San Francisco Bay Area
Clinical development professional with 20 years of translational and clinical research experience. VP and Global Head Population Science in Product Development, responsible for leading the vision and developing strategies to broaden scientifically driven representation of understudied populations in clinical research and data to advance science and promote health equity. Leadership recognized as HBA Rising Star 2022, PharmaVoice Top 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences Industry for 2020, and Life Science Voices Top Industry Leaders in 2021. Publications in translational medicine and clinical research across therapeutic areas. Numerous contributions in the field of population science published in peer reviewed medical journals and congresses. Serves on the Board of Advisors for Women of Color in Pharma, a member of Genentech’s Advancing Inclusive Research External Council, and former Product Development Site Head for San Francisco. Co-Lead/Co-founder of Genentech/Roche’s Advancing Inclusive Research Program focused on addressing disparities in clinical research. Regular invited speaker and expert panelist.
Integrated scientific and operations expertise for the translation of clinical development plans to clinical trial conduct in early phase clinical studies for multiple indications in pharma and biotherapeutics.
Contributed to Phase I and II clinical trials through active management of trial activities in all study aspects to ensure timely delivery of quality data in a variety of therapeutic areas including oncology, ulcerative colitis, and acromegaly in support of biotherapeutics.
Ensured high quality site management and proper protocol specific training for the conduct of Phase II-III clinical trials in oncology.
(02/05 –11/08) Graduate Dissertation Research Mentor: Dr. Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, M.D. Ph.D. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center/ University of Cincinnati, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Pulmonary Biology The objective of my dissertation project was to elucidate the role of the retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor in lung epithelial regeneration after injury utilizing a clinically relevant genetically engineered mouse model. (10/04 - 01/05, 1/04 - 3/04) Graduate Research Rotation Mentor: Dr. Judith Rhodes, Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine The objective of my research rotation was to determine the susceptibility of stress on Aspergillus fumigatus mutants lacking the genes for regulatory or catalytic subunits of protein kinase A. (07/04 - 09/04) Graduate Industrial Research Rotation Mentor: Dr. George Sabatakos, Ph.D. Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals The objective of my industrial research rotation was to investigate the role of osteogenic growth peptide in osteoblast differentiation utilizing murine and human cell lines. (06/03 - 08/03) Graduate Research Rotation Mentor: Dr. Melanie Cushion, Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine The objective of my research rotation was to elucidate the mechanisms underlying pulmonary clearance of Pneumocystis carinii. Specifically, I examined the role of cytokines in the setting of surfactant protein-A (SP-A) and Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TRL4) deficiency on Pneumocystis carinii clearance utilizing knock out mouse models and RT-PCR technology. (08/01 - 05/02) Undergraduate Research Assistant Mentor: Dr. Charles Baer, Ph.D. Indiana University, Dept. of Biology I participated in collecting data for a population genetics study that analyzed mutation accumulation rates and the effects of new mutations on genetic fitness in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.