Laura Shawver views the field of oncology from the perspective of scientist, drug developer and survivor. Following her own diagnosis and treatment for ovarian cancer in 2007, Dr. Shawver founded The Clearity Foundation to help women with ovarian cancer make more informed treatment decisions. She has been in the biotech industry since 1989 and currently, she is Chief Executive Officer of Capstan Therapeutics. Dr. Shawver has had prior CEO roles at Silverback Therapeutics, Synthorx, Cleave Biosciences and Phenomix as well as holding scientific and management positions at SUGEN, Berlex and Triton Biosciences. Dr. Shawver has been involved with a number of clinical development programs including two FDA-approved therapies. Dr. Shawver is currently a director of Relay Therapeutics, ARS Pharma, Bright Peak and Dove Tail. She is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research serving on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Stand Up to Cancer. Dr. Shawver received her Ph.D. in pharmacology and a B.S. degree in microbiology both from the University of Iowa.
Sabrina Martucci Johnson is a life sciences executive with a record of achievement in capital formation, business development, and commercial leadership. Sabrina’s unique background spans finance, global marketing, product development and bench research. Sabrina is committed to advancing innovations in women’s health. In 2015 she founded DARÉ Bioscience to bring novel technologies that clearly address unmet needs to the clinic so that the latest concepts in women’s health make it to market. Prior to founding DARÉ Bioscience, Sabrina was President of WomanCare Global Trading where she responsible for expanding the global product portfolio in women’s health. Formerly, Sabrina was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Cypress Bioscience, Inc. and held marketing and sales positions with Advanced Tissue Sciences, and a research position with Baxter Healthcare.
Karin’s passion is working with the innovators and change makers of today and tomorrow. As President and Founder of Evoking Insights LLC, Karin operates at the intersection of strategy and leadership as an executive-level coach and strategic advisor. She is known for her ability to make the complex simple and to drive strategic clarity and execution throughout organizations. Karin spent 15 years in various senior leadership positions in the life sciences industry, after transitioning from a decade long consulting career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. As Vice President Customer Experience for Life Technologies, Karin developed and implemented an enterprise-wide strategy to improve customer experience across all channels and touch-points. As VP of Corporate Strategy at Life Technologies, she partnered with the CEO and executive team to set the strategic direction and plan for the $4B company. Karin has held Board positions with the Healthcare Business Women’s Association and Girls Inc, San Diego. An insatiable learner and adventurer, Karin is constantly challenging herself, and others, to see the world and people in new ways.
Catherine Cinquegrani is a seasoned and strategic front-line fundraiser with more than fifteen years of fundraising experience. Her expertise spans the fundraising gamut, from annual and special giving, to special events, to major and principal gifts, as well as extensive pipeline development work. She began her career at Scripps Health Foundation in 2001, as a development coordinator, working her way to the role of a Senior Director of Development overseeing the operational aspects of the Foundation. Her current responsibilities include major and principal gift fundraising for Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla and Scripps Clinic. Catherine has an M.A. in Business Administration from San Diego State University and a B.A. in Marketing from Western Michigan University.
Lynnette is a seasoned financial executive with more than 20 years of experience encompassing life sciences, technology and retail. As a Chief Financial Officer she has been responsible for accounting, corporate finance, treasury, purchasing, information technology, human resources and risk management for both public and private companies. She has been successful in raising and restructuring capital for both public and private companies resulting in significant valuation increases. She has held key financial positions for both large public corporations including Blockbuster and Chart House Enterprises as well as medium to smaller venture capital or investment-backed companies, such as Wireless Knowledge, Inc. (a QUALCOMM and Microsoft joint venture), and Catalina Restaurant Group, Inc. Lynnette holds a BBA in Accounting from Baylor University, and is CPA, licensed in the state of California. She also serves as a Board Member for Day for Change, San Diego.
Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA is the president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer
Action Network (PanCAN), a leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to fighting the
world’s toughest cancer. Having lost her father to pancreatic cancer in 1999, she
has made it her passion and commitment to change the course of the disease.
Fleshman became the organization’s first full-time staff person and its first
Executive Director in April 2000. In July 2004, the Board of Directors appointed
Fleshman President and CEO and under her leadership, PanCAN has grown from
a staff of one with revenues of $228,000 to a staff of over 150 with a budget of
more than $40 million.
Fleshman holds her JD and MBA degrees from Santa Clara University and a BA
from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she graduated Magna
Cum Laude. She also studied abroad at Oxford University and in Tokyo, Japan.
