business briefs on Barbara, Rogers-Scharneck Reilly Cavanaugh, Chad Donahue, June Hudnall and Richard Lebreux
37 min readMassachusetts Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) recently announced that Barbara Rogers-Scharneck from Ward Hill has been re-appointed by American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall to its Promotion and Education (P&E) committee.
This national committee is focused on bridging the gap between farmers and consumers by providing tools and resources to other Farm Bureau members who are eager to help share agriculture’s story.
Her responsibilities and roles in the committee will continue to include surfacing, prioritizing and developing ideas for agricultural promotion and education; providing effective, practical tools for implementing grassroots projects; and increasing opportunities for training volunteers to be effective agricultural advocates.
Rogers-Scharneck is a fourth-generation farmer in eastern Massachusetts. On the farm, Rogers-Scharneck and her family raise replacement heifers and grow feed hay, silage, corn, strawberries, pumpkins, apples, butternut squash and carrots. They also have a You-Pick operation and offer school tours. The farm also includes a full-service garden center, where the family grows their own annuals and perennials.
She has been involved in Essex County Farm Bureau board of directors, the statewide P&E committee and recently was appointed to MFBF’s board of directors as her county representative. She also is involved in the Topsfield Fair and Soroptimist International. Rogers-Scharneck also actively volunteers in her children’s school events and fundraisers.
She holds associate’s and bachelor’s degrees and has completed several half-marathons.
She will be re-appointed in March 2021 during the AFBF’s FUSION conference. She will serve for another two-years until 2023.
The Massachusetts Farm Bureau is based in Marlborough.
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At The Village Bank’s annual meeting, Joseph De Vito, the bank’s president and CEO, announced the promotion of employees to officer positions.
Reilly Cavanaugh, who has been with the bank since May 2019 as branch manager of the bank’s Newton Centre office, has been promoted to assistant treasurer. Prior to joining the bank, Cavanaugh held the position of assistant branch manager at Belmont Savings Bank in Newton. He is an advisory council member of the John M. Barry Boys and Girls Club of Newton and is active with the Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce. He holds a degree from the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst.
Chad Donahue has been promoted to assistant treasurer. Donahue joined The Village Bank in August 2014, as a BSA/AML analyst. In addition to this promotion, he will begin a new role as senior risk analyst and security officer. Prior to joining the bank, he held the position of AML analyst-financial intelligence unit at both Citizens Bank and Sovereign Bank. He holds a degree in criminal justice from Westfield State University.
June Hudnall, who joined The Village Bank in June 2016 as a mortgage lending specialist, has been promoted to assistant treasurer. Prior to joining the Bank, Hudnall held the positions of financial services representative and assistant branch manager at TD Bank. She holds a degree in fashion design and retailing from Framingham State University, where she has also held the position of instructor of apparel design.
Richard Lebreux has been promoted to assistant treasurer. Lebreux joined The Village Bank in July 2008, as a teller in Nonantum. He was promoted four times within the organization working in retail, operations and lending. In July 2018, he was promoted to credit operations manager. He holds a degree in political science from Nipissing University in Ontario, Canada, and a degree in history from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.
The Village Bank has eight full-service offices in Newton and Wayland and a Village Loan Center in Newton Upper Falls.
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The West Suburban YMCA in Newton recently appointed three newly elected members to its Board of Directors: Annie Greene, Eric Boecher and Gloria Gavris.
Greene, a Newton native, joins the Board of Directors after 10 years of involvement at the Y’s residential camp, Camp Frank A. Day. She attended Frank A. Day as a camper and then spent four years as a counselor. In 2018, she spoke about her camp experience at the Y’s “A Night Under the Stars” fundraising gala. She is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and is currently working as a nanny while attending nursing school. She is the daughter of the late Frederick Greene, who served on the Y’s Board of Directors and is remembered as a tireless community advocate.
Boecher, a Wellesley resident and CFO for The Village Bank, brings a wealth of experience to the board, with expertise in financial management and technology. The Village Bank continues to lead by example by encouraging their team members to be active in the community. As a parent to three active children, he also offers valuable perspective in the areas of youth sports, summer camp, and other recreational activities. In his youth, he was a “Y kid” and recognizes the power of nurturing the potential of every child.
Gavris, a Newton resident, returns as a voting member of the Y’s board, after serving as ex-officio for 2019-2020. A lawyer and former lobbyist, she stands out as a passionate community leader and active volunteer, according to the Y. She first joined the West Suburban YMCA Board of Directors in 2010 in various leadership roles and most recently served as the Y’s Board Chair from 2017-2019. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Newton Community Pride and as a City of Newton Parks & Recreation commissioner. Her long track record of community involvement includes serving on the leadership team for the Newton Covid-19 Care Fund, past chair of the Community Design for Arts & Culture Committee, former City of Newton licensing commissioner, past president of the Chestnut Hill Association, past resident of the Board of Directors of the Make A Wish Foundation and chair of the first Newton Festival of the Arts. In her spare time, Gloria authored and published the children’s civics book ”E is For Election Day.”
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Mirick O’Connell recently announced that 28 attorneys have been named to the 2020 Massachusetts Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list as recognized by Boston magazine and Law & Politics.
Super Lawyers uses a patented, multi-phase selection process, combining peer nominations and evaluations with independent research. Candidates are evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, and selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.
