Career Links

Career Links is a half-day program for advanced degree students and recent MBA, JD, and PhD graduates with insight into current and future career opportunities. These insights come directly from the experiences of recent graduates and upper-level professionals working in some of the top life sciences firms. Career Links also seeks to ramp up use of the iBIO Career Website, which is the only career site dedicated solely to the Illinois Life Sciences Community.

Career Links 2009

Date:

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sponsorship for the
Career Links program
is provided by the
Valent BioSciences
Corporation.

Time:

7:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Location:

Hyatt Regency Chicago
Water Tower Room
151 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL

Registration:

The fee is $30.

Keynote Speaker:

Miles D. White
Chairman and CEO, Abbott

Panel Discussion Overview

Business Panel:

5 Panelists + 1 Moderator
Presentation & Q&A

Four dynamic MBAs working in diverse positions at the life sciences firms at the forefront of technology innovation lead the Career Links Business Forum. Panelists will discuss their individual career paths and reveal what they wished they had known when they applied for their first jobs out of business school.

Business Panel Members

Moderator:
Robyn Barber
Sr. Staffing Manager
Medication Delivery
Baxter International Inc.

Andrew Cittadine, MS, MBA
CEO
American BioOptics

Jason D. Clark, MPH, MBA
Marketing Manager
Public Health and Forestry Business Unit
Valent BioSciences Corporation

Kristi Lengyel, MBA
Assistant Director
Advocacy and Alliance Development
Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America

Paroo Uppal, MS, MBA
Senior Director
Cellular Therapies
Baxter International Inc.

Peter C. Wood, MBA
Product Manager
Dermatology
Abbott Immunology

Science Panel:

4 Panelists + 1 Moderator
Presentation & Q&A

The Career Links Science Panel provides students graduating from Ph.D. programs with insight into myriad career opportunities in the life sciences. The panelists—five young scientists on the fast track at some of the top pharmaceutical, ag-bio, medical device/diagnostic, and biotechnology firms in the country—will discuss their work life, how they discovered their unique career paths, and probe many of the questions facing new graduates including: industry or academia? For an unvarnished account straight from the source of what it is really like to be a scientist working in industry—attend the Career Links Science Panel.

Science Panel Members:

Moderator:
Heather Behanna, PhD
Sr. Scientist Medicinal Chemist
Astellas Research Institute of America

John E. Conour, PhD
Patent Agent
Dykema Gossett PLLC

Delara Motlagh, PhD
Regenerative Medicine
Cellular Therapies
Baxter International Inc.

Jim Pedicano, MS, MBA
Project Director
Takeda Global Research and Development

Jeffrey Rhode, PhD
Research Investigator
Chemistry
Abbott