MassBioEd

As President and CEO, Kendalle leads the strategic direction, global expansion, and business operations of the organization ensuring that MassBio offers the greatest value to its members and that Massachusetts life sciences companies have the best environment possible to research, develop, and commercialize breakthrough therapies and cures for people around the world who need and deserve them.

Kendalle first came to MassBio in 2008 as Director of Purchasing and Strategic Alliance. She was promoted to Vice President of Member Services and General Counsel in 2012, then promoted to the organization’s first-ever Chief Operating Officer in February 2019. Throughout her tenure at MassBio, Kendalle has played a critical role in the growth of MassBio’s membership supporting its expansion to become the largest life sciences trade association in the world with over 1,400 members. Kendalle has overseen the rebrand of a number of MassBio’s core programs and services, including the MassBio Edge, MassBio’s savings and rewards program, and its expansion into other New England states by building valuable partnerships with the supplier community and creating MassBio’s highly-rated Employee Rewards program. She also led the development of the MassBioHub, MassBio’s conference and business center, and the creation of MassBio’s 2025 State of Possible Report. In 2019, Kendalle commenced a multi-year digital health initiative to support the convergence of digital tech and the life sciences in Massachusetts. And in 2021, Kendalle was instrumental in the launch of MassBio’s Partnering Week, a new initiative to bring together established biopharma companies with early-stage startups and academic institutions.

Kendalle has reached extraordinary heights in her growing career. She was named a 2019 Boston Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree which recognizes a leader’s impact on Massachusetts’ industries. Currently, Kendalle serves as a Board of Director for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation (MassBioEd) and the New England Chapter of the March of Dimes. She also served as the Event Chair of the Black Tie for Babies Gala from 2016-2018.

Prior to joining MassBio, Kendalle practiced law in the areas of Estate and Medicaid Planning, Probate and Asset Protection. She graduated cum laude from Sacred Heart University with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science and received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School. She resides in Haverhill, Massachusetts with her husband and two children.

Mary Ellen is the Director of Online and Blended Learning Initiatives and Lecturer in Digital Learning for the MIT Department of Biology. Mary Ellen completed her undergraduate degree in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and her Ph.D.in biology studying translesion synthesis at MIT. From 2009 to 2013, she co-taught the molecular biology course at Harvard University as a preceptor. She also developed several of her own courses at Harvard Extension School.

In 2013, Mary Ellen moved to the Broad Institute to be part of the core group with Michelle Mischke and Brian White to create Eric Lander’s MITx course, 7.00x Introduction to Biology – The Secret of Life. Mary Ellen now oversees the execution and evolution of MIT Department of Biology’s digital learning strategy with her group. The group develops digital learning content for MIT students and advises evidence-based teaching practices. They also implement these practices in the creation of world-wide bound MITx on edX MOOCs. Mary Ellen’s group completes research on the design of digital learning content as well.

Shelley is an educator at Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton, MA, where she has taught biology and the school’s life science electives since 2005.

She works with high school students of all levels, and she aims to make biology accessible and significant to all. She especially enjoys revealing students’ sense of wonder and curiosity for the world around them and giving them a place to develop and explore with purpose. An important core value Shelley holds as an educator is to put teaching people above teaching material and to always consider how students will go out and interact with the world around them using what they have experienced in her classroom.

Prior to working at Hampshire, Shelley started her teaching career in the Springfield, MA public schools, where she spent four years teaching middle school science. Shelley holds a B.A. in Biology from Connecticut College and an M.Ed. in Secondary Science Education from UMass, Amherst.

Lora is the Vice President of Patient Advocacy, Engagement & Innovation at Cogent Biosciences. She has over 15 years of experience working in the rare disease biotech space and social services. Prior to joining Cogent, she held several roles of increasing leadership responsibility in the areas of Marketing, Patient Services, Operations, and Patient Advocacy at Sanofi Genzyme, Alnylam, Sobi, and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals. She began her career with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Social Worker providing case management and support for underserved families in the state. As a part of the Sanofi Talent Executive Program, she helped develop a Career Lattice vs. Ladder Summit and Mentorship Program. While at Sanofi Genzyme, she also received the Sanofi Champion of Customers Award, which is granted to the top 1% in the company globally.

Lora received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Rochester and completed the Strategic Marketing Management Executive Education Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is also a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and is passionate about professional development, mentorship, diversity, and inclusion in biotech and life sciences.

