Tag Archives: CEO

Humble & Bold – Anette Steenberg

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SpreadLove In Organizations
Humble & Bold - Anette Steenberg
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This episode is special and the first in a series of four. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcome in this episode, Anette Steenberg, CEO of Medicon Valley Alliance, who discusses her background in international collaboration and her experience in the life sciences industry. Anette emphasizes the importance of leadership qualities such as being a strategic thinker, assembling diverse teams, and being a genuine leader. Anette also highlights the significance of talent attraction and retention and the role of innovation in shaping the future. Lastly, she reflects on Denmark’s identity as a small but ambitious country that values collaboration.

“Grow the pie. Collaboration makes everyone stronger.“

MEET OUR GUEST Anette Steenberg, Chief Executive Officer at Medicon Valley Alliance.

Anette Steenberg is the CEO of the Medicon Valley Alliance, a cross-border life science organization with 330+ public and private members in Denmark and Sweden. Anette is a leader in health innovation in Europe with over 20 years of experience in strategy, business development, and leadership.

Anette excels in creating, leading, and promoting public-private partnerships, navigating and cooperating between the public, academic, and private sectors, while maneuvering in political and business environments locally, nationally, and internationally. She has extensive knowledge and network in the life science, medtech, and healthtech sectors, as well as in the green transition and sustainability fields

Anette graduated in International Trade and Negotiations and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. After several years in that institution, she joined the Danish pharmaceutical company, Leo Pharma where she had several leadership roles. Anette is now the CEO of the Medicon Valley Alliance, and professional chair and board member in various organizations, where she contributes to their growth, innovation, and impact.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Anette Steenberg

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. This episode is very special. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, our leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with incredible healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. ESCP Students: Hello, we are Guillaume and Johanna, students in a specialized master’s program in biopharma at ESDP Business School, and we are thrilled today to be speaking…

Do What You Enjoy – Marc de Garidel

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SpreadLove In Organizations
Do What You Enjoy - Marc de Garidel
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This episode is special and the first in a series of four. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcomed in this first episode, Marc De Garidel Chief Executive Officer at Abivax. Marc shared his personal story and leadership beliefs with the students and several of his insightful learnings. In his closing advice, he encouraged aspiring leaders to pursue their passions, learn from mistakes, and not be overly concerned about others’ opinions.

“You can’t have impact if you don’t take risks at some point“

MEET OUR GUEST Marc De Garidel Chief Executive Officer at Abivax.

Marc De Garidel, is CEO of Abivax after being the CEO of CinCor Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies for patients with cardiovascular diseases and recently acquired by AstraZeneca.

Marc is a graduate of École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (a leading French civil engineering school), and holds a Master’s degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management and an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Marc began his career with Eli Lilly, then in 2000, he was appointed General Manager of Amgen’s French affiliate and progressively oversaw an increasing number of countries before heading the Southern region of Amgen International,  the group’s most important region in terms of sales.  In 2010, Marc left Amgen to become the CEO of Ipsen where he helped transform the company by focusing on research and development and expanding Ipsen’s international presence. Under his leadership, Ipsen’s market value increased significantly. Prior to joining CinCor, Marc served as CEO of Corvidia Therapeutics, a private Boston-based biotechnology company that was acquired by Novo Nordisk in August 2020.

In addition to that, Marc has had extensive non-profit responsibility as VP of EPFIA (Europe Pharma Association) for three years as well as chairing the French pharma association G5 for six years. Marc is also a recipient of the French Legion of Honor. 

