Moving Forward, Giving Back

We’re almost halfway through 2025, and it is no secret that the first six months of the year have been a chaotic time for the life sciences industry. On the latest episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, LSC Founder and Chairman Rob Perez sits down with a roundtable of life sciences leaders at this year’s BIO conference from Alexion’s Boston headquarters to discuss how they’ve been navigating the extraordinary tests of 2025 and their vision for the near and long term future. Joining Rob are Alexion’s Tamar Thompson, Nkarta’s Paul Hastings, Jeb Keiper formerly of Nimbus Therapeutics and our very own Sarah MacDonald. The panel dives into the state of the industry today, the importance of patient advocacy, continuing philanthropic efforts during turbulent times, the urgent need for innovation, how to maintain resilience in the face of unique challenges and so much more. It is a lively, honest and very important conversation that you don’t want to miss! To learn more about LSC, visit lifesciencecares.org.

As summer begins, students across the country will be shedding the carefree summers of childhood in exchange for work experience and college credits in the form of internships. But beyond just completing a graduation requirement, research shows that internships create positive and crucially important outcomes for students as they move into the workforce and develop skills and interests, build networks and solidify career goals. . On this episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, we begin with a quick introduction to LSC Philadelphia’s new executive director Jennifer Parrado by our CEO Sarah MacDonald. Then Jenn talks with three alums of LSC’s summer internship program, Project Onramp. Project Onramp connects students to early work opportunities to explore pathways in our industry. Serena Burkinshaw, Fadi Shamaan, and Alain Santo Domingo discuss their internship experiences through Project Onramp, what they learned, tips for future participants, as well as the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone as you enter the workforce. It’s a timely and informative conversation that we can all benefit from at this time of year! Learn more about Life Science Cares at lifesciencecares.org and Project Onramp at projectonramp.us.

In recognition of National Volunteer Month this April, the latest edition of Moving Forward, Giving Back explores the transformative power of volunteerism with three inspiring guests who have seen firsthand the incredible impact of giving back to their communities. Hosted by Life Science Cares Boston’s new Executive Director, Rosie Cunningham, this episode defines and illustrates the importance of getting involved, with a particular focus on nonprofit board service. Rosie is joined by Sanofi’s Tasha Wright and Nathan Umbriac, along with Carolyn Lake of the Interfaith Food Pantry. Emphasizing the importance of passion, commitment, and alignment in meaningful volunteer work, this episode is a must listen! Learn more about Life Science Cares at lifesciencecares.org.

Health equity can only be achieved when every individual has accessible, high-quality care that allows them to reach their full potential for well-being. In the latest episode of podcast Moving Forward, Giving Back, our CEO Sarah Macdonald sits down with three incredible guests to discuss the social determinants of health and how we can remove inequities that prevent access to care in our communities. To open the episode, Sarah chats with Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Alister Martin about the current state of American healthcare and how social determinants like housing and food access impact patient outcomes. Then, Vital Connections’ Ariel Childs and the Boston Food Forest Coalition’s Orion Kriegman join the show to speak about their efforts in community-driven health equity and the importance of local engagement in improving health outcomes. An illuminating and engaging episode that gets to the bottom of healthy equity - you don’t want to miss this edition of Moving Forward, Giving Back! Learn more about LSC and Life Science Shares at lifesciencecares.org.

In this episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, four of our incredible donors and life sciences leaders sit down for a roundtable discussion about their involvement in our program Life Science Shares. This campaign is a way for companies or individual leaders to contribute to Life Science Cares if and when they reach financial milestones or other positive events by pledging a percentage of a future transaction. Joining the discussion are host Jeff Marrazzo, the co-founder and former CEO of Spark Therapeutics, and guests Sarah Boyce, CEO and President of Avidity Bio, Robert Blum, President and CEO of Cytokinetics and Ron Cooper, Chairman of C4 Therapeutics and former CEO of Albireo Pharma. During this dynamic conversation Jeff, Sarah, Robert and Ron explain their reasons for getting involved with the Life Science Shares initiative and the benefits the decision has had for them personally and for their companies. Learn more about LSC and Life Science Shares at lifesciencecares.org.