The following partners are included in the 2020 Super Lawyers listing: Nicholas Anastasopoulos, Joseph H. Baldiga, Edward C. Bassett Jr., Paul W. Carey, Thomas J. Conte, Tracy A. Craig, Patricia L. Davidson, Christine E. Devine, James C. Donnelly Jr., David L. Fine, Matthew R. Fisher, Fern L. Frolin, Robert B. Gibbons, Elizabeth Greene, Joseph M. Hamilton, Robert L. Kilroy, John O. Mirick, D. M. Moschos, Lisa M. Neeley, Kimberly A. Rozak, Jonathan R. Sigel, David E. Surprenant, Richard C. Van Nostrand and Joan O. Vorster.
The following associates are included in the 2020 Massachusetts Rising Stars listing: Amanda M. Baer, Emily L. Crim, Spencer B. Holland and Grace C. Roessler.
Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area.
The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country.
Mirick O’Connell is a full-service law firm with offices in Worcester, Westborough and Boston.
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The Clean Air Group LLC, commonly known as CR Clean Air, has selected Diego Tebaldi of Newton to fill the role of general manager.
Tebaldi joins CR Clean Air at a time when the company continues to grow fast and expand its market globally; his role will include overseeing the day-to-day operations of the firm, including recruiting additional talent, expanding the technical capabilities and client management and acquisition.
Prior to joining the CR Clean Air team, Tebaldi was at CECO Environmental, a publicly listed pollution control company, where he ran the HEE-Duall business, which included industrial air scrubbers and fans; as well as the Adwest business which included regenerative thermal oxidizers/RTOs. He has also been in leadership roles with firms in renewable energy and high-tech. In addition to work in Boston, he has also been with firms in Geneva, Paris and London.
Tebaldi earned his bachelor’s degree from Buckingham University in the United Kingdom and is fluent in four languages: English, Italian, French and Spanish. He is a native of Italy,
CR Clean Air is a 60-year global provider of engineered solutions for air pollution control and environmental process compliance.
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AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Scott Myers as AMAG’s president and CEO, and member of the board.
Myers succeeds William Heiden, who is stepping down from such roles in light of Myers’ appointment.
Myers brings nearly three decades of global pharmaceutical and medical technology experience to AMAG. He most recently served as chairman and CEO of Rainier Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on metastatic bladder cancer.
Prior to joining Rainier, Myers served as CEO, president and director of Cascadian Therapeutics Inc. He also served as CEO of Aerocrine AB, a medical device company, from 2011 to 2015.
Myers is currently an independent director of Selecta Biosciences where he serves as chairman of the Compensation and Benefits Committee, as well as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee. He also serves as an independent director for Harpoon Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company where he serves on the Audit Committee.
Myers began his career in management consulting and then moved into the pharmaceutical industry through senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, DOV Pharmaceuticals and UCB.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Board of Directors of AMAG approved an inducement award to Myers of an option to purchase 1,000,000 shares of common stock. The option will have an exercise price equal to the closing price of AMAG’s common stock on the grant date and will be exercisable in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of April 28,2020 (the grant date). The option will have a ten-year term and be subject to the terms and conditions of the stock option agreement pursuant to which the option will be granted. This equity award will be granted without stockholder approval as inducements material to the employee entering into employment with AMAG in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
Based in Waltham, AMAG is a pharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative products to patients with unmet medical needs.
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ERA Key Realty Services of Northbridge recently announced that Renata Ferrarez of Milford has joined ERA Key as a Realtor in the Milford office.
Ferrarez received her real estate training through the Lee Institute for Real Estate in Brookline.
She was previously a certified nurse assistant at Blaire House of Milford. She was trained through the American Red Cross and became certified after completing a program at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.
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Brookline Bank has promoted Leslie Joannides-Burgos to executive vice president, division executive of the bank’s Retail & Business Banking Division.
Previously she was a senior vice president. In her role as executive president, Joannides-Burgos oversees a team of 220 colleagues across the bank’s retail banking delivery channel. Under her management are the bank’s branch network, its customer service center, as well as all business banking officers, financial advisers and mortgage originators.
Joannides-Burgos has more than 30 years of progressive banking management experience in the areas of sales, service, operations, colleague engagement and development. Her career includes positions where she managed multiple teams and direct reports, grew deposits, generated consumer and business loans and developed and maintained client relationships.
Joannides-Burgos has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Central Florida and completed the Graduate School of Banking program at ABA Stonier in Philadelphia. She is a board member of Operation Able, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide employment and training opportunities to job seekers from economically, racially and occupationally diverse backgrounds.
She resides in Franklin.
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ERA Key Realty Services of Northbridge recently announced that Michael J. O’Brien, a veteran sports broadcaster and communications professional, has joined ERA Key as a Realtor in the Framingham office.
O’Brien, who has over 15 years of broadcast experience, has provided play-by-play for numerous colleges and universities throughout New England, including Bentley University in Waltham, Boston University, Merrimack College and Yale University. Prior to his return to Massachusetts, he was the radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Pennsylvania as well as the team’s director of Team Services and Media Relations.
He also served in the same roles for the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League and their ECHL-affiliate, the Trenton Devils in New jersey. He began his career as executive assistant at the National Hockey League in New York City.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College. He currently serves as vice president of the Boston Chapter of Young Professionals of the American Cancer Society.
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Virtusa Corp., a Southborough-based global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering, and IT services and solutions that help clients change and disrupt markets through innovation engineering, recently announced Ashish Devalekar has joined Virtusa as the managing director for Europe and the Middle East.
Devalekar recently served as head of financial services at Capgemini, UK and member of UK Country Board. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at Polaris, HCL and IBM Global Services. Over the past 20 years, he has helped organizations grow, innovate and transform by building diverse business and digital technology teams paired with his deep knowledge in the financial services and European marketplace, including managing Capgemini’s largest financial services client, according to Virtusa.