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Marc De Garidel

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. This episode is very special. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, our leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with incredible healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. ESCP Students: Hello, we are Sarah Boutros and Bouchra Taha, Specialized Master’s students at ESCP Business School in Paris, and we are thrilled to be joined by an…

Propel Forward – Gaurav Mehta

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SpreadLove In Organizations
Propel Forward - Gaurav Mehta
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In this conversation, Naji Gehchan sat with Gaurav Mehta CEO at Alveolus Bio, and discussed several deep topics from leadership to happiness and being content, and also the current biotech world and its challenges. Gaurav emphasized that leadership involves self-awareness and humility, aiming for productive outcomes that benefit investors, teams, products, and patients. He linked innovation to combining ideas with execution, highlighting the importance of bringing one’s best self forward to inspire teams and sell ideas passionately. Regarding entrepreneurship, Gaurav stressed shedding self-limiting storylines, allowing inner genius to flourish, and being open to pivoting when necessary. The conversation also touched on vulnerability, humility, and genuine connections as essential for spreading love within organizations. Gaurav encouraged us all as healthcare leaders to set ambitious goals to tackle significant healthcare challenges effectively.

“Get rid of the storylines you have in your head“

MEET OUR GUEST Gaurav Mehta, CEO at Alveolus Bio.

Gaurav Mehta is the Chief Executive Officer at Alveolus Bio, a biotech Harnessing the power of the microbiome for the prevention and treatment of lung disease. Gaurav has raised multi-million dollars in the form of dilutive and non-dilutive money. He also has progressed long term global strategic partnership deals that authenticate his team, their capabilities, and science with the intent of obtaining investments for his company. He has also created a revenue-generating-business to create value, sustain the company in market volatility and mitigate dilution. While in this capacity, he also advises multiple life science businesses.

Gaurav has co-founded multiple companies. His 20 years of building and scaling depth include having led global operations, business transformations, top and bottom-line improvements, M&A execution, and a turn-around.

This experience has been across large to small firms around the globe in BioTech, MedTech, digital health, and tech.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Gaurav Mehta

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, joined today by Gaurav Mehta, CEO at Alveolus Bio, a biotech Harnessing the power of the microbiome for the prevention and treatment of lung disease. Gaurav has raised multi-million dollars in the form of dilutive and non-dilutive money. He also has progressed long term global strategic partnership deals that authenticate his team, their capabilities, and science with…

Do The Right Thing – Assaad Sayah

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Do The Right Thing - Assaad Sayah
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This episode is in partnership with MIT Sloan Healthcare and BioInnovations Conference, an event that brings the healthcare ecosystem together. We sat with Dr. Assaad Sayah CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance and discussed his personal story, his leadership beliefs, and the “Value-Based Care”, topic of his panel at the conference. Value = Quality / Cost, this is the way to think about value-based care; it has to be of great quality with the best patient experience at a contained cost. Health equity in this context is key. We need first of all to be in the underserved communities and be thoughtful, and purposeful about addressing their needs to narrow equities gaps. For Assaad, leadership is about providing the space for people to do the work, it is about trust, clarity, transparency, and accountability. The ultimate success of a “care delivery system” is for it to disappear because we worked on education, prevention, and screening for the community to remain healthy.

“Provide the space for people to do the work“

MEET OUR GUEST Assaad Sayah Chief Executive Officer Cambridge Health Alliance.

Dr. Assaad Sayah, President and CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance. Assaad was named CHA’s President and CEO in January 2020 after serving as the interim CEO since June 2019 and Chief Medical Officer since 2013.

Before that, Assaad served as the chief of emergency medicine and Senior Vice President of Primary Care. In the Emergency Department, he led tremendous advancements at all three CHA hospitals, resulting in enhanced efficiency, quality, volume, and patient satisfaction. He spearheaded primary care growth by more than 50 percent, expanding CHA’s access in underserved communities and integrating primary care and behavioral health services and systems to address social determinants of health. Assaad also plays a key role in CHA’s commitment to the communities it serves, including his tenure as the co-chair of the Cambridge City Manager’s Opioid Working Group established in 2018 to develop recommendations for strengthening the city’s response to the opioid epidemic.

