Speakers

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Jim received his engineering degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology and joined Schering-Plough / Merck in 2001 in the Global Engineering Department working on many large engineering projects as well as equipment validation projects. In 2009 Jim transitioned from a project engineer to a program manager taking on the role as Director of the Lab Asset Management program where he resides today.

Adam has been working in the Facilities Management field for over 15 years with a variety of experience in building operations, sustainability, and recently lab services. Adam joined UCSF in 2011 and has worked in multiple roles with Facilitates for the University. He is currently the Associate Director of Operations overseeing approximately 2 million square feet of medical research buildings.  Adam is now leading a new program for the organization called Lab Services which focuses on providing enhances services for the lab research community at UCSF.

Demet Aybar has over 15 years of laboratory experience. Prior to her current role she was the Laboratory Operations Manager, at Repertoire Immune Medicine. She provides direction and guidance to shared and private lab operations. Prior to joining Repertoire Immune Medicines, she spent close to two years as a senior associate scientist and compound manager at Ribon Therapeutics, a company dedicated to the discovery and development of first-in-class small molecule inhibitors to block the fundamental ability of cancer cells to survive under stress. Previously, she has held management positions Harvard- MIT Biomedical Engineering Center. Her role in the center included planning and coordinating laboratory quality assurance and safety programs, managing lab budgets for consumables, conducted EH&S audits; audit compliance to policies and procedures and regulatory requirements; evaluate effectiveness of EH&S program, respiratory tissue engineering and analytical assay development. Aybar’s management experience includes overall safety programs and operations of Repertoire managed facilities, equipment process development, monitoring internal day to day laboratory operation procedures and request tracking system to ensure maximum functionality, and interfaces with resident companies to ensure that they have the resources they need to meet their unique goals. She also provides strategic and project management support for opening new spaces. Currently, she is leading team for SARS-CoV-2 Biosafety Program. Aybar is chemist and received a Master of Science degree in Analytical Chemistry from The Marmara University School of Pharmacy, Istanbul, Turkey.

Adolfo Scherch is an engineer with over nine years of experience in Pharmaceutical Industry within the fields of Maintenance, Facilities, Utilities, Equipment and Computerized System Validation. He is currently working as a Utilities and Technical Services Coordinator at Novartis pharmaceutical company in Brazil. Adolfo is responsible for providing clean & black utilities. He is also responsible for other engineering areas such as Automation, Calibration and QC Lab equipment maintenance. Moreover, he has additional background in Engineering Compliance area.

Dean started his career in hospital Clinical Laboratories, working his way up from Medical Technologist to Supervisor and then Associate Manager. He then moved to the FDA regulated Rhode Island Blood Center as Supervisor of Quality Control and Development. This position involved the development and oversite of Equipment Lifecycle Management, Product Quality control, and development of new product offerings. He then moved on to become the Laboratory Equipment Manager at Imugen (a division of Oxford Immunetec) where he has developed and oversees the Equipment Lifecycle Management program and Equipment Validation. Currently he works for Quest diagnostics as a Bio Medical Engineer (BME), developing the BME group and focusing on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Dean has a M.S in Clinical Laboratory Science and an M.B.A.

With a background in physics and biophysics and 20 years of experience in the Biotech/Pharma industries, Steve brings more than 10 years of experience to the field of Asset Management. This experience is encompassed in multiple roles including equipment maintenance, vendor management, Lab Space Planning, and Business Operations.  He joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2005 and has held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career.  In his current role as Laboratory Capital Asset Management Lead with BMS, he is responsible for the lab equipment asset lifecycle processes across BMS sites in the US.  The program is responsible for all aspects of managing assets starting after the decision to acquire through end of life program management.

With a background in operations & service management, Kelly brings 20+ years of experience in developing lean operating models focused on driving a world-class customer experience & successfully improving the customer journey.  She joined BMS in 2018, after 13 years as VP of Operations & Strategy with an Ashley HomeStore licensee, the largest Furniture Retailer in the world.  In her current role at BMS, Kelly is responsible for ensuring the deliverables & driving the strategic initiatives of the Laboratory Equipment Maintenance Program.  This program has scope extending to capital benchtop equipment across the domestic enterprise & involves representing BMS to both external & internal stakeholders participating in the Multi-Vendor Service program. She is focused on delivering the next generation Asset Management Program that optimizes the asset lifecycle, delivers value to her customers & supports the scientific pipeline.

