Join us in Philadelphia at Meet the Leaders and hear from a dynamic panel of life sciences industry experts. During Women's History month in March, LSPA is proud to highlight three women leading in the life sciences. Gain insights from these remarkable women on their roles in various organizations and learn about the changing landscape of the life sciences industry across Pennsylvania. Bring questions to this interactive panel, enjoy breakfast and take advantage of networking with industry leaders.
Agenda
7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Registration, Breakfast, and Networking
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Panel Discussion
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Networking
Speakers:
- Cindy Reiss-Clark, Chief Commercial Officer, West Pharmaceutical Services
- Katie Reuther, PhD, Executive Director, Penn Health-Tech and Practice Associate Professor in Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
- Sharon Willis, Co-Founder and VP Sales and Customer Relations, Integral Molecular
Moderator: Meredith Dante, Partner, Ballard Spahr
REFUND POLICY:
All sales are final
MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Cindy Reiss-Clark, Chief Commercial Officer, West Pharmaceutical Services
Cindy is an accomplished business leader recognized for inspiring and empowering others to stretch beyond their comfort zone and imagine what is possible. She is driven by a purpose and belief that people want to contribute to something meaningful, something bigger than themselves. A philosophy that she has modeled throughout her twenty-plus years in the life science industry, focusing on making a difference in people's lives.
Cindy is the Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for West Pharmaceutical Services. She is responsible for leading the company's worldwide Commercial and Customer Success aspects with the goal of driving a deeper understanding of their customers' needs to enable the drug delivery of essential medicines from the world's leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. She has accountability for the market-led strategies for West's four market units—Biologics, Pharma, Generics, and Contract Manufacturing, which includes overall sales and sales strategy, global marketing, product management, and customer service.
Cindy has been recognized as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Women of Distinction for 2022. This award recognizes influential businesswomen in the broader Philadelphia region who have had a significant impact in their place of business, have made a difference in their communities, are leaving a mark on Philadelphia business, and who are committed to advancing women in the workplace.
Prior to joining West, Cindy held a variety of senior leadership positions across Sales and Marketing for Lonza's Pharma and Biotech business unit and SAFC (a division of Sigma Aldrich). Her leadership is matched with a technical foundation in the biological sciences. Cindy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Chemistry from the University of Kansas.
Katie Reuther, PhD, Executive Director, Penn Health-Tech and Practice Associate Professor in Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
Katie Reuther is the Executive Director for the Center for Health, Technologies, and Devices at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Health-Tech), an ecosystem-wide initiative that facilitates the development of medical devices and health technologies. Reuther also holds an appointment as a Practice Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering. Previously, she served as a Senior Lecturer in Design, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, with additional appointments as the Director of the Columbia Biomedical Engineering Technology Accelerator Program (BiomedX) and the Director of Master’s Studies. She has advised and educated 100s of student and faculty teams and start-ups in developing and commercializing medical technologies. She supports several National Institute of Health (NIH) programs focused on accelerating the translation of cutting-edge research into real-world applications, including serving as a business advisor and project manager for the Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation (C3i) Program. She is a co-founder of Syntegrity Biomedical, an orthopedic medical device start-up, and is a nationally-trained I-Corps at NIH instructor. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Life Sciences Pennsylvania. Reuther holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in Bioengineering), Columbia University (Executive MBA), and The College of New Jersey (BS in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering emphasis).
Sharon Willis, Co-Founder and VP Sales and Customer Relations, Integral Molecular
Sharon Willis, Ph.D. is a Co-Founder of Integral Molecular and the Vice President of Sales and Customer Relations. She has guided the company’s evolution from a research-based startup to a globally recognized provider of cutting-edge biotechnology solutions. Sharon oversees the commercial operations of the company, driving excellence in product development, manufacturing, quality control, sales, and customer support. Under her leadership, Integral Molecular has become a trusted partner for numerous top pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms worldwide.
Sharon is a passionate science ambassador and mentor, dedicated to shaping the future of employees and the scientific community. She has played a pivotal role in training many employees at Integral Molecular and mentoring many women in science to foster their career development. She leads the company’s engagement in various student and community outreach programs, including the Biomedical Technical Training Program at Wistar, and FirstHand STEM learning initiatives at the Science Center.
Sharon earned a B.A. at Gettysburg College followed by a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a post-doctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania.
Meredith Dante, Partner, Ballard Spahr
Meredith S. Dante represents employers across industries including life sciences, health care, insurance, consumer products, hospitality, financial services, manufacturing, higher education, technology, and retail in a broad range of labor and employment disputes. She partners with clients to proactively identify issues and devise legal solutions that are specifically tailored to the client's workforce and business needs. She regularly advises clients in matters involving discrimination, harassment, whistleblower complaints and retaliation, wage and hour issues, reductions in force, compliance issues, restrictive covenants, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and other leave laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other accessibility issues, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and related state laws, and diversity and inclusion programs.
She has extensive experience conducting audits and internal investigations, as well as defending clients in single plaintiff, class, and collective actions across the spectrum of employment laws. She regularly advises clients in employment and corporate policies and guidelines including the review and development of codes of conduct, handbooks, and other internal policies. She has represented a number of publicly traded companies in enhancing various components of their corporate compliance programs. She also works with her clients to devise training programs that effectively communicate corporate policies and principles to employees and other key stakeholders. She regularly advises on, defends, and prosecutes restrictive covenant matters involving theft of trade secrets and confidential information, as well as other violations of noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements. She frequently works with emerging growth clients to provide practical guidance on the unique issues faced by these companies as they grow and build successful businesses.