Additionally, Assaad is Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. His research and publications focus on operational efficiency, improving the clinical environment, and patient experience of care.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Assaad Sayah

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this special episode in partnership with MIT Sloan Healthcare and BioInnovations Conference, an event that brings the Healthcare Ecosystem Together. I am joined today Assaad Sayah, President and CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance. Assaad was named CHA’s President and CEO in January 2020 after serving as the interim CEO since June 2019 and chief medical officer…

Hope, Optimism, Patience – Ashoka Madduri

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Hope, Optimism, Patience - Ashoka Madduri
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Small affection, care, and love can do miracles in life… This is what Ashoka Madduri co-founder and CEO of Target Therapeutics experienced personally, and what he is taking with him paying forward to the teams and communities he serves. From a small village in India to now leading biotech, Ashoka shares his inspiring story of grit, resilience, hope, optimism, and patience. Trust, empowerment, and care are for him the critical ingredients to building successful teams that can develop and bring breakthrough innovation to patients.

“Care and love can do miracles.”

MEET OUR GUEST Ashoka Madduri Co-founder and CEO of TargetSite Therapeutics.

Ashoka grew up in a small village in south India. After completing his undergrad and masters he obtained DAAD matching scholarship and moved to Germany. He completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of Groningen, Netherlands, where he worked on anti-cancer complex natural products. He performed his post-doctoral research to understand pathways involved in multi-drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis at Harvard Medical School. Over the years he has worked in multiple biotech companies and developed expertise in business development & corporate strategy.

He received his Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. Currently, he is a Blavatnik Entrepreneurial Fellow at Yale Ventures providing strategy & enabling multiple early-stage life science startups.

Ashoka is a Co-founder & CEO of TargetSite Therapeutics, a Yale spin-out, and Partner at Vestra Associates where he advises biotech companies on strategy and partnerships.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Ashoka Madduri

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast joined today by Ashoka Madduri. Ashoka grew up in a small village in south India. After completing his undergrad and masters he obtained DAAD matching scholarship and moved to Germany. He completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of Groningen, Netherlands, where he worked on anti-cancer complex natural products. He performed his post-doctoral…

Networks Superpower – Glenna Crooks

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Networks Superpower - Glenna Crooks
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Have you ever thought about your networks? The different people who support you in different ways for you to be who you are and achieve your purpose? Glenna Crooks, innovator, author and healthcare expert has defined eight networks in our lives and showed that managing successfully those helps us succeed in improving our health, personal relationships, family life, income, and careers. Glenna also shares her view on leadership in healthcare. When asked to react on the word Healthcare she said: “We need more of both… Health and Care.”

“Understand the complexity of your people and customers to better serve them”

MEET OUR GUEST Glenna Crooks, Innovator, Entrepreneur, and Author. Healthcare, Policy, and Public Health Expert.

Glenna Crooks, Ph.D., is a strategist, innovator, and trusted counsel to government and business leaders. In her latest venture, a story told in The NetworkSage: Realize Your Network Superpower, she describes a new way to help people lessen the overwhelm of modern life, address work-life balance, performance, productivity, and family caregiving by better understanding and managing the eight networks that support working adults.

 She was the Founder and CEO of Strategic Health Policy International, Inc. solving solved tough health care problems and is known as a “one-woman think tank” with a talent for “organizing chaos” and solving complex problems. She was an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, responsible for a $70 billion portfolio of health programs. As global vice-president of Merck’s Vaccine Business, she expanded US operations to create a global business, tripling vaccine sales to more than $1 billion in under three years.  

A graduate of Indiana University, she is a Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Neuroscience and Society and a Fellow of the Drexel University Center for Population Health and Community Involvement.

Glenna has been a member of corporate and non-profit Boards, including American Biogenetic Sciences, Inc., the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, founding Vice-Chair of the Partnership for Prevention, Chairman of the National Commission on Rare Diseases, and a member of the National Council of the Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative and the Institute of Medicine Committee to advise the Department of Defense on bioterrorism/biowarfare countermeasures.