In his role at Virtusa, Devalekar will oversee a high-performing team across Europe and the Middle East that delivers business transformation, digital innovation, consulting, and IT services to strategic clients across banking, insurance, telecommunications, health care and life sciences, the company added in a press release.
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Milford Regional Physician Group (MRPG) recently welcomed Dr. Geoffrey Stoker to its new orthopedics practice.
Stoker, a Massachusetts native, comes to MRPG from New England Baptist Hospital, where he completed a fellowship in hip and knee replacement. After completing his undergraduate studies at Boston College, he earned his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completed his orthopedic residency at Tufts Medical Center, where he received the Henry Banks Outstanding Orthopedic Resident Award.
Stoker’s practice focuses on partial and total knee and hip replacement, including revision procedures. He evaluates and treats patients with a variety of hip and knee problems, such as arthritis, avascular necrosis, and other joint conditions. He has a special interest in preoperative optimization for medically complicated patients and enhanced recovery after surgery, including same-day, outpatient joint replacement.
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North Easton Savings Bank has appointed Paul R. Little of Shrewsbury senior vice president, chief credit officer.
In this role, Little oversees commercial credit and collection policies, procedures and processes to measure and manage inherent risks in the Bank’s loan portfolio.
Little joins North Easton Savings Bank with 37 years of experience in the banking and commercial real estate industries, most recently as senior vice president, chief credit officer with the Savings Institute Bank & Trust Company/Berkshire Bank in Willimantic, Connecticut.
Little earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from New England College and is a graduate of the American Community Bankers Senior Leadership Institute. He is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Society of Real Estate Appraisers.
North Easton Savings Bank has 18 eighteen local branches and over $1.1 billion in assets.
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Reliant Medical Group, the locally based multi-specialty medical group, recently announce that Dr. Alexander Connaughton has joined the organization’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery.
Connaughton grew up in Wayland. He received his medical degree at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. He then completed his residency at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He also completed a fellowship at The University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine And Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, New York, where he worked on the medical staff for the Buffalo Bills.
Connaughton is welcoming new patients at the Worcester Medical Center office at 123 Summer St. in Worcester as well as at 101 Cedar St. in Milford and 24 Newton St. in Southborough.
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Affinia Therapeutics, a Waltham-based gene therapy company with a platform for rationally designed adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and gene therapies, has appointed Dr. Elliott Sigal to the company’s Board of Directors.
Sigal has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and is the former chief scientific officer and president of R&D for Bristol Myers Squibb.
Sigal is a former member of the Board of Directors of Spark Therapeutics. During his tenure from 2014 to 2019, the company’s lead product, LUXTURNA, was approved as the first AAV gene therapy in the United States. The company was acquired by Roche in 2019.
Prior to Spark Therapeutics, Sigal was an executive vice president and director of Bristol Myers Squibb. While at BMS, he led the team that established BMS at the forefront of immuno-oncology which is revolutionizing the treatment of cancer and brought 14 new medicines to market for patients with devastating diseases in areas including oncology, hematology, cardiovascular disease, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis and neuropsychiatry. Sigal was instrumental in increasing R&D productivity and developing the company’s strategy in biologics. In 2012, he was named the best R&D chief in the pharmaceutical industry by Scrip Intelligence.
Sigal received his medical degree from the University of Chicago in 1981 and trained in internal medicine and pulmonary medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He also holds a bachelor of science, master of science and Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Purdue University. He currently serves as a senior adviser to the health care team of New Enterprise Associates and consults for select biotechnology companies including Amgen. He is co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Amgen and is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Sean Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the biotechnology companies Adaptimmune and Surface Oncology.
Sigal joined BMS in 1997 and held roles in both discovery and development before ascending to chief scientific officer and president of R&D. Positions prior to BMS included a faculty appointment at UCSF, senior executive roles at Syntex/Roche and CEO of the genomics firm, Mercator Genetics.
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Paytronix Systems Inc., a Newton-based developer of digital guest experience platforms, recently announced that Amy Porter, founder and executive chairman of Affinipay, a payments technology platform, has been appointed to the its Board of Directors.
Porter joins the board as Paytronix rolls out innovations in loyalty, order and delivery and stored value, aimed at helping the nation’s restaurant and convenience store brands find the additional value hidden within their own customer relationships.
Porter founded Affinipay in 2005 to build the preeminent payments technology company serving professional services businesses, according to Paytronix. As CEO, she spearheaded the Affinipay’s development of market-leading tools such as LawPay and CPACharge, which today are trusted to process over $6 billion annually on behalf of 150,000 professionals.
After bootstrapping Affinipay for its first 10 years, Porter chose Great Hill Partners as her first investment partner in 2015. By executing on Porter’s category-defining vision and prioritizing customer service, superior product and transaction security, Affinipay’s annual revenue grew by more than four times over the course of Great Hill Partners’ investment period, Paytronix added.
Affinipay is consistently ranked among the fastest growing companies in America by organizations, including Austin Business Journal and the Inc. 5000 list. Porter received the 2016 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the Financial Technology category for the Central Texas region. In 2019, she transitioned to become executive chairman of Affinipay. TA Associates acquired a majority of Affinipay in February 2020 with Great Hill exiting its investment.
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AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced that Edward (Ted) Myles, chief financial and chief operating officer, is leaving the company.
Brian Piekos, senior vice president of finance, has been appointed interim chief financial officer and will become a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. Anthony (Tony) Casciano has been appointed chief operating officer and will add significant operational responsibilities to his role in addition to leading commercial operations.
