Tag

Leadership

Bold and Unafraid: Lessons in Leadership and the Value of Manufacturing in Building the Next Great Biotech
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Bold and Unafraid: Lessons in Leadership and the Value of Manufacturing in Building the Next Great Biotech

Tim Maines joined Alnylam in August 2017 as the Global Head of Quality Assurance and Quality Control and was promoted to Chief Technical Operations and Quality Officer in April of 2023, holding over 35 years of experience. Prior to joining Alnylam, Tim was a member of the senior leadership teams at Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Omthera Pharmaceuticals, Astra Zeneca/MedImmune, GTC Biotherapeutics (formerly Genzyme Transgenics) and Stryker Biotech where he provided strategic input and independent quality and technical oversight of each company’s global GxP operations. In total, these experiences resulted with the commercialization and market expansion of thirteen novel medicines, including four FDA-approved therapies at Alnylam.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Microbiology from Gannon University.

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Fireside Chat: Accelerating Innovation and Manufacturing Excellence: Leveraging Over 30 Years of Biotech Leadership and Cell Therapy Success
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Fireside Chat: Accelerating Innovation and Manufacturing Excellence: Leveraging Over 30 Years of Biotech Leadership and Cell Therapy Success

Dr. Joanne Beck is currently Chief Technology Officer at Abata Therapeutics. Prior to this, she served as Chief Technology Officer at Aerium Therapeutics and COO at Boston Pharmaceuticals, a private company developing candidates across multiple indications in cardiometabolic, oncology, and immune/inflammatory diseases. Prior to joining Boston Pharmaceuticals, she was Executive Vice President of Global Pharmaceutical Development and Operations at Celgene where she oversaw the company’s Product Development, Global Manufacturing Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering and Quality. Prior to Celgene, she was SVP of Pharmaceutical Development at Shire. Prior to Shire she held roles of increasing responsibility in Process Development at Genentech and Amgen and in Operations at Abbott’s Pharmaceutical and Vascular Divisions. Beck holds a BA in Chemistry from Lewis and Clark College, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Oregon Medical School and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Beck serves on the board of directors for Orchard Therapeutics and Astria Therapeutics.

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A Speaker Roundtable from NAMES25 — A Conversation About Manufacturing Leadership with SAP, DESTACO, and Boeing
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

A Speaker Roundtable from NAMES25 — A Conversation About Manufacturing Leadership with SAP, DESTACO, and Boeing

At the 2025 edition of the long-running and successful North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we recorded a special episode of Executive Platforms’ BluEPrint Podcast series speaking to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.

In this wide-ranging, organic conversation, three manufacturing executives share their thoughts and experiences on the issues and ideas they care about. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to manufacturing leaders today. Give it a listen!

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The Fundamentals, Wins, and Successes Manufacturers Can Focus On in Times of Disruption — A Conversation with AlixPartners
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

The Fundamentals, Wins, and Successes Manufacturers Can Focus On in Times of Disruption — A Conversation with AlixPartners

At the 2025 edition of the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we sat down with some of the team from AlixPartners to talk about what manufacturing leaders can do to move their operations forward at a time when long-term planning is off the table for the time being.

The answer is surprisingly positive!

Making the mental shift from working on the strategic big picture to the tactical best practices that day-to-day operations depend upon opens up many opportunities to give time, attention, and resources to the issues and ideas that are sometimes forgotten about or put to one side as ‘good enough’ or ‘not a priority.’ The truth is there are many easy wins and low-hanging fruits that are not worked on in times of stability and certainty that can add up to substantial improvements in productivity, profitability, and employee job satisfaction when leaders concentrate within their own operations and teams to optimize what they can control while waiting for greater clarity on what is still up in the air in the future.

For an optimistic and impactful conversation about what manufacturers can do right now to make impactful positive changes in their organizations right now, give this episode a listen!

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Culture Rules Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.)
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Culture Rules Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.)

Liz joined Panasonic in 2019 with over 20 years of experience implementing high-value HR programs from organizational development, change management, workforce planning and mergers & acquisitions in global organizations – Toys R Us, Pearson and most recently NICE. As the Chief Human Resources (HR) Officer, Liz is responsible for leading the Company’s HR technology and employee experience strategy.

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Fireside Chat: HR as a Business Driver
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Fireside Chat: HR as a Business Driver

Betty Larson joined Merck in April 2024 as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer. She is responsible for global human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion for the company.

She has extensive domain expertise with more than two decades in the health care industry. She most recently served as chief people officer of GE HealthCare, a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator. She provided strategy and leadership for GE HealthCare’s human resources and corporate marketing and communications teams.

