AWIS-Boston Annual Speed Networking with STEM Professionals

This engaging and fast-paced event brings together early-career scientists and students with experienced professionals from across the STEM landscape. As a participating professional, you’ll have the opportunity to hear insights about the career path, industry trends, and advice from various STEM leaders through a series of short conversations.

We have an excellent line-up of professionals (guest bios below) ranging from freelance science communicators, scientists and engineers in industry, alliance managers, to Head of Regulatory Affairs who will be sharing their relevant journeys, challenges, opportunities, and provide feedback/advice to attending members whether they are currently exploring or in the early stage of the STEM field(s).

The evening will be split into two halves; the first dedicated to structured networking in small groups with a STEM professional to hear about their careers. The second half will be informal networking over light refreshments and snacks.

Guest Bios

Bénédicte is Director of Professional Development at Boston University. Bénédicte got her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Lille, France. She came to Boston in 2019 to do an interdisciplinary postdoc, prior to transitioning into an administrative postdoc position in graduate and postdoctoral affairs at Boston University. She enjoys designing, running, and evaluating resources, workshops, and online training programs to support PhD students and postdocs in their professional development, mentoring relationships, and career transitions.

Ashley Ogawa-Wong recently joined the regulatory affairs team as a regulatory liaison at Merck, where she helps develop and implement a global strategy for registration and/or maintenance of antiviral medicines. She began her career in industry at Merck as a regulatory writer. In this role, she prepared INDs and marketing applications across a variety of oncology indications. Ashley was a postdoctoral fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. As someone who made a direct transition from bench scientist in academia to a pharmaceutical organization, she is passionate about sharing her experience with others who are exploring careers outside of academia. She received her PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology at John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii and B.A. in Biology and Psychology at Gonzaga University. 

Gina is an IRACDA post-doctoral scholar at Tufts Medical Center, which is a teaching and research post-doctoral fellowship. She investigates the impact of genes relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders on glutamate synapses in C. elegans. In the fall she will start a new job as an Assistant Professor of Biology at a primarily undergraduate Widener University in Pennsylvania, and plays volleyball during any free time she has.

Preety Agrawal is an Associate Principal at ZS, where she co-leads the Technology & Cloud Advisory sub-practice within the Digital & Technology Advisory Practice. With over 21 years of experience, she brings deep expertise in enterprise technology strategy, architecture, and healthcare industry transformation. Preety specializes in full lifecycle digital transformations, advising C-suite executives, identifying growth opportunities, and driving complex, high-impact initiatives across industries.

Before joining ZS, Preety served as a Senior Manager at Deloitte, where she led national “Women in Technology” programs, promoting inclusion and professional development. Her diverse background spans consulting, industry, and start-ups, with a strong focus on digital transformation across health plans, providers, and biopharma sectors. 

She is widely regarded as a trusted advisor, effective mentor, and inclusive leader who fosters innovation and collaboration. Preety is passionate about building diverse leadership pipelines and is an active champion for Women-in-Tech@ZS and broader DEI efforts. Preety holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, is a fitness-enthusiast and a lifestyle blogger.

Alexandra Gallant-Lee is an award-winning science communicator, artist, cartoonist and designer based in Boston. With over fifteen years of experience communicating scientific ideas and concepts through visual communications, she has worked with some of the most cited researchers in the world on some of the most high profile and high impact research in medicine. Her art and design is colorful and playful, but not limited to any single medium or discipline, working in everything from digital art to collage to watercolor, from science art and illustration to design for digital, print and web. Alexandra loves telling the stories of the life sciences through her creativity, using art and design to spark the curiosity in others.

April is a microbiologist who spent 25 years at the lab bench, moving from vaccine development in academia to novel antimicrobials in big pharma to antiviral mAb research at a start up biotech.  She then transitioned into field sales, with 7 years at a global corporation and then 3 years with a small but eager team.  April retired recently and created her hobby as the Pipetting Pigeon, re-homing lab consumables from closed bio labs into high schools and colleges.  She holds degrees from UNH, Harvard, and WPI. 

