Membership | Webinars

ACS BIOT Webinar Series

Getting Drugs to Patients: Clinical Trial Design and Execution

Our BIOT Graduate Student Chapter is hosting three speakers for a panel discussion on their career journeys and involvement in the clinical trial space:
– Payal Leibiger, Supply Chain Lead at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
– Victoria Diab, Clinical Scientist at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)
– Emily Malseed, Director of Early Development Clinical Operations at Amgen
– Moderated by Thomas Leibiger, Graduate Student Chapter President & Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Delaware

Best of BIOT, Academia Edition: Biomolecule Design and Diagnostics

Hear two of our Best of BIOT 2023 winners as they share their talks from the Biomolecular Engineering & Biophysical Processes and Biosensing & Diagnostics sessions from the 2023 meeting with the rest of the BIOT community. Ahmed Sihorwala will be sharing his talk “Controlled assembly of connexon nanopores in synthetic cells using light” and Cel Welch will be sharing their talk “Integrated electronic-fluidic device for one step tissue to single-cell sequencing sample preparation”.

Equitable Hiring to Diversify Academia: A Panel Discussion with BME UNITE

View our webinar on ACS BIOT Diversity Series: Equitable hiring practices in academia with BME UNITE! We hosted a dynamic panel discussion with members of BME UNITE who recently published “Equitable hiring strategies towards a diversified faculty” in Nature Biomedical Engineering. They shared some of the key take aways from their roadmap for developing and implementing academic hiring processes that increase diversity in faculty hires.

Best of BIOT: Industry Edition – Upstream & Downstream

Hear from two of our Best of BIOT 2023 winners. Flaka Radoniqi from Amgen will be sharing her upstream talk “Solving a decade old cell growth issue: A comprehensive approach of root cause”. Then we’ll welcome Divya Chandra from Merck for her downstream talk “Holistic process development and analytical control strategy for clearing lipases, mitigating polysorbate degradation risk for drug product stability”.

Networking: How to Get Started

Hear from ACS Career Consultant and Presenter Joe Martino as he guides you through networking. It doesn’t have to be intimidating or scary and can be fun — and very useful for your first or your next job. We’ll look at tips and tricks on networking, some reasons why to network, a networking exercise and some time for Q&A. Come join me for this exciting workshop — you’ll learn a thing or two and have fun along the way!


A Discussion on Gene Therapy

Listen to our dynamic panel discussion on the evolution of gene therapy through their experiences in the biotech industry with:

Daniel Cohen, Vector Optimization Group Leader at Spark Therapeutics, Inc.
Kassi Stein, Immuno-Oncology Process Sr. Scientist at Tessera Therapeutics

We asked about how their work impacts specific clinical outcomes, key improvements they have seen in the landscape, and how students can get involved right out of graduate school.


Advances and Approaches in Drug Product Development

Join our panelists to learn how approaches and advances in drug product development support the commercialization of products for patients. We’ll be hearing perspectives from:

  • Christopher Mensch, Director of Drug Product at IGM Biosciences, Inc.
  • Sreekanth Suravajjala, Principal Scientist at Amgen
  • Akhilesh Bhambhani, Senior Director Drug Product Development at Ultragenyx
  • Babu Medi, B.Pharm, Ph.D, Head of Formulation & Drug Product Development at Interius BioTherapeutics
  • Sakya Mohapatra, Senior Director, Formulation and Process Development at ReCode Therapeutics

High Throughput Methods Utilizing Nanotechnologies

This webinar features two exciting presentations followed by Q&A:

  1. “Biomimetic array platforms for deciphering glycan-protein interactions” from Kamil Godula of UC San Diego
  2. “Trimming the fat: Accelerating translational drug discovery for lipid-mediated targets” from Prakrit Jena of Lime Therapeutics

ACS BIOT Graduate Student Chapter Presents: Pushing Boundaries As A Biotech Start-Up

This webinar aims to highlight start-ups’ important role in our exploding industry while drawing attention to the ACS BIOT Mid-Atlantic Graduate Student Chapter. The panel of speakers will be asked to share their insider perspective on what makes working in a start-up different than an established industry giant with respect to goals, culture, daily responsibilities, and specialization.