Betty also served as executive vice president and chief human resources officer of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) from 2018 to 2022, a global medical technology company, where work responsibilities also included strategy and leadership for communications and social investing. Betty joined BD through the acquisition of C.R. Bard Inc., a medtech company focused on vascular, urology and surgical specialty products. She served as C.R. Bard’s chief human resources officer responsible for human resources and communications from 2014 until the acquisition in 2017.

Betty spent the first 16 years of her career at Baxter International, a global medtech company. She was in human resources leadership roles of increasing responsibility in their pharmaceuticals, renal therapies, vaccines, bio pharmaceuticals and hospital products businesses.

She is on the board of directors for Baxter Credit Union. She has served on the board of Fortrea, contributing as a member of the nominating, corporate governance and compliance committee. Betty also served on the board for the Overlook Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support the New Jersey-based Overlook Medical Center in its mission to provide high-quality care to patients. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.

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The Ripple Effect: How C-Level Leadership Behavior Shapes Organizational Culture — A Conversation with Barbara Hess of CCS Medical
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES, PODCAST

The Ripple Effect: How C-Level Leadership Behavior Shapes Organizational Culture — A Conversation with Barbara Hess of CCS Medical

At the 2025 edition of the North American HR Executive Summit series we sat down with Barbara Hess of CCS Medical to talk about the power and responsibility HR professionals have to help the C-Suite executives of their organization set a tone and reflect the values they want to see in their company culture. While leading by example is always important and valuable, there are all kinds of tangible dividends that pay out when a workforce sees what its leadership care about and put their energies towards. From productivity to safety to retention to cultural transformations that build positive outcomes in all sorts of ways, big and small, a lot a of great things can come from HR working with senior leadership to build culture. For all this and more, give this episode a listen!

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Building a Future-Fit Finance Function
FINANCE, VIDEO, FINANCE

Building a Future-Fit Finance Function

Dr. Elmar-Marius Licharz, Chief Financial Officer for Volkswagen North American Region and Volkswagen Group of America, oversees the development and implementation of the financial strategy for Volkswagen Group of America.

Elmar joined Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 2005, and most recently served in the position of Head of Digital Finance. Prior to joining Volkswagen AG, Elmar worked for McKinsey & Company, Inc. where he was responsible for national and international projects in the pharmaceutical, aerospace and automotive industries.

Elmar earned his PhD at the University of Kassel.

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Managing the Change and Transformation of Finance Teams
FINANCE, VIDEO, FINANCE

Managing the Change and Transformation of Finance Teams

Melissa Leonard currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Corporate Treasurer at Merck, overseeing the company’s capital structure, cash management, investments, and risk management since July 2024. Previous roles at Merck include Vice President & CFO for the Manufacturing Division and Associate Vice President for various finance functions, where responsibilities spanned across manufacturing, marketing, and financial leadership for the Organon spin. Specifically, Melissa previously served as Regional CFO for the Company’s business in Europe and Canada and Finance Lead for the UK & Ireland. Melissa holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University.

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The Speaker Roundtable from BMWS24 — A Conversation About Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Issues and Ideas
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

The Speaker Roundtable from BMWS24 — A Conversation About Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Issues and Ideas

For this special episode of Executive Platforms’ bluEPrint Podcast series we had some of the most senior speakers and delegates from the 2024 edition of the long-running Biomanufacturing World Summit series sit down and speak to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.

With topics ranging from leadership and culture, to talent attraction, development and retention, to supply chain issues, to commercializing CGTs and other ATMPs, change and disruption throughout the business landscape, and how to serve patients better now and in the future, this wide-ranging conversation sees five senior executives from five very different companies speaking to the issues, ideas, innovations, and inspirations that matter to all of them as guided by a moderator who knows the industry inside and out. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to biopharma technical operations leaders today. Give it a listen!

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Authentic Leadership
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Authentic Leadership

As Chief Global Supply Officer, Executive Vice President, Mike McDermott leads Pfizer’s internal and external manufacturing and supply chain activities.

Mike and the Pfizer Global Supply (PGS) team work to ensure uninterrupted supply for Pfizer’s entire product portfolio. This includes hundreds of medicines and vaccines provided to more than 185 countries worldwide. The PGS network, which includes more than 30 global manufacturing sites and approximately 31,000 colleagues, also works with more than 300 contract manufacturers to produce 50 billion doses of medicines and vaccines each year.

Mike has more than 30 years of industry experience, having joined Pfizer in 1989, by way of Wyeth, after starting as a Project Engineer in Pearl River, New York. He has held many roles, including Plant Manager and Operational Vice President of multiple divisions, including Consumer Healthcare, Biotechnology and Supply Chain, as well as roles in Finance and Marketing.

He was named President of PGS in 2018 and assumed his current role in January 2022.

A passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Mike has enacted impactful changes to increase diversity within PGS and was recently named Executive Sponsor of Pfizer’s Women’s Resource Group, the company’s largest Colleague Resource Group.