Gregg York, is the Associate Manager, Facilities Operations at Translate Bio. Gregg received his BS from Framingham State University. His professional interests include streamlining operational efficiency,  and Organizational Behavior. His passions include hockey, fishing, golf and traveling.

Annie Kang joined Cue Biopharma as Associate Director of Research Operations in October 2018. At Cue Biopharma, she manages lab operations, facilities coordination and planning, IT operations and HR operations and recruitment. Prior to managing operations for small biotech companies, she spent several years working in various biology research roles gaining hands on experience in in vitro and cell biology, immunohistochemistry and in vivo research. She applies her research experience to the way she manages, plans and designs the lab and facilities for the companies she supports. Annie earned her M.B.A at the University of Massachusetts Boston and her B.A. in Biology at Boston University.

Andy has spent over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in various IT roles. As the head of Research IT Services at Bristol-Myers Squibb he led the Laboratory Computing Services and Strategic Laboratory Asset Management functions.  His responsibilities included end-to-end asset management for lab equipment and computers, instrument service management including a multi-vendor instrument services program, and instrument utilization solutions.  He is currently the Director of IT, R&D Systems, at Arvinas, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in New Haven, CT.

Kevin has over 15 years’ experience working in both clinical and R&D laboratory settings. He has successfully transitioned from a bench scientist to lab operations, currently employed as Sr. Lab Manager at Guardian Therapeutics in Lexington, MA. His experience and knowledge enabled Guardian to successfully move the business from a shared incubator space in Cambridge to their own 7,800sq.ft. facility.  

Steve’s current title is Asset Lifecycle Manager at Pfizer. As capital asset manager his duties include inventory management and tracking, redeployment and sales of equipment, financial/physical inventory reconciliation and continuous improvement process development. Steve began working at Pfizer as Business Operations Specialist in 2000 and has worked in various roles at Pfizer including Logistics manager throughout his career.

Over 10yrs of global category procurement experience focused on facility management services, lab asset maintenance programs, utility management, and capital projects. Proven track record of implementing first generation lab asset and integrated facility management programs delivering significant improvements within service quality, focus on safety, and corporate savings. Prior roles include years of experience managing capital projects within residential real estate development.

Jennifer is the Director of Strategy and Planning in Johnson & Johnson’s Engineering and Property Services organization.  She practiced architecture for more than 15 years before transitioning to ownership roles to focus on the strategic integration of design, real estate, planning, construction, and data technology.   She is a registered architect in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania with NCARB, FItwel and Prosci certifications.

Starting at BlueRock in January 2019, Nicole brought experience in technical equipment service to the Lab Operations team in Toronto. She has taken on many challenges that come with the growth of a start-up company including equipment asset management, optimizing procurement to payment workflows, and lab expansion planning.

Marie Pisello joined Foundation Medicine as Senior Manager of Space and Workplace in May 2017. At Foundation Medicine, she manages space planning, real estate and workplace strategy for all sites. She is heavily involved with moves adds and changes, daily facilities operations, capital project planning and execution and administration of the IWMS system. Prior to her role at Foundation Medicine she worked in similar space planning and project management roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca. Marie earned her Master of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.

I have a Masters Degree from Northeastern U in Corporate Communications.  I worked from the ground up in Bio/Pharma, starting as an Administrator for PerkinElmer at Schering-Plough in Cambridge, after completing my MS I trained as an engineer. When SP was acquired by Merck I managed the redisposition of the lab assets, and became the Northeast Project Manager for Lab Relocations at PE.  After about 5 years and multiple varying projects I took on the opportunity to work for Vertex as the Lab Instrumentation Manager.  For the past 6 years I have managed an in-house team of engineers and have been focusing on global asset management as well as taking on Lab Services for HQ.  I look forward to bringing Vertex to the next level and helping standardize the lab operations as we expand.