Piekos joined AMAG in 2015 and has held a number of senior management positions with the company. In his most recent role as senior vice president of finance, Piekos has provided oversight of AMAG’s financial planning and reporting, tax, treasury and strategic sourcing processes. He has more than 20 years of corporate finance experience, including strategic planning, financial reporting and capital market activities. Prior to AMAG, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Piekos began his career in investment banking having served as vice president at Leerink Partners and as an analyst at Needham & Company.
Casciano brings more than 20 years of commercial experience within the pharmaceutical industry. He joined AMAG in September 2016 and has since held positions of increasing responsibility with the company. In his role as chief operating officer, he will continue overseeing commercial activities, as well as technical operations, global supply chain and information technology for the company. Prior to AMAG, Casciano spent 16 years career at Sanofi, where he held multiple commercial leadership roles across a range of departments and therapeutic areas.
AMAG is a Waltham-based pharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative products to patients with unmet medical needs.
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Repligen Corp. has appointed healthcare industry executive Carrie Eglinton Manner to its Board of Directors.
Eglinton Manner brings to the director role more than 23 years of leadership experience across multiple disciplines. She currently serves as senior vice president of advanced diagnostics at Quest Diagnostics, a provider of diagnostic information services, which she joined in 2017. Prior to Quest, Eglinton Manner held various roles of increasing scope and responsibility over a period of 20 years at GE Healthcare. From 2009 through 2016, she served as president and CEO of four distinct GE Healthcare global businesses in the areas of diagnostic imaging, lab services and medical devices, ranging in size from approximately $150 million to $3 billion in revenue.
In her role at Quest Diagnostics, Eglinton Manner is responsible for growing the company’s nearly $2 billion genetic and molecular diagnostics portfolio. Under her leadership, the advanced diagnostics portfolio has grown revenue and margin through innovation in specialty genetic offerings and services, productivity programs, key strategic alliances, and acquisitions. At GE Healthcare, Eglinton Manner also led improvements in financial performance and expanded the industry presence as president and CEO of Maternal Infant Care, Clarient Diagnostic Services Inc., Surgery, and Detection & Guidance Solutions.
In addition to joining the Repligen board, Eglinton Manner serves as board director for the not-for-profit Thrive Networks, where she retains a personal and professional commitment to advancing women and transforming health in underserved communities with reliable sanitation, water, and education. She holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
Repligen is a global life sciences company that develops and commercializes bioprocessing technologies and systems designed to increase efficiencies in the process of manufacturing biological drugs. We are inspiring advances in bioprocessing for the customers we serve; primarily biopharmaceutical drug developers and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) worldwide.
With its corporate headquarters in Waltham, the company has additional administrative and manufacturing operations in Marlborough, Bridgewater, New Jersey,; Rancho Dominguez, California; Lund, Sweden; Breda, The Netherlands and Ravensburg, Germany.
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Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Metrowest, a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides vital social, health and community services to alleviate suffering, enhance lives and support people in need, installed five new board members with three-year terms at the 2020 JFS Annual Meeting.
They are Stephanie Elkind of Newton, Elana Margolis of Sharon, Neil Ross of Wayland, Andrew Troop of Sudbury and Marissa Wainwright of Waltham.
The meeting also featured the installation of officers and and the re-installation of board members with new terms.
The following officers were installed for two-year terms: New President Josef Volman of Newton, Vice-President Sari Rapkin of Needham, Treasurer John Herrera of Westport, Connecticut, New Vice-President Ian Rubin of Wayland, New Vice-President Jeffrey Swartz of Weston and New Secretary Ashley DePaolo of Ashland.
The following board members were reinstalled with the following terms: Chase Carpenter of Cambridge, term expiring 2023; Ari Freisinger of San Francisco, California, term expiring 2023; and Deborah Merkin of Wellesley, term expiring 2021.
In addition, attendees shared their appreciation for departing board members Chester Black of Wayland, Kevin Foley of Framingham, Penny Glassman, of Ashland, Robin Welch of Framingham and Michelle Wilen of Ashland. The meeting also provided an opportunity for the board to express its special thanks to departing president, David Milowe of Canton.
JFS is based in Framingham.
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The Bar Method Wellesley barre studio has announced three new owners, two of them with long-established connections to Wellesley.
Under the legal name Studio Be-Wellesley, Courtney Sawicki, Neely Dodge and Rachel Stoff now own and operate the six-year-old fitness studio offering a variety of full-body exercise classes to clients of all levels. Dodge, Sawicki and Stoff are certified Bar Method instructors who have been employed at the Wellesley location and actively engaged with the clientele and staff in a variety of ways for multiple years.
Sawicki is one of the original instructors of The Bar Method Wellesley studio when it opened in 2014. She had discovered The Bar Method (TBM) in San Francisco in 2008 and loved its focus on small, targeted movements, safety and focus on form. Sawicki has been a French teacher for more than two decades. She grew up in Wellesley, where she and her husband reside with their two sons.
Hailing from South Carolina by way of New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey, Dodge began her love of TBM in Summit, New Jersey, where she was a client for more than a decade. TBM was the exercise that she was cleared to participate in after her third child was born. She became a Wellesley client in 2013 and an instructor since 2015. She has an IT and corporate background. Dodge has handled the retail management for the studio since 2018. She and her barre-practicing husband are active parents residing in Newton.
Growing up in Wellesley, Stoff was a dedicated ice skater and gymnast through high school. She introduced aerobics classes to her college campus, became trained in American Ninjutsu, taught kickboxing, spinning and mat Pilates on the side of demanding full-time careers in music and marketing over two decades in Los Angeles. She was a client of TBM West Hollywood, California. Shortly after relocating to her home state, she gravitated to the Wellesley studio (and reunited with childhood friend Sawicki). There, she immersed herself as a client, marketing consultant and instructor.
