Contacts
Lead Organizers
Co-Chair
Heather Pichette
MBA 2009
Heather is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan and a Co-president of the Biomedical Business Club. She completed her B.S. in biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2001. Prior to MIT Sloan, Heather spent 4 ½ years at Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management Division as a Field Clinical Engineer managing pre-market clinical studies. For her summer internship, she worked as an administrative intern at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, working on a cost reduction project in the Surgical Services department. She plans to return to Medtronic in Minneapolis after graduation to pursue a role as a Project Manager in CRDM Operations.
Co-Chair
Kristi Skorija
MBA 2009
Kristi is a 2nd year Sloan MBA student, with a BS in Biology. Prior to Sloan she worked for two years at Massachusetts General Hospital performing basic science research, followed by three years of Cardiovascular Disease/Medical Device research at CVPath. While her research helped generate a handful of journal publications, she was ready to leave the lab and enter the business world of healthcare. This summer she worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals doing strategic analysis for the reimbursement department and is currently a co-president of the Sloan Biomedical Business Club.
Panel Leads
Nick Gagnon
MBA 2010
Nick is a first year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program. Prior to Sloan, Nick worked for the Public Health Agency of Canada where he was in charge of the Human Pathogen Import Permit program. Before joining the Canadian government, Nick worked for a Montreal-based biotechnology startup where he was in charge of developing the company’s technological platform and securing research funding. Nick holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. In Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University.
Thomas Kim
MBA 2010
Thomas Kim is a first year MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management, focusing on developing greater knowledge in various aspects of the US healthcare system. Prior to Sloan, Thomas was a consultant at Bain & Company’s Boston and Los Angeles offices as a member of the firm’s Healthcare Practice. He also worked as an analyst in the public finance division of Lehman Brothers in Los Angeles, working on debt financing for the State of California and other regional government entities. In addition to his consulting work, Thomas has been actively involved in pro-bono consulting projects for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, American Assistance for Cambodia and New Sector Alliance. He is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley where he received a BA in Political Economy.
Irina Kogan
MBA 2010
Irina graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.A. in mathematics and economics in 2004 and is currently a first year MBA student at MIT Sloan. Before business school, Irina worked to solve high-profile securities fraud cases in the Finance Practice at CRA International, an economic consulting firm. After graduation she hopes to apply her knowledge and skills in finance and economics to the biomedical industry.
Regina Mikulinsky
MBA 2010
Regina graduated from Connecticut College with B.A. in Psychology and is currently a first year MBA candidate at MIT Sloan. Prior to Sloan, Regina worked as Project Manager in a clinical research group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). At BWH she was responsible for overseeing several studies focusing on outcomes and cost effectiveness in Orthopedics and HIV screening. After graduation, Regina hopes to combine her prior healthcare experience and her business education to the dynamic field of healthcare.
Erin Patrice O'Hare
MBA 2010
Erin graduated from Amherst College as a biology major in 2006 and is currently a first-year MBA student at MIT Sloan. Prior to MIT Sloan, Erin spent 2 years at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston (MRL Boston) as a Biologist. At MRL Boston, she focused on developing cancer models that were used to test the efficacy of drugs in the development pipeline. Before working at Merck, Erin conducted animal behavior research on serotonin levels in fighting fish. This research led to a publication in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior (2007).
Joseph P. Sterk
MBA 2010 & SM 2011
Joe is a 1st-year MBA/SM candidate at MIT Sloan and the Harvard-MIT Biomedical Enterprise Program, and a VP of the Biomedical Business Club. Prior to MIT Sloan, he worked in consulting as an Associate at Clarion Healthcare, and in equity research assisting in coverage of the biotechnology sector at Deutsche Bank. Joe also worked in a laboratory where he first-authored a leading assay of the metabolic enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). In 2001, he graduated from Harvard University with an AB in Biochemical Sciences. In his spare time, Joe enjoys weightlifting, biotech/pharma equity investing, and cooking.
Jennifer Woodfin
MBA 2010
Jennifer Woodfin studied management as an MIT undergraduate and returned to MIT Sloan last fall as a member of the MBA class of 2010. She worked most recently in the Commercial department at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, where she engaged in forecasting, market research and competitive intelligence for the company's biogeneric and novel drug candidates. Prior to that, she held the role of Associate Consultant at ZS Associates, focusing on sales force optimization and market research for a variety of biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and device clients.
Beatka Zakrzewski
MBA 2010
Beatka Zakrzewski is a first year MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to joining MIT Sloan, Beatka worked as a Senior Financial Analyst in GlaxoSmithKline's Economic Analysis and Trading Arrangements group. Before GlaxoSmithKline, Beatka was an Associate in KPMG's Economic and Valuation Services group where she focused on transfer pricing analysis. Beatka has a BSFS degree in International Economics from Georgetown University.
Additional Support
Tessa Strong
MBA 2010
Tessa Strong is a Class of 2010 MBA Candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. At Sloan, Tessa is focused on further developing her knowledge base in the ‘business of science’ with plans to pursue a position in life sciences strategy after graduation. Prior to Sloan, Tessa was the Manager of Business Development at STEMCELL Technologies, a leading biotech company in Vancouver, Canada. In this role, Tessa was responsible for developing strategic relationships with academic and industrial partners and managing the company’s key licensing initiatives. Tessa holds a B.Sc. in Biology and Commerce from the University of British Columbia. In her spare time, she enjoys camping in the BC wilderness, playing soccer, and supporting the Vancouver Canucks!
Ashkan Kamali
MBA 2010
Ashkan Kamali is a first year MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In the last eight years, he has been involved in many aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, from mid-late stage discovery through support of flagship products. Prior to Sloan, Ashkan was responsible for leading efforts to minimize timelines, maximize resources and increase probability of success for the drug development process, particularly at early developmental stages. His key accomplishments include: early development of and authoring the regulatory filings for JANUMET™ and several patents and publications in the drug delivery field. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.
Hosts and Volunteers
Members of the MIT Sloan BioMedical Business Club
The MIT Sloan BioMedical Business Club is a student-run organization that promotes leadership and involvement in the life science industries comprised of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare. We are a forum for ideas and actions linking students, scientists, and professionals from leading universities, businesses, and non-profit organizations.
Advisors
Ken MorseDirector, MIT Entrepreneurship Center |
Jose PachecoProgram Manager , MIT Entrepreneurship Center |