Her many accomplishments earned her recognition as a Disruptive Woman in Health Care and a 2017 Disruptive Woman to Watch. She received the Congressional Exemplary Service Award for Orphan Products Development and is the first civilian to receive the highest award in public health, the Surgeon General’s Medallion from C. Everett Koop.

She lives in Philadelphia, is a mu shin Zen artist, donating her works to support children’s special needs, and is the author of six books.  

Lead From the Heart – Jean Jacques Bienaime

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Lead From the Heart - Jean Jacques Bienaime
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This episode is special and the first in a series of three. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcomed in this first episode, Jean Jacques Bienaimé, CEO of BioMarin who shared his story, experience, and words of wisdom. “Love is an infinite resource that will have a tremendous impact on people”, this summarizes beautifully JJ’s leadership beliefs that helped him build high-performing teams delivering successful innovations to patients across the world.

“Employees are the oxygen of any company; its most important component.”

MEET OUR GUEST Jean Jacques Bienaime (JJ), CEO and member of the BOD of BioMarin.

Jean-Jacques Bienaime joined BioMarin in 2005 as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors, bringing with him over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Under his leadership, the market capitalization of BioMarin went from around $450 million in 2005 to approximately $14 billion in 2021. Before being the CEO of BioMarin, Jean-Jacques held several senior management positions in the biotech industry including CEO and chairman of Sangstat Medical Corporation and Genencor.

Mr. Bienaimé currently serves on the boards of Incyte Corporation, a biotechnology company, PhRMA, and The Biotech Industry Organization. He received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in economics from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Business School).

Voice of Change – Rosemarie Day

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Voice of Change - Rosemarie Day
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There are too many issues in the world that we need to solve! This is what drives Rosemarie Day and connects her to her purpose. Her strongest belief is that healthcare is a human right. Through her sense of purpose, collaboration, a healthy dose of patience balanced with impatience and a sense of urgency, Rosemarie led large healthcare reforms that made life better for millions of people. Listen to her story, her journey, her insights, and why she believes that women can lead the fight for universal healthcare and be the voice of change.

“Take the longer view and stick with it.”

MEET OUR GUEST Rosemarie Day, Founder & CEO of Day Health Strategies; Author & Speaker.

Rosemarie Day served as the founding Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer of the Health Connector in Massachusetts. At the Health Connector in 2006, she helped lead the launch of health reform in Massachusetts, which became the model for the Affordable Care Act. Prior to this role, she was the Chief Operating Officer of the Massachusetts Medicaid program, among other state leadership positions. She has been working on health reform ever since, and is passionate about universal healthcare and women’s health issues. She is the founder and CEO of Day Health Strategies, a successful mission-driven, woman-owned consulting firm that celebrated its 12th anniversary in July. 

As a healthcare reform expert and CEO, Rosemarie Day, who is also a breast cancer survivor, has written a book to galvanize women to take action to make health care a right in the US. Its title is “Marching Toward Coverage: How Women Can Lead the Fight for Universal Healthcare” (Beacon Press, 2020). With 28 million Americans uninsured, and millions more who can’t afford their coverage, Rosemarie asks the fundamental question: Can we, as a nation, do better? Rosemarie believes we can and will—once women begin to engage collectively around this topic.

Rosemarie brings a feminist lens to the universal health care debate and seeks to empower more women to engage in that debate. She simplifies complex policy ideas about making change in the health care coverage system into an approachable and engaging framework. She combines a personal perspective on health policy with a professional perspective – she’s at once a health policy expert, strategist, and implementer, as well as a mother, daughter and friend who has faced some challenging health issues. She offers no easy panacea, but instead delivers a pragmatic path forward, one that recognizes health care as a fundamental human right, factors in the role of social determinants, and ensures coverage for all.

More about Rosemarie’s work here: https://rosemarieday.com/

Links to her book: Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, Amazon, Beacon, Penguin Random House, and Porter Square Books.