Dr. Toni Marengo is a specialist in women’s healthcare, the Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest (PPPSW), and the San Diego Section Chair for the American College of Ob/Gyns. She earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University (’96), her medical degree from Northwestern University (’00), and completed her residency training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (’04) where she served as Administrative Chief Resident in her PGY-4 year. After residency she served in the United States Navy as a staff Ob/Gyn and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant Commander (’07).
She has dedicated herself to clinical practice in an academic setting serving as the Associate Residency Program Director at both UC Irvine (’07-’10) and at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD, ’10-’18). In addition, she was the Director of Family Planning at NMCSD, the only physician in the military system who held that title/position.
In 2018, Dr. Marengo transitioned to the role of CMO at PPPSW in order to lead clinical services for 18 health centers across a three county region in Southern California. In this position, she continues to provide direct clinical care, advocate for the sexual and reproductive rights of all people, and teach residents and students.
Dr. Marengo is married with 4 children. She enjoys tennis, reading, and travel.
Jessica McCarthy brings more than 25 years of experience building effective marketing teams and executing successful, high-growth marketing strategies. She has global experience in business-to-business and consumer healthcare marketing, as well as expertise in brand and product marketing, commercial product launches, public relations, product management and health economics. She joined Singulex in 2016, and is responsible for the company’s brand, worldwide product and service launches, health economics and all advertising and promotion. Prior to Singulex, Jessica held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Blue Shield of California and was most recently Vice President of Integrated Marketing and Customer Experience. Before that, she was a marketing lead at Silicon Valley Bank and managed Fortune 500 and start-up accounts at several global advertising agencies. Jessica earned a B.A. in Religion and Art History from Syracuse University and completed the Women’s Senior Leadership Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In 2014, The San Francisco Business Times named her one of the “Most Influential Women in the Bay Area,” and inducted her into the “Most Influential Women in the Bay Area Hall of Fame” in 2015.
Michael has been a leader in Healthcare and Biotech for over 30 years, with much of that time in Cancer Diagnostics, serving in Executive roles with companies such as Biocept, Clarient and GE Healthcare. He is currently on the boards of Nonigenex, a San Diego based company focused on Maternal Fetal Health, Alacrity, an LA based digital health company and Clearity Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting women who have been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. He also serves on the Industry Relations Committee for the Moores Cancer Center. Michael splits his time between San Diego and Orange County. He and his wife Janette have 2 grown daughters.
Wendy Newman has over 30 years of experience in creating and leading innovative healthcare and marketing programs for non-profits, start-ups and large publicly traded companies. She began her career at MD Anderson Cancer Center, developing cancer prevention and early detection programs and continued this work at Scripps Health Cancer Center. She followed her passion for healthcare, particularly women’s health, in her role as Program Director at Women First Healthcare. She led marketing at Human Longevity, Inc. and held the position of SVP of Corporate Marketing at AMN Healthcare, Inc. Currently, she is Head of Patient Advocacy and Communications for Reneo Pharmaceuticals. Wendy has served on multiple local and national professional and non-profit boards and has volunteered her service on international medical and community development missions. She most recently served as Chair of the Clearity Foundation Board. Wendy holds an MPH from San Diego State University and a BS in Health Science and Biology from the State University of New York College at Cortland
Natalie Quirarte is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® who’s mantra is that she ‘develops relationships with people and not their assets.’ Through intelligent planning, she assists families, business owners and executives in positioning their financial assets to support their most important priorities: their quality of life and their families. This is accomplished by taking the time to understand what is truly important in people’s lives, coordinating with other trusted advisors to determine the best-use of assets and keeping clients on track with their goals. Natalie’s passion is to provide new perspectives that illuminate possibility in her clients’ lives.
Natalie began her career in wealth management as a Stock Broker at Torrey Pines Securities nearly three decades ago. She earned a B.S. in Finance from Colorado Tech University, and she completed her financial planning courses from Boston University. She proudly maintains a Life & Health Insurance License and she is well-versed in Long-term Care Planning, Succession Planning and other insurance-based strategies.
Natalie is a co-founder of Epiphany!, an experiential event cultivating community, fostering collaboration, and elevating personal and professional lives through shared epiphanies! Based in San Diego County, Ephiphany! benefits local charities such as GenerateHope, a San Diego non-profit assisting survivors of sex trafficking. She is also a co-founder of Caring, Sharing and Champagning, an annual event benefitting Operation for Hope, a San Diego non-profit assisting survivors of Domestic Violence.
Another area of focus for Natalie is public speaking engagements, where she provides financial education to employees through lunch-and-learn programs at companies throughout San Diego and Orange County.
Happiest when all three of her adult children are in town (in 2008 she was named, “One of 50 Best Mom’s in San Diego”), