John Beaber, Ph.D., PMP-Project Manager, Research and Development - Santen Inc.(Moderator)

After 12+ years as a research scientist and leader focused on early research and discovery in the biotechnology world, John took his leadership skills and broad scientific knowledge into Project Management. His diverse experiences in antibody discovery and development, cell therapies, small molecules and phage therapy have exposed him to a wide array of therapeutic modalities and developmental challenges. His recent work at Santen has added clinical development to his research experience.

John's project management skills developed organically while serving the needs of his organization. Training for the Project Management Professional formalized John's ability to bring structure, enhance communication, and mitigate risks. He also enjoys mentoring students and other professionals in biotechnology.

Nancy Watanabe-Executive Director, New Market Development, Project Leadership at BeiGene

Nancy Watanabe is currently serving as Executive Director, New Market Development, Project Leadership at BeiGene and has held functional management and Alliance Management roles since joining BeiGene IO Clinical Development Program Management in January 2017. Prior to joining BeiGene, Nancy served in a variety of Project and Change Management roles at Genentech/Roche, which covered early and late-stage assets at the Franchise, Lifecycle and Clinical Development team levels.

She also served in sales and consulting, and program management leadership roles at technology and software organizations dedicated to advancing drug discovery. Early in her career at Scios (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), she gained valuable lessons in the development and validation of a process-specific host cell protein analytical method.

Outside of work, Nancy is active within the Project Management community, serving on the DIA Global Annual Program Planning Committee and as a mentor in the PMI-SF Chapter Mentoring Circles Program. She is also an ICF-credentialed Coach with the non-profit, Grad Life Choices. Nancy holds a B.S. Biochemistry and M.S. degree from UC Davis.

Tim Yang- Head, Program Management Organization at Tesseract Health

Tim Yang is the Head of the Program Management Organization (“PMO”) at Tesseract Health, a private company focused on developing prediction models that leverage the intersection of multiple retinal imaging modalities with expert annotations to create comprehensive and non-invasive health assessments.. Tim comes most recently from GRAIL where he managed the portfolio governance team, and multiple project teams, and led the program management organization. Prior to GRAIL, Tim spent over 25 years at Genentech/Roche serving in leadership and technical roles in the global organization across multiple functions including manufacturing, clinical research, sales & marketing, portfolio governance, and program management. Tim earned his undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Music Theory and Performance from UC Santa Cruz and his Masters's degree in Public and Health Services Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Resi Gerstner, Ph.D. PMP-Director of Strategic Portfolio Management at Pear Therapeutics

Resi is a results-driven program manager with a proven ability to lead, influence, and drive all levels of an organization. While her career started in drug development, she has spent the last 7 years applying these learnings to the growing field of digital health & medicine where software is a key part of treatment. Some of her recent accomplishments include leading numerous start-up efforts through growth phases, creating cross-functional processes, establishing scalability, and preparing teams for commercial launch. Resi is particularly skilled at building highly collaborative cross-functional teams and “fixing” challenging situations. Resi is currently a Director of Strategic Portfolio Management at Pear Therapeutics.