In addition to ambitious goals related to product supply at launch and manufacturing cycle times, Mike and PGS support Pfizer’s Net Zero strategy, which includes delivering Greenhouse Gas reductions.

Mike, his wife Katie and their five daughters – of whom he is incredibly proud – are committed to community engagement and social action. An active volunteer himself, Mike was a Board Member for People to People, a non-profit organization which helps under-served communities, for 10 years.

Mike holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Industrial Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where he has been an adjunct professor. He was named an NJIT Distinguished Alumnus and is the recipient of the 2023 Newark College of Engineering Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Mike serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Manufacturers and is a member of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Forum.

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Empowering A Culture of Operational Excellence For Sustainable Growth
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Empowering A Culture of Operational Excellence For Sustainable Growth

Tina Self is a dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, specializing in quality and manufacturing. Currently, she serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Biologics Manufacturing and Berkeley Site Head at Bayer. Tina has been with Bayer for over eight years, where she has held several key leadership roles, including Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Vice President of Quality. She is recognized for her strategic oversight of manufacturing processes, commitment to quality assurance, and her ability to drive continuous improvement. Tina holds an MS in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA in International Business from Florida Atlantic University.

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Leading a Technical Organization Through Uncertainty
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Leading a Technical Organization Through Uncertainty

C. Greg Guyer, Ph.D, joined BioMarin in May 2020 and currently serves as Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Technical Operations, responsible for overseeing our manufacturing, process development, quality, supply chain, engineering and analytical chemistry departments. From 2015 to 2019, Dr. Guyer served in a number of increasingly responsible positions at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), primarily leading all of operations and biologic development. Prior to BMS, Dr. Guyer worked for Merck & Co., Inc., from 1994 to 2015, leading various global organizations in biologic and pharmaceutical operations, quality, regulatory, emerging markets strategy and enterprise systems. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Georgia Research Foundation.

Dr. Guyer earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from American University, Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Georgia and Master of Business Administration degree from Lehigh University

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The TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program — A Conversation with Pascal Bécotte and Laurent Rossi
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES, PODCAST

The TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program — A Conversation with Pascal Bécotte and Laurent Rossi

The TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program — A Conversation with Pascal Bécotte and Laurent Rossi

Description
At the 2024 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series Pascal Bécotte of Russell Reynolds and Laurent Rossi, the former CEO of the F1 team Alpine and a former Google Executive, spoke about Peak Performance Leadership. In this follow-up interview they explain some of the origins and themes behind that presentation, and then launched into details of the TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program first outlined in an interview at PMWS23. How can biopharmaceutical manufacturers address the generational gap in leadership for technical operations roles that will need to be filled as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) begin to commercialize and scale? For updates on how the industry collectively is working to address this critical bottleneck to growth, give this episode a listen!

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Abundance of IQ, Scarcity of EQ – The Criticality of Leadership in an AI World
VIDEO, SUPPLY CHAIN, SUPPLY CHAIN — EUROPE

Abundance of IQ, Scarcity of EQ – The Criticality of Leadership in an AI World

Fares “rallying cry” for his organization is #BreakingRecordsTogether, as he believes in achieving ambitious goals through strong collaboration and sharing, through building skills and confidence, and through being openminded to technical evolutions that help businesses & organizations to serve consumers better than ever before.

Fares leads the global Product Supply Organization of P&G’s biggest business, producing world-class Fabric-Care products and serving consumers around the world. After starting his P&G career 35 years ago in the Dammam plant, he led 4 different P&G plants in Yemen, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, before broadening his scope as the Product Supply Director of P&G’s Central Europe, Middle East & Africa & Western Europe regions.

After this, Fares led P&G’s Global Ambi Pur Division as General Manager, bringing in his extensive Supply Chain-, Business- and Consumer experience. Before taking on his current role as Global Leader of Fabric Care Product Supply, Fares led P&G’s European Supply Chain organization for 10 years, developing the Product Supply function to automate and digitize the end-to-end planning systems as he led in parallel the in Global Business Services and IT for supply planning.

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Navigating Cultural Transformation
FOOD MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Navigating Cultural Transformation

Daniela leads our operations team, including all U.S. manufacturing and quality programs. She has nearly 30 years of experience in the food industry with expertise in supply chain management, engineering, manufacturing, R&D, and business operations. The majority of Daniela’s career has been spent in supply chain leadership roles with Campbell’s including Vice President Manufacturing and Vice President Americas Supply Chain Business Development roles. She most recently served as Vice President Operations with Shearer’s Foods and Vice President Manufacturing for Weston Foods, where she directed multiple manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Canada. She also managed delivery of safety, quality, cost, volume, and service results for all U.S. and Canadian customers. Daniela is a graduate of University of Toronto.

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