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The Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) has elected new officers and members to its board of directors, including Patrick J. Murray, president and CEO of Bristol County Savings Bank in Taunton, as board chair.
The new officers and at-large MBA board positions include Mark R. O’Connell, president and CEO of Avidia Bank in Hudson, as treasurer. The remainder of the Massachusetts Bankers Association Board of Directors includes Michael G. McAuliffe, president and CEO of Middlesex Savings Bank in Natick (re-appointment)
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The Blackstone Valley Education Hub (BV Ed Hub) in Whitinsville has named Karen Ares executive administrator.
Ares will be responsible for day to day administrative operations and social media management of the school of advanced manufacturing.
Ares is a former high school science teacher who is passionate about STEM education. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a master of science degree in occupational and environmental health and safety from Anna Maria College in Paxton.
Most recently, she was the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning and STEAM director for the Dudley Charlton Regional School District. During her time there, she acquired more than $600,000 in grant funding for various programs, most notably the Project Lead the Way STEM pathway for grades 6-12 in engineering and biomedical science. She also led the charge for Shepherd Hill Regional High School to become one of 11 high schools in Massachusetts to acquire Innovation Pathway designation in 2019.
She resides in Northborough.
The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce (BVCC) developed the BV Ed Hub as a partnership between local secondary and post-secondary education providers and manufacturers to create sustainable work-based learning and vocational training in advanced manufacturing to meet work place demands.
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Advantage Truck Group vice president of fleet sales Steve Gustafson has been named by Freightliner Trucks as a Leland James Elite award recipient as one of the top 32 sales professionals in North America for 2019 recognized for sales excellence, customer service and industry leadership.
Gustafson, who has worked at Advantage Truck Group’s Shrewsbury location for more than 20 years, has earned this distinction 14 times since Freightliner first presented its sales achievement award in 2004.
Established in 2003 and named in honor of Freightliner Trucks’ founder, the Leland James Elite Sales Achievement program recognizes and rewards outstanding sales representatives and managers in the Freightliner dealer network throughout the United States and Canada.
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Ryan Gagne, owner of Venture X, a boutique, hotel-style co-working and flexible office space in Marlborough, was recently honored by the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce as its 2020 “Business Person of the Year.”
The annual award is presented to an individual who has made an impact in the region’s business community and recognizes him/her for giving back through leadership by example.
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Danforth Advisors LLC, a life science industry’s resource for operational accounting, finance support and strategic CFO advisory, has appointed Dr. Stephen J. Hoffman to its board of directors and to a senior advisory role for the firm’s clients.
An accomplished life science entrepreneur, executive and investor, he brings three decades of knowledge and influential relationships to his position as a strategic thought partner to scientific founders and CEOs navigating all stages of corporate evolution, according to Danforth. His initial focus will be assistance with fundraising for earlier stage companies.
Hoffman’s expertise lies in building life science companies and leading entrepreneurial teams to create shareholder value. He helped found two public companies, Somatogen Inc. and Allos Therapeutics Inc. – where he spent nearly nine years as CEO and another ten as chairman until the company’s acquisition by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
He has served on the boards of 18 life science companies, both public and private, with four posts as chairman and extensive committee experience. On the venture capital side, he has over 15 years of experience leading private equity investments totaling more than $140 million. As managing director at Skyline Ventures and general partner at TVM Capital, he played a major role in portfolio company development, guiding corporate strategy and business development, private and public financings, and clinical and regulatory strategies. He was twice named among the Top Advisors in US Healthcare/Venture Capital by Day & Associates.
He holds an M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University. He completed a fellowship in clinical oncology and a residency and fellowship in dermatology at the University of Colorado.
Danforth Advisors in based in Waltham.
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John A. LeBlanc, of Milford, staff vice president and senior engineering technical specialist at FM Global, a Johnston, Rhode Island-based commercial property insurer, has received the 2020 Special Achievement Award from the National Fire Protection Association. The award acknowledges LeBlanc for his many years of service to the organization in contributing to the development of national fire codes and standards designed to protect commercial and industrial properties.
LeBlanc, a world recognized fire protection expert, has worked for FM Global for 35 years in a wide variety of loss-prevention engineering and consulting roles. He serves on ten NFPA technical committees related to explosion protection systems, aerosol products and flammable liquids, to name a few.
LeBlanc is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and a master’s degree in fire protection engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Eloxx Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics to treat cystic fibrosis and other diseases caused by nonsense mutations limiting production of functional proteins, recently announced that Professor Eitan Kerem, M.D. has joined the company as a senior consultant.
Kerem will continue to advise on Eloxx’s cystic fibrosis program focusing on strategic leadership, cystic fibrosis medical safety review, and medical communications, as well as liaising with patient advocacy groups and regulatory authorities.
Kerem joined Eloxx on Sept. 1 upon his retirement from Hadassah Medical Center where he most recently served as head of pediatrics and professor of pediatrics at Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School. He was a board member of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society where he contributed to the development of the European Cystic Fibrosis Registry and was the president of CIPP, the annual International Congress on Pediatric Pulmonology. Kerem was previously a member of the editorial boards of the leading journals in the field of pulmonology, “Pediatric Pulmonology,” “Chest” and the “American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.”
Kerem has been intimately involved with ELX-02 and the Eloxx team since 2015, originally working with Professor Timor Baasov at the Technion Institute to optimize ELX-02 in the early stages of its development. He is a globally renowned cystic fibrosis Key Opinion Leader and has helped guide Eloxx through the development of the company’s clinical trial program. He serves on the company’s Cystic Fibrosis Medical Advisory Board, has been the Global Lead Investigator for our Phase 2 cystic fibrosis clinical trial program and had served as chairman of the Safety Review Committee.