Hyacinth Empinado is an award-winning multimedia producer. She was most recently the special projects editor for multimedia at STAT, where she produced videos and podcasts, as well as led grant-funded video projects. One of the projects she's most proud of is a three-part video series called Treating Rural America about the persistent shortage of physicians in rural areas and the solutions that could help stem the crisis. 

She graduated with a degree in health and medical journalism in 2015 from the University of Georgia. In her spare time, she enjoys trying new crafts, taking her toddlers on small adventures and hunting for rainbows.

Carla is a dynamic leader at Sanofi, where she serves in a dual capacity as Head of the Center of Excellence for Sanofi Partnering and Director in Global Alliance Management. Based in Cambridge, MA, in her dual role, she leads strategic initiatives to enhance the visibility, efficiency, and operational excellence of Sanofi’s partnering activities while continuing to manage key R&D and Specialty Care alliances within the Sanofi Global Alliance Management portfolio covering the full pipeline of Sanofi (Immunology, Technology platforms, Rare and Neuro Diseases, Oncology).

As Head of the Center of Excellence, a position she assumed in April 2025, Carla oversees the development and implementation of best practices, tools, and communication strategies that support Sanofi’s “Partner of Choice” vision. Her work empowers the global partnering team with the resources and knowledge needed to drive impactful collaborations.

Carla joined Sanofi in 2022, bringing with her a strong background in academic-industry partnerships. Previously, she served as Senior Research Alliance Manager at the Mass General Research Institute, where she promoted translational medicine by fostering collaborations between academic scientists and industry partners.

A neurobiologist by training, Carla holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Naples “Federico II” in Italy and has over a decade of research experience in Alzheimer’s disease. She is also passionate about science communication and marketing, having worked with various organizations in social media strategy and co-directed the science podcast Science Rehashed dedicated to making cutting-edge research accessible to a broader audience.

Allison is Director, Business Development in Pharmaron's Discovery, Pre-clinical, and CMC team, and is a co-lead of Pharmaron's Boston BD efforts. In addition to work at a few biotechs before Pharmaron, she notably led X-Chem's DNA-encoded library technology internal and partnered protein QC and biochemical/biophysical assays, and was also the scientific lead for multiple international partnerships. Allison designed and executed DNA-encoded library technology screens against varied target and therapeutic classes for nearly eight years at GlaxoSmithKline. She started her industry career at Avidia (acquired by Amgen) where she designed phage-displayed libraries and panning campaigns. Allison earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry/Chemical Biology from the University of California, Irvine, and her BS in Biochemistry from the University of Delaware.

Dr. Jenn Felsted-Knight is a leadership coach and career strategist who helps women in STEMM create impactful careers they love. As a former neuroscientist, Dr. Felsted-Knight understands their unique opportunities and challenges. She founded Felsted Coaching & Consulting to help women infuse their goals with a sense of purpose and develop the habits and mindsets needed to reach the next level at work. Her work catalyzes lasting change by integrating brain science and coaching techniques, with a balanced focus on self-reflection and bold action steps.

Dr. Felsted-Knight holds multiple coach certifications from the International Coaching Federation, Co-Active Training Institute, Wellcoaches, and The National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching. She earned her Ph.D. from Tufts University in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition, with a concentration in Neuroscience, and a B.S. from the University of Connecticut in Physiology & Neurobiology and Psychology. Dr. Felsted-Knight brings a unique blend of scientific knowledge, coaching expertise, and personal experience to her talks, leaving audiences inspired and equipped to implement positive change in their lives and careers.

Maissa Gaye is a Principal Scientist at GSK, where she designs and implements analytical capabilities within Technical R&D. Maissa was born in Senegal (west Africa), grew up in France, where she received her BS then MS in chemistry, with a focus on natural substances. Her Ph.D. is from Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) working on ion mobility mass spectrometry applied to glycans. Her postdoc was focused on the development and application of separation and mass spectrometry methodologies - (glyco) proteomics - for the study of disease-related biological systems. More recently, she worked on mRNA characterization workflows and on developing MS-based workflows for gene therapy DS/DP (siRNA, ADC, endonuclease, ribonucleoprotein complex). Outside the lab, she enjoys “working” through cookbooks, TV shows from anywhere, yoga/pilate and traveling.