Lead Without Labels – Christi Shaw

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Lead Without Labels - Christi Shaw
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Looking back into your past, do you regret not taking the time to pause and cherish precious moments with your loved ones? Or not being there when they needed you the most? It is unlikely to listen to Christi Shaw and not pause and reflect on your personal story.

What strikes us is the strong sense of care, love, family and the desire to make an impact she conveys when sharing genuinely her story with us with all its highs and lows. Christi shares her lifelong learning and leadership philosophy “Never let success go to your head; never let failure go to your heart”. Because when you are at your best, you help people be at their best. For her, leadership is all about enabling others to move forward by leveraging what everybody brings to the table. It is about leading without labels, without hierarchy, and barriers to collaboration.

Listening to Christi, beyond respect, you can’t but admire her strength from miles away and the genuine soul behind the incredible leader she is… As she says, life is too short, and “we spend too many hours at work just to be respected and not loved”.

“My biggest learning:  being compassionate and spreading love and caring at work is a good thing.“

MEET OUR GUEST Christi Shaw Chief Executive Officer of Kite.

Christi Shaw serves as Chief Executive Officer of Kite, a Gilead Company. Kite is the only company with global scale dedicated exclusively to the research, commercialization and manufacturing of cell therapy to treat cancer.

Christi is driven by values, integrity and a deep connection to people living with cancer and their loved ones after losing both her mother and sister to cancer. Under Christi’s leadership, Kite has received four FDA approvals for its CAR T-cell therapies in just four years for certain types of blood cancer and is working to bring CAR T to more patients. Kite recently released 5-year patient survival data, a significant milestone showing durable long-term survival and suggestive of a potential cure for these patients.

Christi currently serves on the board of directors of Avantor and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) and is on the executive committee and the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Christi holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. She resides with her husband and son in Santa Monica, California.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Christi Shaw

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, having the pleasure and honor to have with me today Christi Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Kyte. Christi serves as CEO of Kite, Gilead’s cell therapy company. Based in Santa Monica, California, Kite is pursuing the ambitious goal of a cure for cancer with industry-leading pipeline and manufacturing capabilities. In her role, Christi is responsible for all…

Not Tough Love, True Love – Enrique Conterno

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Not Tough Love, True Love - Enrique Conterno
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For our 34th episode, we talked to Enrique Conterno about his remarkable journey. Enrique talks about the importance of taking chances and risks in careers. There is no formula when it comes to building a sustainable business with strong performing teams. It’s all about centering and focusing on the common purpose and the key values. Enrique explains the importance of implementing a culture of empowerment in an organization, leading to more accountability, thus teams will genuinely contribute to the success of their organization. Enrique shares with us his vision on leading in moments of crisis – “It is critical to remain true to your value, stick to your north star, otherwise one can get lost”. Crisis challenges us on many levels, but it’s an opportunity itself if it is framed the right way. It’s all a matter of refocusing the priority and staying grounded. When asked about work-life balance, Enrique stresses the importance of time and space to replenish and refresh. 

“It’s not about tough love, but rather true love.”

MEET OUR GUEST Enrique Conterno Chief Executive Officer at Fibrogen.

A native of Peru, Enrique is a mechanical engineer with an MBA from Duke. He joined Eli Lilly in 1992 and spent the next two decades working in the U.S. and internationally across sales, marketing, finance, business development, and general management roles. Enrique became the President of Lilly Diabetes in 2009. In addition to those responsibilities, he took on the role of President of Lilly USA in January 2017 before retiring at the end of 2019 after 27 years of service with the company. Enrique is now the CEO of Fibrogen.

Some great articles Enrique wrote in “Fortune” can be seen here.

Transcripts

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Enrique Conterno

Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host today, excited to be joined by Enrique Conterno CEO of Fibrogen.  A native of Peru, Enrique is a mechanical engineering with an MBA from Duke. He joined Eli Lilly in 1992 and spent the next two decades working in the U.S. and internationally across sales, marketing, finance, business development, and general management roles. Enrique became the President…