Opening talk:

“Take the Bull by the Horns: Steps to a Fulfilling Career in Science”

Dr. Kamens is the Executive Director of Addgene, a mission driven, nonprofit dedicated to helping scientists around the world share useful research reagents and data. Addgene was a Boston Globe #1 Top Place to Work in 2016.  Dr. Kamens received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 15 years as a researcher and Group Leader in Pharma at BASF/Abbott working on both small molecule and antibody therapies for immune disease. In 2007 she joined RXi Pharmaceuticals as Senior Director of Research Collaborations.  Dr. Kamens has been raising awareness of women scientists since 1998 upon realizing that an entire week had gone by at work and not one other woman had been at any meeting she attended. She founded the current Boston chapter of the Association for Women in Science and helped it grow to over 300 members entirely with volunteer support. Dr. Kamens was Director of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Boston Chapter Mentoring Program and continues to support many group and peer mentoring programs with training. In 2010, Dr. Kamens received the Catalyst Award from the Science Club for Girls for longstanding dedication to empowering women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and in 2013, she was named one of PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspiring Commanders & Chiefs.  She serves on a number of other non-profit boards and speaks widely on career development and workplace diversity topics in person and via Webinar.