Archives: Speakers

Dr. Ehrhardt is a biophysicist with a Ph.D. in human physiology. Throughout her career, she focused on driving biomedical research through efficient application of innovative technologies and strategies. She built and led successful teams in industry, including at Merck, where she headed a laboratory providing leading technologies for cell-based research from early discovery through manufacturing; and at BMS where Dr. Ehrhardt led and grew an international clinical assay team to robustly cover large scale registrational and translational clinical analysis generating clinical decision-driving data and mechanistic insights for immuno-oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, metabolic and rare disease studies. Before returning to Merck, Dr. Ehrhardt fulfilled one of her scientific aspirations at CHDI Foundation, designing and implementing successful clinical biomarker discovery and development strategies for Huntington’s disease. Currently, at Merck, Dr. Ehrhardt is providing strategic and technical leadership for the development and implementation of industry-leading and QC-friendly cell-based assays and models for potency determination that reflect the unique mechanisms of biologics products in clinical studies and beyond.

Ella Balasa is a patient advocate, consultant, and a person living with cystic fibrosis. She has committed her time to empowering patients and advancing healthcare strategies. She speaks publicly about the value of patient perspective and has a passion for distilling clinical information for patient communities. Through opportunities working with healthcare organizations on content strategy, writing, speaking, clinical trial development, and sharing the patient experience she aims to affect the healthcare landscape by raising awareness of rare diseases, promoting self-advocacy to patients, and valuable insights to organizations. More of her work and experiences can be found at www.ellabalasa.com.

Li Yan, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Brii Biosciences, has the overall responsibility for clinical development, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, drug safety, IT and data sciences, quality assurance, and other related functions. As a founding member of the company, he is accountable for building the development team in US and China, strategizing portfolio, driving execution of clinical development programs and product registrations. He led the development, approval, and launch of first neutralizing antibody therapy against COVID-19 amubarvimab/romlusevimab in China. He is also responsible for communications with investors and successfully took the company IPO.

Prior to joining the company, Dr. Yan was Vice President and Head Unit Physician of GSK Oncology, where he oversaw global development of oncology assets focusing on immunotherapy, cancer epigenetics, and cell therapy. Prior to his tenure at GSK, he was Executive Director at Merck responsible for clinical development of oncology, respiratory and immunology, infectious diseases, and vaccines in emerging markets including the development of immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in China and other emerging markets countries. Dr. Yan started his industry career with Centocor, a Johnson & Johnson company, leading both discovery and clinical development of anti-cancer biologics.

Dr. Yan received his medical degree from Medical College of Peking University and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas Medical Center. He completed his post-graduate training at Beijing Cancer Hospital, Peking University, and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School enterprise executive program. Dr. Yan served adjunct professorships at Peking University and Yonsei University, and he is Managing Director of the US Chinese Anti-Cancer Association. He also serves in scientific committees of Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and Chinese Society for Clinical Oncology. He has published over 90 manuscripts and book chapters.

Adam joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2016 and has held various roles in Oncology Clinical Protocol Operations, Oncology Clinical Development and Global Clinical Trial Strategy & Operations.  Adam is currently the Global Development Operations Therapeutic Area Head for Solid Tumor Oncology leading a team of Operation Portfolio Leads with Full Development.  Before joining BMS, Adam worked for several other sponsors (Wyeth, Merck) and CRO partners across all phases of development and multiple indications including Metabolism, cardiovascular, CNS and Oncology.   Having started his clinical career as a Clinical Nurse Assistant he built upon this experience at the patient bedside and started in industry with a role in data management but has spent the bulk of his time in clinical trial management (project and portfolio management).  Adam holds his Bachelor of Science in Biology and French and a Master of Business Administration.  Adam lives in Pennsylvania, with his wife, Marci, and two children, Vivienne and Oliver.  He is an avid morning runner and usually starts his day with a few miles run and the obligatory few cups of coffee.

Anita Mc Bain joined the Corporate Finance & Stewardship team in April 2018 and assumed the title of Head of Responsible Investment & ESG in September 2018. Anita provides ESG support across equities and fixed income working very closely with the equity and credit analysts and portfolio managers on deep-dive ESG research, thematic research and ESG engagement. Anita regularly speaks at conferences on topics such as climate risk, company ESG disclosure and sustainability topics including anti-microbial resistance, commodity driven deforestation and palm oil and single-use plastic. Before joining M&G, Anita spent six years as Director Sustainability & Corporate Engagement at an impact investment fund that was focused on mitigating climate change and delivering a societal and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Prior to that, Anita was a fixed income credit analyst for various sell-side and buy-side firms.

Narina Tailor and her team manage the wealth of a small subset of highly successful Entrepreneurs, Corporate Executives, Family Offices both within the UK and globally to offer trust and wealth advisory services as well as the full suite of investment products to create bespoke solutions to meet clients’ needs. Additionally, Citi Private Bank’s unique positioning within the broader Institutional Clients Group means we are able to connect clients to the services of our Corporate and Investment Bank through a single point of contact in the Private Bank.

As Co-Head of the NextGen Initiative within Citi Private Bank EMEA, we organise inspiring events for Next Generation and Millennial entrepreneurs and professionals to network and hear from inspiring thought-leaders. The network also holds a number of personal development initiatives to promote and up-skill Citi Private Bank’s Junior Talent.

Passionate sustainability and procurement leader with the mission to put ESG at the heart of all supplier relationships. 15+ years’ senior level experience, driving strategic partnerships and embedding sustainability goals into supply network. Collaboration catalyst, initiative builder, and speaker, I put responsible sourcing front and center in business and procurement strategy.

Marion Laboure is a Senior Economist at Deutsche Bank in London and Lecturer at Harvard University. She has extensive private sector, public policy, and monetary policy experience, including at the European Commission, the IMF, the Luxembourg Central Bank, and Barclays. She received first prize from the American Society of Actuaries, Revue Banque nominated her as a rising star in finance, she is part of the 45 standout women in fintech, and Business Insider named her a cryptocurrency mastermind. She is the author of Democratising Finance published by Harvard University Press.