Speaker Bios
Dr. Scott Alban is director and Intellectual Property Counsel at MedImmune, Inc. in Gaithersburg,mMaryland. He has been at MedImmune for five years. Scott manages a number of patent estates including MedImmune’s entire influenza vaccine patent and trademark portfolios, which protect e.g., FluMist®, MedImmune’s live attenuated influenza vaccine marketed in the U.S. Scott also works in areas of in-licensing and out-licensing intellectual property, third party due diligence, and litigation. Prior to joining MedImmune, Scott was at Human Genome Sciences, Inc. in Rockville, Maryland for several years. Scott has a PhD in microbiology from Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), a law degree from American University (Washington, D.C.), and is a registered U.S. patent attorney.
Eleanor Babco currently serves as senior consultant for the Professional Master’s Program (PSM) and co-PI for the Professional Science Master’s (PSM) project at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). At CGS, she manages the data collection efforts related to the PSM project, leads the effort to provide guidance to existing PSM programs, and communicates with all stakeholders in this initiative. In addition, she works on special projects at CGS under the direction of the CGS president. Babco is the former executive director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, a nonprofit corporation in Washington, D.C. At the Commission, she was the editor for CPST publications, the principal investigator on two initiatives supported by the Sloan Foundation: 1) the STEM Workforce Data Project, which draws upon the full range of statistical resources offered by U.S. federal agencies, as well as private sources of information to identify, compile, and distribute reliable statistics on STEM workers in the U.S. and 2) a project to revitalize the master’s degree in science, with particular attention to the PSM degree. She also served as co-PI on a NSF-funded project to study Career Trajectories of Master’s Degree Recipients in the Sciences.
She was educated as a chemist at Immacula College and Catholic University, but has devoted her professional career to the analysis and interpretation of education and employment data about scientists and engineers and has written and published extensively on these issues. She received the WEPAN-sponsored Betty Vetter Award for Research in 2001 and was named an AWIS fellow in 2002.
Brenda Baker is a technical report writer in the Molecular Biology Department at BioReliance. She earned her master's degree in biotechnology in fall 2006 from UMUC. Being trained in social work, she worked for ten years as a therapist for adults with disabilities. Brenda's interest in biotechnology was sparked when she worked for an independent bio-medical testing laboratory coordinating toxicology, microbiology, and chemistry testing of products to ensure FDA compliance. She also worked for a law firm conducting research on the 2001 anthrax attacks. During the last two years, she has been a UMUC graduate teaching assistant for BIOT 681 Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, BIOT 640 Societal Issues, and BIOT 682 Lab Practicum.
Dr. Marie Cini serves as vice provost and dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies at UMUC. Dr. Cini has over twenty years of experience with various facets of adult and distance education.
Before joining UMUC, Dr. Cini held the positions of associate vice president for Academic Affairs and interim dean of the School of Management at City University of Seattle in Bellevue, Washington. In these positions, she led several major change initiatives including greater engagement among faculty, greater role clarity and responsibility, an accelerated program and course development process, a renewed e-campus initiative, a more tightly focused professional and continuing education unit, and closer linkages between academic affairs representatives staff in the U.S. and in international locations.
Dr. Cini has also served as the associate dean of Liberal Arts programs at Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey, and as a director and associate professor in the (now) School of Leadership and Professional Advancement at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania. She also served as the director of Academic Affairs for the Burns Academy of Leadership at University of Maryland, College Park.
Dr. Cini has published and presented on the topics of authentic assessment and academic integrity, leadership development in adult learners, retention and adult learners, group newcomers and innovation, and program development across cultures. As an early adopter of online education, Dr. Cini continues to be interested in the scholarship of learning outside of the traditional classroom space. She earned her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Karen Fraim Goss is a senior employment specialist, U.S. Pharmacopeia. She comes to us from the biotech industry where she was a senior recruiter for three years. Prior to that, Goss worked as a contract recruiter supporting various biotech firms with scientific staffing needs. She also worked as a business development consultant for the Career Transition Center, Inc., where she educated employers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on recruitment and Human Resource-related services available in Montgomery County, Maryland. She has considerable pharmaceutical industry experience, and over twelve years in recruiting. Goss holds an undergraduate degree in business management from UMUC.