Eloxx is based in Waltham.
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Radius Health Inc. recently announced that Jose (Pepe) Carmona will be stepping down as its chief financial officer.
Dan Dolan, who has served as head of Financial Planning and Analysis since he joined the company in 2017, will become the principal financial and accounting officer. Dolan was instrumental in the launch of TYMLOS and works closely with all of the business functions within the company. In this role, he will report directly to Radius CEO Kelly Martin.
Jim Chopas, currently the company’s controller, will continue in that role with oversight of all finance functions including accounting, audit, tax, and treasury. Chopas has been with Radius since 2018 and will also report directly to Martin.
Based in Waltham, Radius is a science-driven fully integrated biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative endocrine therapeutics.
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Matthew Maher recently joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty as assistant marketing director.
The announcement was made by Ellen Rao, broker/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty.
Maher will be responsible for providing impactful marketing assistance and support to the brokerage and agents. Prior to joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty, he was marketing director for ERA Cape Cod Real Estate for 5 years.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty is a full-service real estate company specializing in residential sales since 1963. The company has offices in Medway and Medfield.
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Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty recently announced that Laurie Henighan has completed the real estate industry’s most comprehensive new home sales course to earn her national certification as a Certified New Home Specialist.
With this certification, Henighan joins a group dedicated to providing the highest level of professionalism and service to builders and new home buyers.
Neighan is active in real estate sales and is licensed in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She also holds the Residential Construction Certified designation.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty is a full-service real estate company specializing in residential sales since 1963. The company has offices in Medway and Medfield.
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Mirick O’Connell recently announced that Brian R. Falk of Milford has been admitted to the partnership.
Falk is a member of the firm’s Public and Municipal Law Group and the Real Estate and Environmental Law Group. He also leads Mirick O’Connell’s Cannabis Industry Group.
Falk counsels towns, cities and districts in all areas of municipal law, including zoning, real estate, town meeting procedure, elections, procurement, open meetings, ethics and general governance. He also represents private clients in local land use permitting matters. He regularly appears before municipal boards seeking special permits, variances, licenses, zoning amendments and other approvals for large projects and challenging sites.
Falk shares in the firm’s commitment to the community and is currently serving on the board of the Milford Area Chamber of Commerce. He is an active member of the Worcester County Bar Association and serves on its Government Relations Committee. In addition, Falk has been named a Massachusetts “Rising Star” by Boston magazine and Law & Politics.
Mirick O’Connell is a full-service business law firm with offices in Worcester, Westborough and Boston.
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Kristen Berger of Marlborough recently received the 2020 Dexter Brackett Memorial Award from the New England Water Works Association (NEWWA), the region’s largest and oldest not-for-profit organization of water works professionals.
The Dexter Brackett Award was established in 1916 in honor of an early prominent member of NEWWA. The award is presented annually to the member of the association who authored the most meritorious paper published in the Journal of the New England Water Works Association during the previous year.
Berger received this award for her paper “Dynamic Hydraulic Modelling for Water Systems,” which was published in the Journal of the New England Water Works Association Vol. CXXXIII, No. 1, March 2019. She has previously authored several other papers for the Journal.
Berger is a civil engineer with approximately 20 years of experience specializing in municipal infrastructure with a focus on drinking water supply, treatment and distribution. She founded Resilient Civil Engineering P.C. in 2019 with the goal to provide responsive, authentic, customized service with a focus on client satisfaction.
Berger is a current member of the NEWWA Program Committee. She is also a member of the American Water Works Association, the Massachusetts Water Works Association, and the Barnstable County Water Utilities Association. She is a past recipient of the NEWWA Past Presidents Award for the second most meritorious authored paper that appeared in the Journal of the New England Water Works Association, a past recipient of the NEWWA Younger Member of the Year Award and a previous winner of the Fresh Ideas Competition for the Connecticut Section of the American Water Works Association.
She holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and a master of science degree in environmental engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The New England Water Works Association is based in Holliston.
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Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc., a late-stage, biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing first-in-class, oral enzyme therapeutics to treat patients with rare and severe metabolic and kidney disorders, has appointed Dr. Ann Miller to its board of directors.
Miller has launched and grown multiple blockbuster products and built leading franchises over the course of her career. Most recently, she spent six years at Sanofi, ultimately serving as vice president of marketing, where she was selected to lead a corporate-wide initiative on marketing excellence.
Prior to Sanofi, Miller spent two years as senior vice president at Eisai, where she led the Pharmaceutical Services and Primary Care and Specialty Business units, including the blockbuster franchises Aricept and Aciphex. Earlier in her career, she worked at Amgen, where she contributed to building the global marketing function, including serving as executive director of North American commercial operations and executive director of global marketing, and provided commercialization and life cycle management oversight for key products, including Neulasta and Vectibix.
Before that, Miller spent 16 years at Merck & Co., where she held a series of roles of increasing responsibility, including brand leadership for Fosamax, Mevacor and Zocor. She currently serves on the board of Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Puma Biotechnology. She holds both her B.A., with honors, and her M.D. from Duke University.
In conjunction with Miller’s appointment, Allena announced that founding board member Dr. Bob Tepper, a partner at Third Rock Ventures and founding member of the company’s board of directors since 2011, has resigned from the Allena noard.
Allena is based in Newton.
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Radius Health Inc. recently announced that Peter A. Schwartzman is joining the company as vice president in the newly formed Capital, Strategy and Transactions (CST) Group.
