CUPS Beyond the Postdoc Series: Biotech Career Panel + Networking

Columbia University Postdoc Society is excited to host a new career panel for R&D in Biotech Industry!
Registration website

This event will feature guest panelists from across a range of biotech companies and different positions. Event will take place on Zoom on July 8th, 2021 in the following format:

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Eastern: Panel discussion

6:00 pm - 6.30 pm Eastern: Networking session (with cameras on among attendees)

Zoom link will be sent twice a few days & a few hours before the event to registered attendees. Hope to see you there!

Our featured panelists are:

Divya Mathur is the Director of Immuno-oncology at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where she is leading development of immunotherapeutics targeted to the tumor and tumor microenvironment. She has several years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently at Pfizer, developing T cell engaging bispecific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates, leading programs from target discovery to first-in-human studies. Divya received her Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed her postdoctoral research in Genetics and Development at Columbia University Medical Center.

Hans Christinger is Vice President of Business Development & Alliance Management at Ovid Therapeutics. Hans is a dedicated leader, innovator and advocate in the rare disease community with over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. At Ovid, Hans establishes and manages global strategic partnerships to rapidly bring potential therapeutics to patients and families affected by rare, neurological disorders, such as Ovid’s relationships with Columbia, UConn, Takeda, Lundbeck and Angelini.

Hans is driven by hope and passion to increase awareness and advance a scientific understanding for members of the rare disease community. He plays a critical role in bringing together multiple stakeholders to address the unmet therapeutic needs of the rare disease community.

Hans has led and executed numerous strategic transactions for Ovid, Ophthotech (Iveric), Abbott, Roche and Vertex. Having been based both in the US and abroad, he established and led teams to enable global, regional and local transactions across more than 30 countries in emerging and developed markets.

Hans is an active board member and advisor to the KIF1A Foundation, NYBIO and several early-stage biotechnology companies.

Hans began his career as a bench scientist at Genentech where he authored 15 structural biology related peer-reviewed papers. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Babson College, a Master of Science in Chemistry from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Vermont.

Varsha got her Masters in Biotechnology at St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, India. Once she graduated, she went on to get her PhD at UTSouthwestern in Dallas, Texas, where she worked in the lab of Dr. Michael Buszczak, on in vivo CRISPR based genetic screens using Drosophila as a model system to discover novel genes crucial for germ cell development and maintenance. After completing her work in graduate school, she went on to a short industry postdoc at Boehringer-Ingelheim in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Here, she worked on uncovering genetic pathways and small molecules that aid adult cell transdifferentiation to pancreatic beta cells.

Currently, she works as a Research Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston, Massachusetts, where her work focusses on pipeline projects like Alpha 1 Anti Trypsin Deficiency along with exploratory projects uncovering new therapies for other rare genetic diseases. Along with her science, Varsha enjoys cooking, dancing and styling!

Eric Prinslow is a Scientist at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2019. In his current role, Eric specializes in the analytical development of large molecule biotherapeutics. He works with cross-functional teams to develop, qualify, and validate analytical methods for in-process controls and release/stability testing. He supports test method development and optimization for large molecule drug products for both early and late phase biotherapeutics, and has experience working with multiple internal manufacturing sites, as well as external partners.

For questions, please contact:

Sindhuja Devanapally ([email protected])

Rashmi Voleti ([email protected])

Aditi Falnikar ([email protected])