The GLSA | FOCM Networking Event on Wednesday, July 20th, 2022 at 5:00 PM EST was a lively affair boasting a diverse crowd of life science professionals. Many who attended were the previous colleagues and / or the current friends of Chris Matheus (FOCM, President; GLSA Chief Commercial and Networking Officer).
The topic of the day was “Summer Fun” due to the prevalence of the industry to go semi-dormant in July and August to accommodate the well-deserved vacations of its workers. The introduction, led by Chris, briefly spoke of former events which usually involved the related capabilities or education topic of a guest speaker to spur industry-related discussions and aid in collaboration among the group. He expressed the intention of this event to be focused more on the personal activities and vacations of attendees in order to keep our minds on the relaxation of these summer months.
To nobody’s surprise, we couldn’t stay away from discussing work including the most recently held conferences; BIO International Convention in San Diego, CA and DIA Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL with a specific mention about the limited presence of sponsors. An outbreak of Coronavirus at these events and the apparently foul-tasting Paxlovid medicine used to treat moderate cases of COVID sparked conversation about who among us has contracted the virus and the varying degrees by which each individual was affected.
Andrew Mulchinski stated that Symbio hasn’t fully adapted to DCT yet, sparking the post-quarantine observations of many regarding the transition to decentralized and hybrid studies. Chris noted a number of CRO’s that have changed leadership or have been acquired by other companies.
By far the most celebratory moment of the event was the announcement of the recent success of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in a small clinical trial using immunotherapy. They achieved 100% remission of rectal cancer without the use of surgery, chemotherapy or radiation that can leave patients with life-long effects including infertility and colostomy bags.
Let’s continue to reinforce our collective goal to improve patients’ lives across the globe. If you would like to present briefly on an educational life sciences topic and spur our event discussions, please contact me.
Attendees: (first time attendees in bold)
| Kimberly Lupo, MS, MBA, RAC | Founder & CEO at Portrett Pharmaceuticals LLC |
| Sara Tylosky | CEO, Farmacon |
| Nadia M. Bracken | Operational Advisor, Medidata |
| Brian Horan | CEO & Co-founder, SupplyRx |
| Tina Tran | Director, Business Development, Unlearn.ai |
| Heather Hollick | Rizers LLC; Author of “Helpful, A guide to life, careers and the art of networking” |
| Amy Zastawney | Seeking a new executive business development role |
| Jon Matheus | Commercial Real Estate, A.T. Pancrazi Real Estate Services |
| Unnat Patel | Founder & President, AnalysisMate |
| Peter Payne | Life Sciences Executive – Available for Consulting |
| Griffin Robertson | Partner Account Manager, Mednet |
| Nancy Zeleniak | Enterprise Strategic Partnerships & Participant Engagement; Atrium Health |
| Dhruv Wadhwa | Director of Business Development, HUMA |
| Michael Young | Founder & Principal, BIOMedworx |
| Scott Robertson | Vice President of Sales, Global Partnerships; Mednet |
| Ravipal Luthra, MS, BDS | Clinical Research Coordinator, University of Miami, Miller Medical Center |
| Andrew Mulchinski, MPA, MT, ASCP, CCRC | Business Development; Symbio, LLC |
| Lani Hashimoto | Associate Director Patient Engagement Management; Novartis |
| Amanda Putnam | Team Lead Manager; Data Recognition Corporation |
| Michael O’ Gorman | CEO and Founder at Life Science Marketplace |
| Eliana Burke | Global Head of Client Engagement & Marketing; Greenlight Clinical |
| Michael Minor | EVP, Clinical Research; IMA Clinical Research |
| Vaibhav Sawant | Pharma Marketing Executive |
| GLSA ATTENDEES | |
| Denise McNerney | Chief Operations Officer |
| Hannah Lloyd | Account Manager |
| Zulma Varela | Director of Public Communications |
| Sally Haller | Operations Manager |
| Todd Neilson | Account Manager |
| Joe Buser | Chief Revenue Officer |
| Chris Matheus | Chief Commercial and Networking Officer |
| Yutong Liang | Intern, Data Management and Technology |
Screen shots of the event follow:
