KGI and Smith College Announce Speakers for Women Leadership Forum in Bioscience

CLAREMONT, Calif., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), in partnership with Smith College, today announced a lineup of more two dozen industry speakers for the "Next Generation Bioscience Leaders" forum designed to help women managers advance in the life sciences industry.

The KGI-hosted forum will be held Jan. 13-18, 2008. Registration for the event ends Dec. 10.

"KGI is proud to bring together so many senior executives in the life science industry for this first-of-its-kind forum," said Sheldon Schuster, Ph.D., KGI's president. "The women attending the Next Generation Bioscience Leaders forum will enjoy a tremendous opportunity to meet and learn with many of the women and men who are shaping the future of the life sciences."

Demand for biotechnology professionals continues to rise, with over 100,000 new jobs added in the last five years, according to the US Department of Labor. Furthermore, a recent study by KGI shows that over 80 percent of new job openings at the top biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies call for workers with skill sets in both business and science.

Offering a comprehensive perspective on the industry, the forum will include seminars, roundtable discussions and breakout sessions featuring the following speakers and topics:

Monday, Jan. 14, 2008: "What shapes the global biotechnology industry today?" Rick Winningham, CEO, Theravance, Inc. "What will drive the global biotech industry tomorrow?" Magda Marquet, Ph.D., founder, co-President & CEO, Althea Technologies, Inc. Julia Brown, Advisor to the CEO, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. "Real world lessons from bioscience leaders" Kate Farrell, Ph.D., Director, Global Clinical Supply Chain Management, Amgen, Inc. Fahti Khosrow-Shahi, Vice President, Campbell Alliance "Innovation" Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., co-Founder, President & CEO, Intellikine, Inc. Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008: "Business models and organizational change" Laurel Junk, Vice President, Supply Chain Management, Amgen, Inc. "Effective project management" Anna Crivici, Ph.D., Vice President, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "Partnering Strategies" Gail Maderis, President & CEO, FivePrime Therapeutics, Inc. "Product life cycle: lessons learned in R&D, reg affairs, commercialization" Gillian Ivers-Read, Executive Vice President, Development Operations, Pharmion Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008: "Managing human assets" Ross Grossman, Ph.D., Vice President, Human Resources, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals "Finance -- moving biotechs from startup to sustained profitability" Laura Clague, CPA, Executive Director, Corporate Controller, Amylin Pharmaceuticals "The entrepreneur's tale: scientist to C-level" Brenda Mann, Ph.D., COO, SentrX Animal Care "Pursuing biotech as a disruptive technology" Maura Donovan, Ph.D., Medtronic Bakken Fellow, Vice President, Corporate Life Sciences, Medtronic "Change" Janet Cheetham, Vice President, Clinical Operations & Outsourcing, Allergan, Inc. Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008: "Marketing strategy" Bonnie Anderson, consultant "Competitive intelligence for the life sciences" Tony Page, Managing Director, Health IQ "Lean six sigma in biotech" Robin Rene Bruce, Group Project Manager, Beckman Coulter, Inc. "Product portfolio management from a class A perspective" Tina Etcheverry, Director (retired), CMC, Genentech, Inc. "Glass ceiling lessons learned" Alice Huang, consultant Judy Heyboer, Senior Vice President (retired), Genentech, Inc. "Merit" Linda Castle, Research Coordinator, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Friday, Jan. 18, 2008: "Professional success in biotech" Tina Nova, Ph.D., CEO, President, co-Founder, Director, Genoptix, Inc. "Leadership strategies, roles and styles" Judy Heyboer, Senior Vice President (retired), Genentech, Inc. "Trends in compensation" Linda Amuso, Senior Vice President, Radford Surveys Consulting "Building and nurturing effective teams" Connie Matsui, Executive Vice President, Biogen Idec

To register for the forum, send an email to plester@smith.edu (subject line: Bioscience Leaders Registration) with your name, email address, phone number and company name.

For more information about the forum, contact Diana Bartlett, KGI's director of corporate partnerships, at Diana_Bartlett@kgi.edu or Iris Marchaj, director of Smith College Executive Education for Women, at imarchaj@smith.edu.

KGI Background

Educating the future leaders of the bioscience industry, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) offers an interdisciplinary graduate education through its Master of Bioscience (MBS) degree program and its Ph.D. program in Applied Life Sciences. Using team-based learning and real-world projects, KGI's innovative curriculum seamlessly combines applied life sciences, bioengineering, bioethics and business management. KGI also has a robust research program concentrating on the translation of basic discoveries in the life sciences into applications that can benefit society. KGI is a member of The Claremont Colleges, located in Claremont, California.

Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences is dedicated to education and research aimed at translating into practice, for the benefit of society, the power and potential of the life sciences.

Keck Graduate Institute

CONTACT: Noel Brinkerhoff, Dir. of Donor & Media Relations of Keck
Graduate Institute, 1-909-607-0135, nbrinker@kgi.edu

Web site: http://www.kgi.edu/