Transitioning to Project Management

Looking to enter Project Management? Learn about careers in scientific project management from our panel of experts, who will share their experiences navigating the transition away from the bench and provide insights on the wide variety of roles held by project and program managers in biotech.

Panelist Bio(s)

Karen Smith, MBA, PMP is a Director of Program and Portfolio Management at Wave Life Sciences. In that role, she leads program teams and manages the drug development process from research through preclinical development and into first in human clinical trials. Prior to her position at Wave, Karen led a global Program Management function at Agenus that was responsible for multiple IND filings and managed the research and early development portfolio. Her early career, much of which was at Genzyme, was spent as a research scientist where she gained experience in oncology, autoimmune disease, and genetic and rare disease biology. Karen received her BA in Biological Sciences from Smith College and an MBA from UMass Amherst.

Jenna Balestrini, Ph.D. is a Program Manager of Cell Bioprocessing and Principal Investigator at Draper labs. At Draper, she oversees the development of systems for use in creating cell-based treatments for cancer. Jenna received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2003, and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic in 2009. Her scientific works have been published in 21 peer-reviewed articles, and she has been the recipient of the Internal Research and Design award (Draper), Alfred R Potvin award, and the Lung Repair and Regeneration trainee award.

This is a FREE online event.