Mark Narcy is experienced specifically in Facilities & Operations development, management. An analytical, goal-oriented professional with experience in the high-tech Biotech, Pharmaceuticals, semiconductor, and in various Government markets. Principal strengths include logistics, project and facilities management which maximize organizational, efficiencies and production. Exceptional problem solving, communications, and multi-tasking skills with expertise in:

• Regional MGMT
• National Manager
• P&Ls/Budget MGMT
• Technical Team Leader
• Networking/Tradeshows
• BDM/OPS Team Leader
• Six SIGMA & Lean MFG
• Logistics/Materials MGMT
• Project/Facilities MGMT
• ERT/Safety Team Leader
• Vendor & Supply Chain MGMT
•  cGMP/cGLP experience

Jessie’s current title is Lab Operations Lead at Pfizer.  As lab ops lead of a drug discovery research unit she is responsible for ensuring the lab operating environment is optimal for scientific productivity, reviewing and enforcing compliance, overseeing lab and capital expense budgets, and implementing a robust and transparent communication strategy.  Jessie began her career at Pfizer in 2006, spending 10 years as a bench scientist before transitioning to various business and lab operational roles.  Jessie holds a MS in Biochemistry.

Susan Belzer is a consultant providing expertise in laboratory operations, project management, development, manufacturing and marketing of clinical diagnostic products. She holds a BS in Biology from the University of Minnesota and MBA from Augsburg University. In her career she has been actively involved in translation of novel concepts from research to clinic including building successful laboratories from the ground up. Her areas of expertise include infectious disease, immunology and oncology with a technical emphasis in molecular methods. Previously Susan held positions at ViroMed Lab Corp as the Manager of Molecular Biology and R&D, Sr. Director at Exosome Diagnostics and VP of Laboratories at MD Biosciences. She has evaluated and implemented cloud-based systems for laboratory information management to improve operational efficacy, regulatory compliance and communications. Susan has experience in building the business case, converting stakeholders, evaluation, implementation and practical usage of LIMS in research, development and testing for clinical reporting.

Nick Dove is HGP’s Executive Vice President and is responsible for the management and oversight of all acquisitions & dispositions globally. Additionally, Mr. Dove has direct oversight of all other business development and revenue generating initiatives companywide.   Prior to his role as EVP, Mr. Dove served as HGP’s Director of Sales for 5 years. In this role Mr. Dove negotiated and managed large scale asset disposition projects for dozens of biotech and pharmaceutical companies worldwide including: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Astellas, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cubist, Endo/Par, Lonza, Olympus, Medivir, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Source Nutrition, StemCells & Xoma among many others.

John has more than 30 years’ experience in the facility services industry.  In his current position he oversees all business functions and is instrumental in establishing company strategy and vision.  He serves as a mentor to ensure the regional teams provides operational expertise to increase safety and operational performance and delivers services within the client’s management systems and processes. He also provides planning and overall coordination of services for national contracts. John is a member of BOMA, IFMA, CoreNet, and IREM. He is also a BOMA-certified Real Property Administrator, LEED Green Associate Candidate, and BOMA Philadelphia's Community Services committee member.

Priya has over 15 years of experience creating and implementing global product strategy in Fortune 100, mid-cap and start-ups. She has successfully built and commercialized highly technical hardware and software product solutions through direct sales & channel partners.  Priya was the VP of Product & Marketing at two IoT start-ups, Cloudleaf & AeroScout Industrial (acquired by Stanley Black & Decker).  Priya has also held multiple product and engineering leadership roles at GE Energy & Pratt & Whitney.  She has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and lives in San Francisco, CA.

Paul Watts is the Leader of CBRE’s specialist Integrated Laboratory Solutions (iLS) team in EMEA. He  has over 25 years of experience working within regulated environments, predominantly within the world of pharma and biotech. He has worked as an automation and robotics engineer in cell culture, HTS and compound storage systems before moving into supporting regulated primary manufacturing environments where he developed global engineering strategies. Over the last seven years, Paul has been responsible for developing business strategy leading the CBRE Integrated Laboratory Solutions team which serves many major Life Sciences companies across EMEA with entire lifecycle solutions; supporting their R&D laboratory and manufacturing facilities and the scientific equipment contained within, ensuring maximum uptime, regulatory compliance and increased time for science, discovery and workplace productivity.