2021 SMDP Biotech Mentors Khary Adams, MBA, Senior Director, Laboratory Animal Resources, Incyte Corporation Khary Adams has over 15 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry and is currently Senior Director for Laboratory Animal Resources at Incyte Research Institute in Wilmington DE. In this role, Khary is responsible for management and oversight of the animal facility and laboratory animal care program. Khary is an active member of 3R’s IQ Consortium Leadership Group and is board member of the PA Society for Biomedical Research and Americans for Medical Progress. Khary received his Bachelor of Science in Biology/Animal Science from Virginia State University, Master of Science in Laboratory Animal Science from Drexel University College of Medicine and Master in Business Administration Pharmaceutical Management from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. Khary enjoys a very active lifestyle of running and exercise daily. Khary lives in the Old City neighborhood of downtown Philadelphia and has a hairless cat (sphynx), named Foxy. Lourdes Alonso, MD, Medical Science Liaison, Neurology & Immunology, Millipore Sigma Lourdes Alonso is a Medical Science Liaison in the United States for the Neurology & Immunology (N&I) Division of EMD Serono, the biopharma division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In this field-based role within Medical Affairs, Lourdes is responsible for supporting the N&I pipeline through scientific communication and medical insights, with the primary responsibility of engaging key thought leaders and healthcare providers within the medical community in her respective territory (South Florida, Puerto Rico) and therapeutic area. Lourdes also delivers comprehensive scientific education on disease states, data on the therapeutic assets and research advances of strategic importance. Lourdes joined EMD Serono from Tardis Medical Consultancy, North America Inc. (Division of Publicis Healthcare) providing medical support to Novartis Pharmaceutical Medical Corporation - USMDMA. She was a part of Field Medical Affairs in the Immunology Division to support furthering scientific advances in psoriasis, psoriatic-arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. Prior to joining industry, Lourdes is a radiologist by training, specializing in breast imaging. She graduated from the University of Central East, Dominican Republic and trained at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida in the Radiology Program. In her free time, she is involved in RestoreNations New Life Project in Mozambique, Africa helping local villages in Dondo and Beira with food, clothing, digging water wells and building homes for the needy. Alejandro Amador Arjona PhD, Director, Cellular Assays and Technologies, Incyte Corporation Alejandro Amador is an experienced cell biology leader. Born in Barcelona, Spain, he did his PhD Thesis at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) working in molecular and cognitive aspects underlying neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. He then moved to San Diego, California, to do a postdoctoral work to elucidate molecular and cellular mechanisms of adult neurogenesis and glioblastoma. His first job in the industry was with Takeda Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, where he led some of the pre-clinical CNS programs from target identification and validation, through candidate nomination. Later on, he joined GlaxoSmithKline in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where he led the High Throughput Biology group to accelerate the identification of new oncology combination therapies. Now, at Incyte, Alejandro leads the Cellular Assays and Technologies group, where the focus is to identify high-value oncology hits and the progression of small molecule and antibody programs. Brandon Atkins, MD PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Clinical Research, Merck Brandon Atkins, MD PhD is currently a Senior Principal Scientist and Clinical Director in Global Clinical Development at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey. Over his six years at Merck he has worked in both Early Stage and Late Stage Clinical Development supporting multiple programs within Merck’s pharmaceutical pipeline. He has significant experience leading cross functional teams to collaborate on the strategy and execution of clinical development plans for novel drugs within several therapeutic areas including Cardiovascular Disease, Infectious Disease, and Oncology. Brandon received his B.A. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Virginia and his MD and PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his Cardiology Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, two Harvard Medical School affiliated hospitals in his hometown of Boston. Prior to Virtual SMDP Biotech Training Session, June 14-15, 2021 Page 1 Website: www.icpdprograms.org joining Merck, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and Cardiovascular Division at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and a Principal Investigator in the Case Cardiovascular Research Institute within the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Randal Beans, Marketing Operations Manager, Millipore Sigma, EMD Serono Randal Beans is a Marketing Operations Manager who supports Commercial, Supply Chain and Operations teams by managing supply communications that are critical in helping customers to facilitate their projects. Randal has worked with the organization for over 20 years, leveraging his expertise in customer service, sales, and marketing to help drive strategy and influence results. He believes that the key to success is understanding stakeholders’ needs and knowing how to create a story to engage the people who can help you. In addition to his core responsibilities, Randal co-founded the organization’s Black Leadership Network employee resource group and is an active member of additional ERG’s. His participation in the space of diversity, inclusion and equity helps to inform his ability to engage with people and understand diverse perspectives. Randal holds a BA in Communication from the University of Missouri - St. Louis, and an associate degree in Business Administration from St. Louis Community College - Forest Park. Lisa Bollinger MD, Vice President, Regulatory AfFairs, Merck Lisa Bollinger, MD, joined Global Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety as the Therapeutic Area Head of General Medicine and the U.S. Subsidiary. This role encompasses Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Endocrine, Neuroscience, and Respiratory and Immunology. The U.S Subsidiary is an industry leading regulatory specialty team for the U.S. primarily supporting drug shortages, regulatory materials compliance (import/export), financial disclosure, user fees, and emerging technologies. Lisa is joining is from Amgen where she held several roles across regulatory and pharmacovigilance. Prior to Amgen, Lisa spent 13 years at the FDA in the Office of New Drugs with her last role being the head of the Pediatric and Maternal Health Staff in the immediate office. Lisa obtained her Doctor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine and completed a pediatric residency in Pediatrics at the University of California, Davis. Lisa also had a distinguished career of service in the United States Public Health Service progressing from the rank of Ensign to Captain. Attilio Bondanza, MD PhD, Head of Cell Therapy Clinical, AstraZeneca Attilio Bondanza, MD PhD, is Head of Cell Therapy Clinical at Astrazeneca Oncology Research & Development in Cambridge United Kingdom. Prior to that, he was Senior Global Program Leader at Novartis Basel CH, where he contributed to the clinical development of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), the first CAR-T cell therapy approved in the US and initiated several other new CAR-T cell programs. Before joining the industry, Attilio was Associate Professor at the San Raffaele University of Milano Italy. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and holds a PhD in Transplantation Immunology. He has an H-index of 36 and is the inventor of several granted patents in the field of CAR-T cell therapy. Sheryl Bowley, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Pfizer Sheryl Bowley, PhD has been with Pfizer since 2016 and is currently the Biology Lead of a small molecule discovery program to identify transformative medicines for patients with Sickle Cell Disease. Sheryl earned a BS in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines and after graduation, spent three years as a lecturer and laboratory instructor for undergraduate Analytical, Organic and Biochemistry courses at the University of the Philippines. She then went on to obtain a PhD in Biological Chemistry from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, where she studied the molecular basis of fibrin clot formation. It is during her graduate school training that Sheryl developed a strong interest in hematology, particularly for rare bleeding disorders like hemophilia. She went on to continue her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, collaborating with colleagues to perform seminal work in discovery of a novel redox control of blood coagulation. She also earned a fellowship from the American Heart Association for her basic research on cardiovascular biology. After completing the postdoctoral fellowship, Sheryl joined Pfizer-Rare Disease Research Unit to work across different modalities to discover medicines for hematological diseases. She enjoys working