Dr. Tara Davis is a highly accomplished protein biochemist, biophysicist, and structural biologist with a distinguished career spanning over 20 years across academia, biotech, startups, and CROs. Her expertise lies in driving impactful results throughout the drug discovery pipeline, from early-stage target identification and validation to hit-to-lead and lead optimization, with a strong emphasis on structural enablement and recombinant biophysical assays. Dr. Davis possesses a proven track record of building and leading cross-functional scientific teams, both internal and external, fostering collaboration to deliver critical insights.  

Throughout her career, Dr. Davis has demonstrated proficiency in a wide range of biochemical and biophysical techniques, including high-throughput methodologies to clone, express, purify, characterize, and determine protein structures using cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography. She has also excelled in managing external collaborations and CROs across the US, Europe, and China, showcasing her ability to navigate complex project and team management efficiently.  

Currently, as an early-stage R&D consultant, at her self-founded company TDLR Consultancy, Dr. Davis leverages her deep understanding of protein biochemistry and structural biology to provide strategic guidance to clients, helping them advance their research and development initiatives. She is glad for the opportunity to share her diverse career experiences, offer practical advice on navigating career transitions, and empowering the next generation of women to achieve success in scientific fields.

Karen N. Allen received her B.S. degree in Biology from Tufts University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University, where she studied with the renowned mechanistic enzymologist, Dr. Robert H. Abeles, focused on the design, synthesis, and inhibition kinetics of transition-state analogues of esterases. Following her desire to see enzymes in action she pursued X-ray crystallography as a post-doc in the laboratories of Drs. Gregory A. Petsko and Dagmar Ringe at MIT and Brandeis. She joined Boston University School of Medicine in 1993 in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. In 2008 she moved to the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences where she is now Professor and Chair. Prof. Allen has mentored 36 pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees and numerous undergraduate research assistants. Her research, summarized in > 140 publications, has focused on the elucidation of enzyme structure and mechanism with an eye toward enzyme evolution and design of therapeutic inhibitory ligands. Within this context, her laboratory has used biophysical and informatic methods to plumb the basis of enzyme-mediated phosphoryl and phosphoglycosyl transfer and decarboxylation reactions. She is Co-Editor in Chief of Methods in Enzymology. Prof. Allen is an ASBMB Fellow and is proud to have co-founded Women in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology within ASBMB. She is the 2025 Gordon Hammes Lecturer awarded by ACS. She has been a named lecturer and seminar speaker on over 130 occasions and has chaired numerous national and international meetings.

Diana Gikunju is a Senior Director at Bonito Biosciences, a biotechnology company pioneering tissue-selective drug delivery solutions for oligonucleotides and other macromolecules. With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, she brings broad expertise in drug discovery, assay development, and program leadership.

Throughout her career at Bonito Biosciences, Exo Therapeutics, X-Chem, and Pfizer, she has led multidisciplinary teams and spearheaded innovative approaches in small molecule drug discovery. Her work spans a range of technologies and therapeutic areas, with a strong focus on assay miniaturization, enzyme and GPCR biology, complex cell-based screening platforms, direct binding studies, and biophysical and biochemical characterization.

She has successfully driven collaborative partnerships, including negotiating a strategic agreement that achieved a 60% cost reduction. Her leadership of a high-impact discovery program resulted in $2 million in revenue. Earlier in her career, she led the development of a dual luciferase switch-on platform to evaluate oligonucleotide delivery efficacy—an innovative contribution to RNA therapeutic research.

She holds a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Clark University and an M.S. in Biology from Brown University. Outside of work, she is a wife and proud mother of two teenagers, and an active member of her community and church. She enjoys cooking, gardening, spending time with family and friends, and is always ready to hit the dance floor.

MASS AWIS (Boston) would like to thank Microsoft* for providing the event space and its support of STEM non-profits.

*Microsoft creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of its customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more!