In the final episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back for 2024, Life Science Cares’ (LSC) CEO Sarah MacDonald sits down with LSC founder and Chairman Rob Perez to reflect back on another exciting year and look forward to LSC’s plans to scale both nationally and internationally to do what the organization does ‘better and bigger.’ They examine how LSC’s successful Project Onramp program continues to grow nationally as it expands into a number of new markets in 2025. Sarah and Rob also discuss the organization’s ongoing effort to support and advocate for health equity nationally and how LSC plans to help the industry make a real impact around this very important concept in 2025. In conclusion, they detail how individuals and companies can get involved and help LSC to ‘care actively and make a difference for people’ in the new year and beyond.

Today on a very special back to school episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, San Diego Executive Director Alicia Quinn Kitagawa speaks with Afira DeVries, the President and CEO of the Monarch School Project, which has been dedicated to providing a sense of belonging for thousands of unhoused youth and their families in San Diego since 1987. The episode is an open, fascinating and informative conversation that touches on a number of important topics including the reemergence of the community school model, the ramifications of the unhoused situation in America today and how restorative and trauma informed thinking and techniques can positively impact school age children. This is a dynamic and inspirational conversation that you need to listen to as soon as possible. To learn more about how Life Science Cares works closely with each of our grant partners like the Monarch School Project go to lifesciencecares.org.

In this episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, Life Science Cares’ CEO Sarah MacDonald sits down for a wide ranging and insightful conversation with John Crowley the President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Known broadly as BIO, it is the world’s largest biotechnology advocacy organization, representing biotechnology companies, academic and research institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. John and Sarah touch on and examine a number of topics including the urgent need to increase access to essential care, the rapid evolution of the industry over the last 50 years, the increased importance of storytelling for the industry in the modern communications era, as well as the promising future of biotech in the United States and beyond. We promise that you’ll enjoy this exceptional and enlightening episode with our esteemed guest and host. Please go to lifesciencecares.org to learn more about the impact that Life Science Cares has had on the many communities that it serves throughout the United States.

In the latest episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back we look at the state of immigration and the plight of today's immigrants through the lens of three Life Sciences Cares’ nonprofit partners. From Boston to Philadelphia to San Diego, each of these organizations is doing incredible work to support and help thousands of immigrant families in their journey to find their place in the United States, a land of opportunity and possibility for so many. The podcast begins with Larry Seamans, the President of FamilyAid Boston, which is the city’s largest organization solely dedicated to children and parents facing homelessness, providing prevention services, emergency shelter, housing placement and support, and comprehensive case management to thousands of families each year. Larry and Sarah touch on a number of important issues including the impact of COVID four years later, innovation in immigration services and the impact of the current immigration surge on families and especially young children. Based in Philadelphia, Cathy Jeong is the Director of Survivor Services for the Nationalities Services Center (NSC), which provides comprehensive services to immigrants and refugees, including free or low-cost legal protections, community integration, access to health and wellness services, and ESL classes. Cathy talks with Sarah about the role of NSC and Life Science Cares in serving the most vulnerable populations in our communities, as well as the plight of unaccompanied minors and the support available to help them on their journey to safety here in the United States. To end the episode, we sit down with Anchi Mei is the Founder and Executive Director of MAKE Projects. which stands for Merging Agriculture, Kitchens and Employment. Located in San Diego, the employment social enterprise operates an urban farm, restaurant, and events/catering company to provide a paid, real-world work experience for low-income refugee and immigrant women and youth. Sarah and Anchi cover a number of relevant topics including the importance of early employment in our pluralistic society and how a social enterprise organization is ideally positioned to help immigrants successfully integrate into their communities through a combination of work and language training. For more about the impactful work that Life Sciences Cares is doing with our nonprofit partners please visit our website at lifesciencescares.org.

