Lauren Celano is the Co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers, a life science search and career development firm focused on connecting talented individuals with entrepreneurial innovative life sciences companies. Lauren co-founded Propel Careers in 2009 and since then, has worked with thousands of students, postdocs, medical residents and professionals to help advance their careers. She has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Gettysburg College and an MBA with a focus in the health sector and entrepreneurship from Boston University. Lauren is on the Board of MassBioEd, the Advisory Board of the Boston University School of Public Health Pharmaceuticals Program, and the Advisory board for Endicott College Boston.

Barbara Lopez Kunz served as President and Global Chief Executive of DIA, driving thought leadership and innovation in therapeutic development to improve the health of people worldwide. She previously served as President of Health and Life Sciences at Battelle, one of the world’s largest, most respected R&D organizations. She has also served as Senior Vice President/General Manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Biosciences Division, as SVP for DuPont, and head of R&D for ICI. A dedicated volunteer for children's health, Barbara chairs the board of Children's National Research Institute, serves as advisor to the UC I4H Fellowship, and as Director for Aptevo Therapeutics.

Sudip S. Parikh, PhD, serves as Senior Vice President and Managing Director for DIA Americas. He previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Health & Consumer Solutions at Battelle, leading its Healthcare Improvement, Public Health Research, and Consumer, Industrial, and Medical Technology Development teams in R&D supported by government and commercial clients. Dr. Parikh is a board member of Research America, the Friends of Cancer Research, and the Food Innovation Center. He was a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, and was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship while earning his PhD in Macromolecular Structure and Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute

Dr. Larry Blankstein is an independent Senior Consultant to the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industry. He has over 22 years' experience in drug development strategy, clinical operations and mergers and acquisitions. He received his PhD degree in Biology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. His industry drug development experience was at Quintiles, Seragen, and Genzyme.

Dr. Catherine Burgess is Vice President and Head of the Global Regulatory Affairs CMC function at Takeda Pharmaceuticals responsible for providing strategic oversight of the manufacturing process and registration of new drugs. Catherine has more than 18 years of industry experience, both within and outside of regulatory. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences/genetics from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1994 and performed her postdoctoral work at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Prior to heading the GRA CMC function, Catherine led the Emerging Markets Regulatory Affairs group responsible for the global development and registration of Takeda products across more than 50 countries.

Maureen has over 20 years of experience in Medical Affairs, including leadership roles in Medical Information, Medical Communications, and Field Medical. Maureen has been with Takeda for 9 years. She is currently Vice President Medical and Scientific Communications at Takeda. Previously, Maureen was Head of Global Medical Communications at Shire. Maureen has served on various DIA program committees. Prior to Takeda, Maureen held various positions of increasing responsibility including, Director of Medical Information at GlaxoSmithKline and Head of Medical Services at Incyte. Maureen has 10 years of clinical practice and teaching experience at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.