Strategies for Driving Disruptive Innovation in Biopharma: Building a Lasting Business Case

Joseph Shultz has been a forward-focused leader in biopharmaceutical development for more than 30 years. He is currently Vice President of BioProcess and Product Development at Evelo BioSciences. Over the last two decades, Joseph spearheaded the development of industry-leading “end-to-end integrated continuous manufacturing” process technology, culminating in the construction of an industry-first, commercial continuous biologics manufacturing facility. Over the years, Joseph and his teams have successfully enabled the commercial launch of eight biopharmaceutical products.


Agility in Bioprocessing: Learnings From the Pandemic & Beyond

Hear from our panel of international supply chain and manufacturing experts on how they predict the risk to their clinical programs and propose mitigation plans to maintain the supply of life-saving drugs to the patients. Featuring Arleen Paulino from Amgen, Robert S. Bottome from BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lada Ivana Laenen Horvat from GSK, and Thomas Jones from IGM Biosciences, Inc.


Best of BIOT presents: Innovations in Vaccine & Immunotherapy Development

We’re featuring two more member-voted presentations from our 2022 national meeting in San Diego, CA. First, from Andrew Swartz on “Off the Shelf to the Manufacturing Floor: Development of a Novel Coxsackievirus A21 Affinity Chromatography Step”; and second from Jessica Stark on “Engineering (Glyco)immunology”. Moderated by Brynn Olden.


BIOT Diversity Series: A Conversation on Working in the United States

Join us for our next conversation in our diversity series featuring a panel of biotech professionals who have come from various countries to start their biotech careers in the United States. Featuring Anvar Samadzoda from Eisai, Hitulkumar Patel from Gilead Sciences, Natalia Gomez from Amgen, and Sagar Dhamane from Merck & Co.


Postdoctoral Pathways Presented by ACS BIOT MidAtlantic Graduate Student Chapter

Ever wanted to know the benefits of a postdoctoral position? Join our panelists to hear how their fellowships in academia, industry, and national institutes have propelled their careers—brought to you by our own Mid-Atlantic Graduate Student Chapter. Featuring Michelle Calabrese from the University of Minnesota, Tiffany Hsu from Genentech, Madhuresh Sumit from Pfizer, and Andrea Naranjo Erazo from Columbus Technologies.


Best of BIOT Presents: Innovations in AAV Production & Analysis

Best of BIOT features member-voted presentations from our 2022 Annual National Meeting in San Diego, CA. This session features Tam Nguyen on “Multi-stage transfection method for improving recombinant adeno-associated virus production” followed by  Georgios Katsikis on “Measuring the DNA content of adeno-associated viruses using nanofluidic resonators”. Moderated by Brynn Olden.


BIOT Diversity Series: A Conversation with Nihal Tugcu

Our first diversity conversation is with Nihal Tugcu, who is excited to discuss her personal journey to becoming the Global Head of Mammalian Platform Process Development at Sanofi. Nihal currently works at Sanofi as Global Head for Mammalian Platform Process Development and Clinical Manufacturing overseeing the advancement of Sanofi’s biologics pipeline from early stages through commercialization. In this role, along with her team, Nihal also focuses on advanced manufacturing technologies to decrease footprint, increase productivity and decrease the cost of goods (COGs), and evaluate associated process analytical technologies for enhanced characterization and knowledge.


Best of BIOT Presents: Acceleration – Is It the New Normal?

Join us to discuss with our panel of experienced industry professionals if EUA timeline acceleration is the new normal for CMC development by today’s biotechnology companies. Featuring David Robbins from MedImmune, Myrta Atiles from Amgen, Albert Schmelzer from AstraZeneca, and Brian Kelley from Vir Biotechnology.

BIOT Diversity Series: Art and Practice of Microintervention with Valerie Patrick

Have you ever found yourself recovering from an awkward moment when something someone says or does is offensive to another person who looks different? Join Valerie Patrick, author of When Bad Teams Happen to Good People, to discuss why diverse teams are smarter and microintervention tactics to apply in real-world scenarios.