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering

Dr. Margaret Martonosi is the US National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). With an annual budget of more than $1B, the CISE directorate at NSF has the mission to uphold the Nation’s leadership in scientific discovery and engineering innovation through its support of fundamental research and education in computer and information science and engineering as well as transformative advances in research cyberinfrastructure. While at NSF, Dr. Martonosi is on leave from Princeton University where she is the Hugh Trumbull Adams '35 Professor of Computer Science. Dr. Martonosi is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Merck
Vice President, External Manufacturing Operations

Dr. McCafferty is a cross-divisional pharmaceutical industry executive with a track record of developing and executing innovative strategies that drive business growth, transform operating models, optimize productivity and enable talent. Dr. McCafferty is VP, Large Molecule External Manufacturing Operations at Merck where she is responsible for the company’s global external contract manufacturing (CMO) network to supply the growing vaccines and biologics portfolio of new pipeline and commercial products. Dr. McCafferty’s 25-year tenure includes leadership positions across analytical sciences, internal and external factory operations, quality, CMC regulatory, process analytics, commercialization and business development, as well as enterprise change programs across the pharmaceutical, consumer health, vaccines and biologicals units of Merck and GSK. Dr. McCafferty holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Colgate University and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill.  

Emergent Biosolutions
Senior Vice President, Global Quality

Dr. Oates has 30 years of biopharmaceutical experience in Quality, Manufacturing Operations and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining Emergent, she spent 25 years at Pfizer, holding multiple senior leadership roles. Dr. Oates currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Parenteral Drug Association and holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Pennsylvania State University
Assistant Professor

Dr. Denise Okafor received her B.S. in biomedical chemistry from Oral Roberts University. She earned an M.S. in chemistry and a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology. As a postdoctoral researcher at Emory University, her work focused on nuclear receptors, a family of ligand-regulated transcription factors. She used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the mechanisms underlying ligand activation in nuclear receptors. As an NIH-IRACDA postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Okafor also taught at Morehouse and Spelman colleges in Atlanta. Since January 2020, Dr. Okafor has been an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular biology at Pennsylvania State University.

Victus Capital Ventures
Chief Executive Officer

Alisia Ratliff, the CEO of Victus Capital Ventures and licensed project management professional, is a technical conference speaker, esteemed author, and ambitious entrepreneur. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Florida and possessing over fourteen years of leadership experience expanding over several industries; Alisia uses a breadth of technical knowledge to guide investors’ company start up endeavors. She effectively manages technical and executive teams cross-departmentally to success while simultaneously overseeing all cannabis business operations including but not limited to supply chain, manufacturing, laboratory operations and product formulation.

Johnson and Johnson
Senior Director Supply Chain J&J Medical Device Companies

Sharon Rozzi is a technology leader in the medical devices field. Her diversity of experiences with four multinational companies created opportunities to contribute her engineering and leadership skills to a wide array of device types including implantable cardiac defibrillators, orthopedic and surgical devices. As Senior Director of Supply Chain for J&J Medical Devices she partners with key external manufacturers to bring new products to market and ensure supply chain reliability through external collaboration operating models and digital orchestration.  Sharon is chemical engineer with a B.S. from Cornell and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon. She has an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

University of North Florida
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Women in Engineering

Dr. Schönning is a mechanical engineering professor at the University of North Florida. Her area of research is in mechanical systems analysis with a focus in biomechanical applications. She teaches courses in mechanical systems design and analysis including finite element modeling and analysis, machine design, strength of materials, CAD, integrated design and manufacture, and dynamics. She serves as the founding director for The Center for the Advancement of Women in Engineering and as the faculty advisor for Society of Women Engineers. She previously served as the Mechanical Engineering Program Coordinator and as the School of Engineering Graduate Director. 

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals
Vice President, New Products, Evaluations and Planning

Dr. Kiernan A. Seth is a biopharmaceutical executive with 20+ years of multidisciplinary leadership including marketing, medical affairs, U.S. and Global product launches, and product development tailored to markets in US, EU, and Japan. His expertise is in concept/initiation/strategy & business plan development from inception to commercialization of pharmaceutical products (large and small molecules) across multiple therapeutic areas including Oncology, Rare Diseases, Immunology, Neurology, and CV-Metabolics. During his career, he has held leadership positions of increasing responsibilities at Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eisai Pharmaceuticals and is currently well suited as the Vice President of New Products, Evaluations and Planning at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.

American Associates for the Advancement of Science
STEM Program Director

Dr. Iris R. Wagstaff is a chemist, educator, mentor, and science policy advisor. She is a STEM Program Director at AAAS where she manages a broadening participation portfolio. She was a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the DOJ where she led an agency-wide diversity and inclusion initiative.  She is a native of Goldsboro, NC with a BS and MS in Chemistry from UNC-Greensboro and NC A&T State Universities, and a PhD in Science Education NC State University. She worked as a research chemist at the Dow Chemical Company for 15 years is the Founder of Wagstaff STEM Solutions consulting firm. She has received several awards that include the Women of Color in STEM Award for Education. 

The Franklin Institute
Senior Vice President, Science and Education

Dr. Williams leads all aspects of science and education programming at the heart of the Institute's efforts to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology. He joined the Institute from Tufts University's School of Engineering where he was Dean of Undergraduate Education and Director of Tufts Center for STEM Diversity. Prior to Tufts, Dr. Williams spent four years with the National Science Foundation as a rotating program director and managed a range of federal education and workforce development programs. He earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Hampton University, and M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Independent Consultant
 
Dr. Clarence Young has held leadership positions in large and small pharmaceutical companies including: Velicept Therapeutics, Iroko Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Protez Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline as Global Head of Anti-Infectives Clinical Development.  Dr. Young was a member of the White House Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance under President Obama. He completed post-graduate training in Internal Medicine at The Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and in Infectious Diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Medical School.