Robert, who is the Principal at the communications and strategy consulting firm, RMG Associates,  has more than 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as a consultant on strategy and communications, in-house communications director, and journalist. He has substantial experience and a strong track record in work with well over 100 companies and organizations ranging from start-ups in and outside of the U.S. to multi-nationals. Robert and RMG Associates bring particular expertise in corporate positioning, external and internal communications strategy, and preparation for financing and partnering.  He has helped more than 20 clients develop business plans to support venture and public financings.

Robert co-founded Feinstein Kean Healthcare (now a division of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide), a Massachusetts-based communications and business consulting firm focused exclusively on biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and related healthcare organizations. Robert has been an active member of the biotechnology community in Massachusetts for more than 25 years. Robert served as an advisor to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council for over 15 years. He also participates as a mentor in MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service and as a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Israel Business Council.

Robert holds a B.A. degree from Trinity College (Connecticut).

Wynter earned her B.S.E. in Bioengineering with a minor in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completion of her Ph.D. at Boston University in Biomedical engineering, she began a post-doc in Applied Physics at the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering. After her post-doc, she participated in developing a Western-style education and research system in a three-year-old University, Nazarbayev University (NU), in Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

Through research and teaching at NU, she was able to provide unprecedented access to a research-based engineering curriculum. She worked with a few students to found the first International Affiliate Student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) in Central Asia. In her time as a lecturer at Boston University, she has been engaged in supporting students as the faculty advisor for the National Society of Black Engineers and building the graduate student pipeline through recruiting at National Affinity conferences. As the Assistant Dean of Outreach and Diversity, she is leading the College of Engineering at Boston University towards becoming a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive college for all, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups.

She has been actively increasing the graduate student pipeline by amplifying the College’s presence at conferences serving URG students, and creating a prospective student database from these conferences and through databases. In addition, she has been building our faculty pipeline through hosting research symposia in which post-docs and late stage graduate students are invited. To expand our impact and truly reach underrepresented populations worldwide, she has been developing partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions and other organizations worldwide. She has been developing partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions and other organizations to identify barriers inhibiting progress in inclusion.

Wynter has become the leader of the 9-year-old, Boston University (BU), College of Engineering undergraduate facilitated engineering outreach program, the Technology Innovation Scholars Program (TISP). Historically, BU’s undergraduates, “Inspiration Ambassadors” went into middle and high school classrooms educating and inspiring students about engineering and helping them complete mini-engineering activities, known as “Innovations in a Box”. In our new post-COVID world without physical classrooms, we have expanded and refined our reach by working with elementary schools and using a blended modality of remote and in-person learning. She has been working to increase access for engineering outreach for underserved populations in the greater Boston area.

Ryan is a leading biotech executive with over 20 years of experience in driving early-stage drug development to commercial success. He is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Bicara Therapeutics, a private, clinical-stage oncology company developing bifunctional antibodies that combine the precision of well-validated, tumor-targeting antibodies with the power of immunomodulators for synergistic, durable impact at the site of the tumor.

Prior to Bicara, Ryan was a founding executive of Rheos Medicines, an immuno-metabolism company launched from Third Rock Ventures. Previous to that, Ryan was Vice President of Marketing, Operations and Analytics at Takeda Oncology where he was responsible for the company’s commercial oncology portfolio in the U.S. that included four compounds across a range of both Hematological and solid tumors.

Ryan holds a PharmD from Purdue University and is a current member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.

Debbie is the Chief People Officer at Blueprint Medicines.  In this role she has responsibility for defining the organizations human resources strategy.  She manages the overall delivery of human resources services, programs and policies (including workforce planning, employee relations, recruitment/staffing, performance management, leadership and development, compensation, benefits administration and organization development) in support of the organizations goals.  Additionally, Debbie works closely with the Board of Directors, executive and management teams on change management initiatives as the organization experiences significant growth.

Debbie is involved in many community outreach activities associated with STEM education and served on the Corporate Giving Committee during her tenure as a HR leader at Cubist Pharmaceuticals prior to joining Blueprint Medicines.

In 2013, Debbie received the “Rising Star” award by Healthcare Business Women’s Association. Over the past three years, she has been published in C&EN magazine on multiple articles related to career and employment trends. Debbie earned a B.S. degree in Business Management from Bentley College and continues to be active with Alumni Relations by serving as a Mentor to the Emerging Leaders MBA program. Currently, she is a member of Healthcare Business Women’s Association (HBA), Human Resource Leadership Forum (HRLF) and Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).