Schwartzman, as part of the group, will report to Kelly Martin, CEO of Radius.
The CST group is responsible for the analysis and due diligence required for all business development activities and acts as the company’s point of contact for capital providers, investment banks and analysts. The CST group is also responsible for building the financial model framework the company will use to assess current and future performance.
Schwartzman joins Radius from Piney Lake Capital Management LP where he was a senior member of the investment team. At Piney Lake, he focused on opportunistic debt and equity investments in small to medium-sized companies in the health care, life sciences and industrial sectors.
For two decades prior, Schwartzman was a managing director in the Leveraged Finance Group at BlackRock Inc. In this role, he led the group’s investments in the health care, life sciences, media and gaming industries. He has also worked at Alliance Capital in its Corporate Bond Research Group as well as the HealthCare Group at Moody’s Investor Services.
Schwartzman earned his B.A. degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and his MBA from the Stern School at New York University.
Based in Waltham, Radius is a science-driven fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that is committed to developing and commercializing innovative endocrine therapeutics.
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Digital Guardian, a Waltham-based provider of data loss prevention and managed detection and response, recently announced that Tim Bandos will become its chief information security officer (CISO).
Bandos will bring more than 15 years of experience to the position, including his five years as vice president of cybersecurity at Digital Guardian. Prior to joining Digital Guardian, Bandos was director of cybersecurity for Dupont where he was responsible for overseeing internal controls, incident response and threat intelligence. In his new role, he will lead Digital Guardian’s global cybersecurity strategy, leveraging the latest technology and threat intelligence available.
Bandos joined Digital Guardian five years ago with the goal of successfully building the company’s Managed Detection & Response Service from the ground up. That service now manages and monitors more than one million endpoints and delivers best-of-breed threat hunting and incident response. His other accomplishments while at Digital Guardian include:
Building the Advanced Threat & Analysis Center Team (ATAC Team), a premier group of specialized security analysts, threat hunters and incident responders that focus on breach detection and response.
Guiding the development of the DG Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) technology within the Digital Guardian Data Protection Platform.
Directing the company’s efforts on adopting the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to continually improve the company’s security posture and programs.
Spearheading Digital Guardian’s SOC 2 and other certification initiatives.
Promoting security best practices to CISOs and other security executives at major security conferences around the world, including RSA, Black Hat and Infosecurity Europe.
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ReWalk Robotics Ltd. has appointed Randel Richner to its board of directors.
Richner’s extensive history experience in health policy, reimbursement, economics and data analytics includes serving as the industry representative on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee; service on the Executive Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health; establishing the global reimbursement and economics function at Boston Scientific as that organization’s vice president of Global Government Affairs and Reimbursement and in founding Neocure, a firm that advised industry on health care policy.
Richner received a master of public health degree in health policy and administration and a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
ReWalk Robotics develops, manufactures and markets wearable robotic exoskeletons for individuals with lower limb disabilities as a result of spinal cord injury or stroke. ReWalk has headquarters in the Marlborough, Israel and Germany.
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Synspira Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and other rare diseases, has appointed Dr. Drucy Borowitz to its board of directors.
Borowitz is a global leader in clinical research and patient care for cystic fibrosis (CF) with particular expertise in gastrointestinal disease and nutrition. The company also announced that current board member, Alexey Margolin, will take on an expanded role as chairperson of the board of directors.
Borowitz is the former senior vice president of community partnerships at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation where she led numerous initiatives to improve patient care and advance new Treatments.
She was the CF center director at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo for almost 20 years. In 2013, she received the Richard C. Talamo Distinguished Clinical Achievement Award presented by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to individuals dedicated to the research and care of patients with cystic fibrosis and whose contributions have had considerable influence on the course of the disease.
Borowitz is an emeritus professor of clinical pediatrics at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University at Buffalo. She received the Stockton Kimball Award, bestowed on faculty members who have achieved worldwide recognition as researchers and have been recognized for significant academic accomplishment and service to the university. She attended Cornell Medical School, interned at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and did her residency at University of California-San Francisco. She was board certified in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition.
Margolin, who joined the company’s board in October 2019, is chair of the board of Allena Pharmaceuticals, a public clinical stage pharmaceutical company he co-founded, and previously served as CEO (2011-2019). Prior, he co-founded Alcresta Therapeutics, a medical device company focused on developing products for CF and other rare diseases; he served as CEO (2011-2014) and is currently on the board of directors. In 2008, Margolin co-founded Alnara Pharmaceuticals, and served as president and CEO until 2010, when the company was acquired by Eli Lilly. As chief scientific officer for Altus Pharmaceuticals, he helped build a portfolio of products for rare diseases. Margolin is the author of more than 60 publications and an inventor on numerous patents.
Synspira is a privately held company headquartered in Framingham.
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Doc Wayne Youth Services, a Boston nonprofit that fuses sport and therapy to heal and strengthen at-risk youth, recently announced that Dr. Sadé Callwood, Katherine Grover and Dushawne “Doc” Simpson have recently joined its board. Their appointments further enhance the board’s experience, diversity and skills, and bring the number of members to 13.
Callwood is a post-doctoral fellow and psychotherapist at Commonwealth Psychology in Boston. Her clinical work with historically marginalized and oppressed individuals is influenced by her Caribbean-American upbringing. She earned her doctor of psychology in clinical psychology degree with an emphasis in African and Caribbean mental health from William James College and completed her doctoral project on Young Black Men’s Experiences of Aggressive Policing. She has extensive training in counseling centers within small private colleges, Ivy League and Big Ten universities.