ROI serves as an important benchmark for all life sciences companies, whether it involves a pipeline candidate, new products, or marketing strategies. But what does ROI have to do with creating a culture of care? In this episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, our guests Troy Wilson, CEO of Kura Oncology, Kate Wilson, President of the Gilead Foundation, Matt Gline, CEO of Roivant, and Tom Croce, Vice President of Global Patient Advocacy at Jazz Pharmaceuticals join host Morgan Berman, Executive Director of Life Science Cares Philadelphia, to explore how creating a culture of care ensures overall business success, achieves a competitive advantage within their specific business landscape, creates a supportive work environment for employees, and maintains a genuine, distinct corporate identity. This is an insightful, information rich conversation on an essential topic that you do not want to miss. To learn more go to lifesciencecares.org.

Hosted by the Executive Director of Life Science Cares Bay Area Aisha Baro, the latest episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, is a panel discussion that explains how mentorship makes a workplace more reflective of the diverse patient population that the life sciences industry serves, while also fostering an inclusive workforce. Baro is joined by Jennifer Condon, Vice President, Head of Talent Acquisition Global Research & Development from Takeda, and Trisha Millican the CFO of Architect Therapeutics, and Dee Olomajeye, Vice President of People and Culture Strategy at Senti Bio. The power of proactive mentoring programs within the life sciences industry is an essential employee and company growth strategy spearheaded by company leadership, these programs have the potential to drive positive change by developing real, genuine connections at every level of an organization or business. The dynamic roundtable conversation details how mentoring is a crucial asset that enables a workforce to better cope with career challenges, while delivering results for their organizations including the attraction and retention of diverse, high potential talent. Data Points of Interest • Per a recent Cornell University study, mentoring programs enhanced promotion and retention rates for minorities and women by 15% to 38% compared to non-mentored employees. • Forbes recently reported that 87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by the relationship and reported greater confidence and career satisfaction. • A national survey recently revealed that 67% of businesses reported an increase in productivity due to mentoring. Learn more about how Life Science Cares’ programming, activities, and membership are encouraging these connections at lifesciencecares.org.

This episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back features the “Reputation Reboot: Steps to Restoring Public Trust in the Biopharma Industry,” panel discussion that took place at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 9th in San Francisco. The panel brought together several industry heavy-hitters to tackle how we can enhance trust by demystifying our work, sharing empathy and information, and providing opportunities for communities to engage. Introduced by Rob Perez, the Founder and Chairman of Life Science Cares, and moderated by Jim Weiss, the Founder & Chairman of Real Chemistry, the panel includes Ted W. Love, the Chairman of BIO, Julie Gerberding, CEO of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and California State Senator Josh Becker. The esteemed group of executives have a multifaceted, dynamic discussion about the general public’s perception of the life sciences industry today, the need to increase general awareness of the industry’s positive activities in local communities, the importance of actively connecting with all levels of government, as well the impactful actions that organizations like Life Science Cares are doing both locally and nationally.

Earlier this year, Life Science Cares Boston presented its first ever Impact Award to the individuals and companies who best exemplify the mission and goals of LSC. In the inaugural episode of Moving Forward, Giving Back, host and Life Science Cares President Sarah MacDonald chats with some of the 2023 award winners including Halloran Consulting, Third Rock Ventures and several other industry leaders about the creative and impactful ways they have deployed the LSC model to harness andmaximize the industry’s resources to support community-based efforts in Greater Boston and beyond. To conclude the first episode of MovingForward, Giving Back, Dr. Yvonne Spicer, the Executive Director of LSC Boston, who joined the organization earlier this year, talks with Sarah about how she plans to leverage her extensive background in education, community advocacy and government to activate the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequality in the Boston area.

Welcome everybody to the Moving Forward, Giving Back podcast. A conversation about the importance of corporate philanthropy as an engineer of social change within the life science industry. Moving Forward, Giving Back is brought to you by Life Science Cares, an organization committed to leveraging the deep resources and power of the life science industry to address important social issues in those communities where they operate. Moving Forward, Giving Back is hosted by Sarah MacDonald and Rob Perez of Life Science Cares. To learn more go to lifesciencecares.org.