Nivedita ‘Niv’ Hegdekar is a graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore pursuing a dual degree in biomedical sciences and patent law. Prior to joining her PhD program, she obtained her degree in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences from the prestigious Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India.
Natalie McKinney is a marketing strategy leader with 15+ years of experience in life sciences and technology organizations. She uses data-driven, customer-centric approaches to gain a deep understanding of dynamic customer needs and drivers. She enjoys leveraging internal and external relationships to build a holistic customer view and gains alignment on high-impact, right-sized product and marketing investments that are timed appropriately for the market.
Danielle Kalkofen is a molecular cell biologist and biochemist with 15 years of industry and academic experience. In 2015, she turned her focus to biological assay development, leading cross-functional teams to develop, validate, and commercialize new pathogen detection assay products.
“5 Questions With…” is a weekly BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people in the BioHealth Capital Region to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. March is WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH and BioBuzz will celebrate by featuring Women in the BioHealth industry all month, especially in “5 Questions With…”. This week we continue the series with Destinie Burgan, Upstream Supervisor of Manufacturing, Emergent BioSolutions.
Its Women’s History Month and being on the heels of Black History Month, BioBuzz is highlighting three successful black women in industry to straddle the importance of both.
Akunna Iheanacho, Ph.D., is the Scientific Director at Texcell North America, Inc., where she provides technical and scientific direction for novel assay development, virus purification efforts, and viral safety testing. She also serves as a Study Director for viral clearance studies. She is a subject matter expert with broad biotechnology experience and expertise in areas that include process development for large-scale cGMP manufacture of vaccines, AAV gene therapies, and biopharmaceutical purification.
Women In Bio is accepting applications for its Sixth Boardroom Ready Program, a classroom opportunity that provides training for female biopharma executives vying for a spot on a board of directors in the industry.
Judy Costello is Managing Director of Economic Development for BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI). Prior to joining BHI, she served as Director of the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of BioHealth and Life Sciences and as Deputy Director of the department’s BioMaryland Center.
Today’s biotech market is extremely competitive and riddled with difficult career-growth obstacles. Some are within our control, others that are not. More than ever, networking and relationships dictate career success. [….]