A Framingham resident, Grover is a director in the Northeast Health Industries Assurance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Boston, working with higher education, health care and other not-for-profit organizations. She is a Uniform Guidance expert and speaker, and a contributing author to Perspectives in Higher Education. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Babson College in Wellesley and her master in business administration degree with a concentration in not-for-profit management from Suffolk University.
Simpson is currently the head coach of The Pingree School’s girls varsity soccer team and the director of coaching at NEFC North Shore, and the former assistant coach of the Boston Breakers professional team. He began coaching for Pingree in 2011, and led them to New England championships in both 2013 and 2014. Dushawne was not only a standout soccer player growing up in Connecticut, he was selected to the 1990 CT All-State team in soccer, basketball and track. Following his exceptional playing at Southern Connecticut State University and Salem State College, he went on to play professionally for several teams, including the New Hampshire Phantoms, Connecticut Wolves and Boston Bulldogs.
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RE/MAX LLC has recognized Gary Kelley with its RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award.
This recognition is bestowed on only 20{14cc2b5881a050199a960a1a3483042b446231310e72f0dc471a7a1eddd6b0c3} of agents, and recognizes the highest levels of expertise and a commitment to exemplary client service. With a focus on guiding clients through major life transformations, and supporting them at every step of the process, Kelley and his team have developed a loyal following and an unmatched network of word-of-mouth referrals, according to RE/MAX. The Hall of Fame award builds upon and recognizes his team’s hard work and deep knowledge.
Kelley and his colleague Sue Gordon work with buyers and sellers throughout the Marlborough, Westborough and Southborough areas.
RE/MAX Executive Realty is one of the largest real estate companies in Metrowest and the largest RE/MAX franchise in New England. It has offices in Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Marlborough, Medfield and Grafton.
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Family law firm Barach Law Group LLC recently announced that attorneys Matthew Barach and Jennifer Salerno were selected for inclusion on the list of 2020 Massachusetts Super Lawyers.
Barach was named to the Super Lawyers list and Salerno was recognized as a Rising Star, a distinction for candidates who are either 40 years old or younger or who have been in practice for 10 years or fewer. The results were published in Boston Magazine and in New England Super Lawyers, which is published by Thomson Reuters.
Barach is the founder and principal of Barach Law Group and author of “The Family Law Guide to Appellate Practice.” With over 20 years of family law experience, Barach regularly appears before Middlesex, Norfolk, Worcester, Suffolk and Essex County Family Law Courts. He also appears before the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the First Circuit of Appeals.
Salerno is a senior associate at Barach Law Group focusing her practice on all areas of family law, including high conflict divorce and highly contentious child custody matters. She has successfully litigated child removal requests and international child abduction cases in the Probate and Family Courts and U.S. District Court in Boston. Prior to her joining Barach Law Group, Salerno was associated with a Boston-based firm where she specialized in family law.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas, who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented multiphase selection process is designed to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.
Barach Law Group LLC is based in Framingham.
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4D Path, a Newton-based creator of a patented computer-aided cancer diagnostic and precision oncology platform, recently announced that Dr. Jennifer Levin Carter has joined the company’s advisory board.
Carter is managing director of JLC Precision Health Strategies LLC., which partners with executives and investors to advise data-driven healthcare and life science companies on their commercial and financing strategy, and on the development of novel products and services.
Previously, she was founder and CEO of TrialzOWN Inc., a healthcare company in stealth that was acquired by Integral Health (now Valo Health) in March 2019. Prior to TrialzOWN, Carter was the founder and president of N-of-One Inc. At N-of-One, she led the creation of award-winning solutions that delivered novel treatment strategies to hundreds of thousands of patients with cancer globally. She served as acting CEO from 2008-2012, and chief medical officer from 2012 until its acquisition by Qiagen (Market Cap $8B) in 2019.
Carter graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude with distinction with a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, an MD from Harvard Medical School, an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health, and an MBA from the Sloan School at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Susan C. Stevenson of Ashland,has joined as a new member of the McDaniel College Board of Trustees.
Stevenson is a 1985 alumna of McDaniel (formerly Western Maryland) College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a minor in biology. She played on cross country, lacrosse, outdoor track, and intramural sports teams as well as served as a member of Phi Alpha Mu sorority and the Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society.
Stevenson is an executive director in the Exploratory Disease Area (DAx) in the Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Department at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) in Cambridge.
With more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery in the development of multiple therapeutic modalities, Stevenson prioritizes mentoring to support the next generation of scientific leaders within Novartis as well as in the larger scientific community. She supports diversity and inclusion initiatives and employee resource groups focused on developing cross-cultural awareness and advancing women in leadership positions.
In 2016, Stevenson was honored as a Novartis Leading Scientist in recognition of her leadership, innovation, and research excellence. Stevenson earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University in New York. At McDaniel, she will serve as a member of the academic and campus life and audit and risk committees.
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Psychemedics Corporation recently announced that Sarah Ashby has rejoined the company as vice president, general counsel.
In this role, Ashby will be responsible for directing and managing all of the company’s legal activities. She will report directly to the company’s CEO.
Sarah rejoins Psychemedics from Decibel Therapeutics Inc., a biotech start-up researching hearing loss therapeutics, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. In the past four years, she has worked closely with the R&D teams at those organizations in the areas of toxicology studies, clinical trials, research collaborations and contract negotiations.
Previously, Ashby practiced law at the Boston firms of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy PC, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP. Her litigation background includes pharmaceutical and medical device liability, as well as health care fraud investigations, FDA regulation and intellectual property.
Based in Acton, Psychemedics Corporation is the world’s largest provider of hair testing for the detection of drugs of abuse.
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