Entrepreneur Panel: Career Paths in BioScience
Karim Dabbagh, Second Genome, San Francisco, CA.
Karim Dabbagh leads the R&D organization at Second Genome. Prior to that, he led the immunoregulation department at Pfizer, an R&D group focused on innovative approaches to elicit homeostatic immune responses, including microbiome research, for the treatment of immune related disorders. At Pfizer, he also led external R&D innovation for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Before joining Pfizer, Karim was the founder of Modus BioMedicine, a start-up biotechnology company focused on treatments for transplantation and autoimmune disease. Leading to that, Karim spent nine years at Roche Pharmaceuticals in Inflammation Discovery Research. Dr. Dabbagh received his PhD in biochemistry from University College, London and his BSc in biotechnology from the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in London. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco and at Stanford University where he worked on elucidating the role played by the microbiome in the hygiene hypothesis.
Brian Heinze, OptiEnz Sensors, Fort Collins, CO.
Brian Heinze is R&D Director for OptiEnz Sensors, a startup company that spun out of CSU’s chemical and biological engineering department in 2010. Dr. Heinze earned a B.S. degree in biology and a Ph.D. in biosystems engineering, both from the University of Arizona. He has been actively involved in researching and developing optical biosensors for more than ten years, receiving numerous awards and grants including the National SMART Grant, NASA Space Grant, The Richard A. Harvill Award for Academic Excellence, and a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award. Previously, he operated a small research consulting company that developed chemical sensors for defense-related projects and also conducted research on forensic methods for global food safety risk assessments and diagnostic technologies for detecting pathogens in food handling and processing systems.
Tina Larson, Achaogen, San Francisco, CA.
Tina M. Larson is Vice President of Technical Operations at Achaogen, a biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel antibacterials to treat multi-drug resistant gram-negative infections. Ms. Larson is accountable for Process Development, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality Assurance and In Vitro Diagnostic Devices. Prior to Achaogen, she was at Genentech/Roche for 20 years where she was involved in every commercial biologic product launched by Genentech through roles of increasing responsibility in Automation Engineering, Manufacturing Science, Process Development, and Global Business Operations. Ms. Larson was a member of both Genentech’s and Roche’s Technical Development leadership teams, leading functions in the U.S. and Europe. She was recognized nationally in 2012 as a Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Rising Star. Ms. Larson received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Colorado State University.
Scott Fullbright, Living Ink Technologies, Fort Collins, CO.
Prior to Living Ink, Scott spent the last 10 years in the algae bioproducts industry, where he led research and development projects in both industry and academia. His research was directed at understanding the scale-up process in algae cultivation for biofuels and bioproducts. In industry he was a laboratory manager and participate in product and business development for an algae biofuels venture that raised $17 M. His interest in biotechnology emerged from experiences as an undergraduate research assistant, whereas his curiosity for marine biology originated while teaching sailing at kids summer camps on both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Outside of work, Scott enjoys fishing, reading, sport and traveling with his wife and one year old.
Scott was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow throughout his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Colorado State University, and earned a B.S. from Michigan State University.
Panel Moderator,
Rich Feller Ph.D (www.richfeller.com) is Professor Emeritus of Counseling and Career Development and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University. Past-President of the National Career Development Association he has served as consultant to NASA, UN, NFL, AARP, and international organizations and businesses on six continents. Co-author of 3 books, 6 film series, the Who You Are Matters! (www.onelifetools.com) board game and the Career Decision Making system (www.cdminternet). As chief scientist to www.youscience.com; thought leader for www.lifereimagined.org ; and advisory board member for National University of Singapore’s Center for Future Ready Students http://nus.edu.sg/cfg/ he leads the GAUSSI Career Planning program.