Mr. Craig Mincheff is a graduate of the Master of Science in biotechnology program at UMUC. He currently works as a medical science liaison for Abraxis BioScience, LLC, where he leads the Biomarker Development Team. He also serves on Pre-Clinical Concept Advisory Committee and Scientific Concept Review Committee. His primary responsibilities are development and management of key clinical trials including concept proposals, protocol development and execution, site selection, and reporting of clinical data in accordance with Medical Affairs’ clinical research strategy. In addition he profiles and then builds and maintains relationships with national and regional oncology investigators and scientific leaders. Prior to Abraxis BioScience, Mincheff worked as an oncology specialist and a medical science liaison for MedImmune Oncology and before that for GlaxoSmith Kline.
Marge Musumeci is an associate director of Strategic Staffing. She brings significant breadth and depth of industry experience in the staffing and human resources areas. Musumeci most recently was with J&J, supporting their consumer group's domestic and international staffing efforts. Marge has extensive experience in developing and implementing creative sourcing and recruiting strategies to attract top talent within our industry. She has deep expertise in recruiting for drug development, a key need for HGS today, but also has experience with recruitment of sales and marketing talent, which will be a need for HGS in the future.
Marge started her career in a variety of HR roles and earned a graduate degree from NYU and her PHR certification. Over the last 15 years, she has focused her career mainly on recruitment in the pharmaceutical arena. She has worked with Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Novartis, among others. Most relevant to HGS, she was the staffing manager for the Novartis Oncology Business Unit, and she and her team helped grow this business from 1,500 to 4,000 employees over her three year tenure.
Ms. Sarah Pick is an independent marketing consultant working with medical and IT companies, often as an interim vice president of Marketing. Her clients include Encore Path, a company with stroke rehabilitation products, and SmartLogic Solutions, which is launching a vertical industry portal. Pick has over twenty years' experience working with tech and healthcare companies, including United Healthcare, an HMO; Nucletron, a radiation treatment device company; Nanofab, a nanotechnology company; and Applied Data Systems, a mobile device company. She has extensive experience with strategic marketing, product and company launches, global PR campaigns, alliance partner programs, and customer development programs.
Pick received her master's in biotechnology from UMUC, and also completed a Public Relations certificate program from Goucher College.
Mr. Eric Richman is senior vice president, Business Development and Strategic Planning of PharmAthene, Inc. He has extensive experience in the development and commercialization of novel biotechnology-based therapeutics, including work at HealthCare Ventures, MedImmune, Inc., and PharmAthene. Richman was part of the founding team at MedImmune in 1988, holding various financial, strategic planning, marketing, commercial, and international positions. Richman was responsible for the U.S. launch of MedImmune’s first commercial product and was on the launch teams for its other products including Synagis®. Mr. Richman received a BS degree in biomedical science from the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education (CUNY Medical School), and a Master of Business Administration from the American Graduate School of International Management. He serves as a director of LEV Pharmaceuticals, ADMA Biologics and PharmAthene Canada.
James Saunders currently is director of Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics (MB3) at Towson University. Prior to that, from 1977-2003, he served as a research chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland. His research interests include plant biochemistry of secondary natural products, including alkaloids, phenolics, drugs of abuse, smoking and tobacco issues, and the chocolate industry; molecular biology with emphasis on DNA fingerprinting, gene transfer, and gene expression methodology.
Dr. Paul Silber a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was the president/CEO and founder of In Vitro Technologies, Inc. (IVT), a bioscience company that provides products and services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. After relocating to Baltimore in 1991, In Vitro grew from two employees to a staff of seventy, including several employees in Europe. The company also expanded its international business to Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, while bringing the products of international companies to their North American customers through strategic alliances and distribution relationships. After growing the company to sixty employees and $11 million in revenues, he successfully sold the company to Celsis in 2006 for $30 million,
Dr. Silber has an undergraduate degree in biology from Carleton College, a master's degree in public health from the University of Alabama), and a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona. He is the holder of two patents and the recipient of various business awards and recognitions, including:
- Maryland Entrepreneur of the Year Award (High Technology)
- Baltimore Business Journal’s “40 under 40 top business people”
- Baltimore Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Technology”
- Washington Techway’s “Top 10 Bosses”
- Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership in Bioscience Award
- State of Maryland’s International Leadership Award
- University of Baltimore Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award
- Greater Baltimore Technology Council BETA Award
Dr. Silber currently chairs the GBTC Biotech Roundtable. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Biotechnical Institute of Maryland, the TechCenter at UMBC Business Advisory Board, and the dean’s advisory board of the UMBC College of Natural Sciences. He is a member of the Maryland/Israel Development Center Life Science Committee. He is also an active mentor of other local entrepreneurs and is a member of the Chesapeake Emerging Opportunity (Angel) Fund.
