Lift Up Journeys: Women in Life Sciences

Lift Up Journeys - Episode 15 - Snehal Naik, Head of Regulatory at Spark Therapeutics

In this episode of Lift Up Journeys, we were joined by the amazing Snehal Naik, head of regulatory, policy and intelligence at Spark Therapeutics. During her time at Spark Therapeutics, Snehal has established the Regulatory policy function, and is supporting global development of gene therapies. Snehal also co-chairs the regenerative medicine committee at BIO and staffs the regulatory affairs committees of the American Society of gene and cell therapy. Snehal has a passion for exploring the unexplored and has led biology programmes at both Pfizer’s centre for therapeutic innovation and Johnson & Johnson’s incubator. She has also founded and led a cross-functional gene therapy community of practice at J&J. Some of the highlights of the conversation include: "First and foremost, tell your story. Don’t ever feel like there isn’t something interesting in your story, or that there aren’t people out there who want to hear it. I think the more we put our stories out there, the more we just build up a stronger community, the more we create role models at every single level.” "Every part of my career, starting off in that lab-based role, then moving into industry, and still keeping the scientific focus on the basis, but really starting to think about it in the context of therapeutic development, and then a lot of what I do now on the regulatory and policy side, it’s to me, they’re all pieces of the puzzle.” “I think we have it in our head that you have to have achieved a certain level of success or a title, you need to be in a particular role to be the kind of person that could speak about your experience or that could serve as a role model. The reality is, when I look at every part of my journey, professionally or personally, what I really needed to see was someone who had made it just through what I was going through.” Tune in to hear from an incredible woman in life sciences.

Lift Up Journeys - Episode 14 - Sally Tucker, President of Global Services at Lexitas Pharma Services

In this episode of Lift Up Journeys, we were joined by the incredible Sally Tucker, President of Global Services at Lexitas Pharma Services. Sally has dedicated her entire career to Ophthalmology, which now spans more than twenty years. Her strong desire to bring everything back to the patient is what led her career and led her to undertake her PhD in Ophthalmology. Sally is passionate about Life Science professionals working together to make a positive difference to the patients we all serve and can positively impact. Some of the highlights of the conversation include: "Being surrounded by people with potential, empowering them and helping them to develop, and being surrounded by people who are stronger in different areas, compliment the overall success of the team.” "I think that we all have a tendency to sit in the world, particularly in the world we are in today, where there’s lots of social media, there’s lots of expectations, everything should be perfect, you should have the answer for everything. But the reality is, none of us know what’s going to happen, nothing ever goes exactly to plan, but you’ll work it out. Every experience you go through, you learn something about yourself, that will help you with the next part of your journey.” Tune in to hear from an incredible woman in life sciences.

Lift Up Journeys - Episode 13 - Aman Khera, Vice President at Worldwide Clinical Trials

In this episode of Lift Up Journeys, we were joined by the amazing Aman Khera, Vice President of regulatory science, strategy, and innovation at Worldwide Clinical Trials. In her role, Aman provides global strategic direction in Regulatory Affairs, and has done so for nearly three decades. Aman helps clients achieve effective Regulatory and development strategies. Aman looks at how regulatory, strategy and innovation are intersecting within healthcare. In 2021, Aman was recognised as a 2021 Pharma voice 100 honouree and recognised as one of the most inspiring and influential people within the Life Sciences. Aman joined us to talk about her inspirational career journey, as well as her experience in relocating internationally for her career, how innovation is integral within regulatory affairs, and where she sees the industry going in the future. Some of the highlights of the conversation include: "I want to do a good job at work, but then I also want to make sure I’m doing a good job at taking care of my family. At that time, there was no remote working. It was hard to balance in my mind, how this would work as well.” "It was probably the most rewarding thing that we did. And we think about it in so many different spaces. Not just for the career, but for family, because it broadened the scope for our family to look at it and also allow other family members to think about that too.” “Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Forge your own pathway. Never dim your own light.” Tune in to hear from an incredible woman in life sciences.

Lift Up Journeys - Episode 12 - Brynn Scarborough, President & CEO at JK Products and Services

In this episode of Lift Up Journeys, we were joined by the fantastic Brynn Scarborough, President and CEO at JK Products and Services, inc. Brynn currently works as President and CEO at JK Products and Services, an organisation that represent industry-leading brands in the commercial, wellness, and tanning equipment manufacturing space. With over 12 years of experience in progressive leadership roles, Brynn has since been promoted to the North American CEO in 2021. Brynn now works to advance the companies footprint, go to market strategy, and product portfolio, she continues to drive the business and industry forward, through bold leadership and continual growth. Brynn has joined us to talk about her career journey to this point, as well as the unique skills women bring to an organisation, Brynn’s tips on hiring a diverse teams, her passion for mentoring and creating a value proposition for a business. Some of the highlights of the conversation include: "Women are really good at coming together, forming consensus, leading with a mix of intuition and logic.” "I think we get stuck in this outdated idea that there’s a master plan, and you should have one, and if you don’t have one, somethings wrong. We are so many different iterations. I’m a different human than I was at 22 or 23, I will continue to be different iterations of myself in the future." “Being able t observe myself with my peers was a life-changing experience for me, especially with my non-traditional educational background, I was never with my peers, I was always outside the space of knowing where I measured up.” Tune in to hear from an incredible woman in life sciences.

Lift Up Journeys - Episode 11 - Sarena Lin, Global C-Level Executive at Mckinsey & Company

In this episode of Lift Up Journeys, we were joined by the incredible Sarena Lin, Global C-Level Executive at McKinsey & Company. Sarena has a strong track record in driving transformational growth across global markets, leading successful global commercial organisational and people transformation programs in the life sciences and industrial sectors. Sarena joined us to talk about her impressive career journey, as well as current trends she is seeing in the life sciences, culture and transformation within organisations and the power of purposeful networking. Some of the highlights of the conversation include: "Learn about what this unique opportunity brings you and learn about particular skills and particular aspects of dealing with it that you’ve never done before.” "Culture is the values and behaviours that’s being manifested in the organisation. How do you dig into these beliefs and say, how can we do this scientifically, in terms of understanding the similarities and differences, and have a systematic way of addressing it." Tune in to hear from an incredible woman in life sciences.