Being a Life Sciences Leader
With a bird’s-eye-view of the life sciences industry, Life Sciences Pennsylvania President & CEO, Chris Molineaux, joins Rachael Bushey, Partner and Co-managing Partner of the Philadelphia office of Goodwin Procter to welcome life sciences leaders to give insights into the complex and high-risk world of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics and the services that support them. Here we learn what it means to be a life sciences leader.
Episodes
73 episodes
Lex Johnson, PhD, Dispatch Bio
In this episode, Lex discusses Dispatch Bio’s growth from its early days, how academia and entrepreneurship have shaped their approach to innovation, and what it means to be named LSPA’s Emerging Company of the Year. The conversation also explo...
Zev Sunleaf, CHOP
Stream the third episode of Season 9 - featuring the 2026 Award Honorees. Join Zev as he discusses his work at CHOP, advancing innovation in pediatric healthcare, and the power of collaboration across the life sciences industry. Hear insights o...
Stanley Plotkin, MD, Global Virus Network, Merlin Biotech
Stream the second episode of Season 9 - featuring the 2026 Award Honorees. This week’s episode is with Dr. Stanley Plotkin, renowned virologist and developer of the rubella vaccine, as he reflects on his career, key vaccine breakthroughs and th...
Paul Friedman, MD, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Prelude Therapeutics
Stream the first episode of Season 9 - featuring the 2026 Award Honorees. We kick off Season 9 with Dr. Paul Friedman, recipient of the Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Award, as he discusses his career journey from academic medicine at Harvard Medical S...
Will Kane, MBA, Uniquity Bio
Tune in to the Season 8 finale of Being a Life Sciences Leader featuring Will Kane. In this episode, Will reflects on his leadership experiences that span startups and global organizations. Learn about his role leading organizations th...
David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc
Tune in to this episode featuring David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, as he shares his remarkable journey from being diagnosed with Castleman disease to identifying a repurposed drug that ultimately saved his life. Learn how his experience led to t...
Kris Vaddi, PhD, Prelude Therapeutics
Tune in to this episode featuring Kris, Vaddi, PhD, as he shares his insights on leadership, vision and resilience. From founding successful biotech and therapeutic companies to pioneering a product that generates nearly $5 billion in worldwide...
Jeanne Cunicelli, UPMC Enterprises
Tune in to this episode to hear from Jeanne Cunicelli as she discusses her role as the President of UPMC Enterprises. Learn about her experience as a venture capitalist, leadership advice for emerging leaders in the industry, the opportunities ...
Ger Brophy, PhD, ElevateBio
Tune in to this episode to hear from Ger Brophy as he discusses his global leadership success. Learn about his career spanning the UK, Sweden, Ireland and the United States, his role in the completion of a $3.33 billion IPO and advice for aspir...
Nick Pachuda, DPM, Peptilogics
In this episode, Nick shares his career journey spanning almost 30 years of clinical and industry experience in the life sciences, including orthopedic surgery, med tech and biotech. Learn about Nick's career path and his advice to aspiring lea...
Jonathan Steckbeck, PhD, MBA, Peptilogics
Episode 3 features Jonathan Steckbeck, PhD, MBA, CEO & Founder, Peptilogics. Tune in as Jonathan shares his career journey, the inspiration behind starting Peptilogics - a company that revolutionizes the discovery p...
Teresa Whalen, CytoAgents
This episode features Teresa Whalen, CEO, CytoAgents. Learn about Teresa's motivation to keeping patients at the forefront of her work, her experience as a leader in the life sciences industry, advice on how to fundraise in a difficult environm...
Caroll Neubauer, Water Street Healthcare Advisors
This episode features Caroll Neubauer, Executive Advisor, Water Street Healthcare Advisors. Learn about Caroll's career spanning over 3 decades in the med tech industry, his leadership role as the Chairman and CEO at B. Braun US...
Bill Sibold, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals
Tune in and learn about the $660 million public offering Madrigal Pharmaceuticals received to deliver novel therapeutics for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Hear from Bill Sibold as he shares his experience leading one of the year's most s...
Devlin Robinson, PA State Senate
Join us as Senator Robinson discusses his key role in passing SB954 - which provides Pennsylvanians better access to personalized treatments following a diagnosis of cancer and other specific diseases through biomarker testing and precision med...
Kyle Mullins, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Tune in to this episode with Representative Mullins, recipient of the 2024 State Official of the Year Award, and learn about his pivotal role in passing
Ben Doranz, PhD, MBA, Integral Molecular
Ben Doranz, recipient of the 2024 Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year Award, joins Chris and Rachael this episode to discuss how he led his team through a transformative year in 2024. Under Ben's leadership, Integral Molecular secured an $...
Adrian Rawcliffe, Adaptimmune
This episode features Adrian (Ad) Rawcliffe, CEO, Adaptimmune, recipient of the Life Sciences PA 2024 Patient Impact Award.Ad shares the story behind TECELRA - the first FDA approved engineered cell therapy for a solid tumor. Learn abou...
Fred Vogt, Iovance Biotherapeutics
This episode features Fred Vogt, Interim CEO at Iovance Biotherapeutics, recipient of the 2024 Patient Impact Award. In this episode, Fred shares the journey behind AMTAGVI - the first FDA approved tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL...
Rob Albert, B. Braun
This episode features Rob Albert, CEO of B. Braun of America, the organization receiving the 2024 Patient Impact Award. Hear from Rob and discover how B. Braun took decisive action during Hurricanes Helene and Milton to secure the s...
Adele Oliva, 1315 Capital
Adele Oliva, recipient of the 2025 Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Leadership Award joins Chris and Rachael to discuss her impact on the life sciences industry in PA supporting the growth of commercial stage healthcare companies. In this ep...
Jeff O'Donnell, Runway Healthcare
This episode features Jeffrey O'Donnell Sr., the recipient of the 2025 John Nash MedTech Leadership Award. This award recognizes an outstanding leader in the PA MedTech community who best exemplifies the spirit of innovation.
Paul Frankhouser, 2025 Scientific Achievement Award Honoree
Season 7 of Being a Life Sciences Leader launches with interviews with our 2025 Annual Award Honorees. Paul Frankhouser will be honored with the 2025 Scientific Achievement Award for his decades of experience bringing innovative technology to p...
Suzanna Masartis, Community Liver Alliance, LIVE from LSPA's Patient Summit
The season finale of Being a Life Sciences Leader features a LIVE recording from our Patient Summit held in November 2024. Suzanna Masartis, CEO of the Community Liver Alliance, joins Chris and Allison Nicklin of Goodwin to discuss her journey ...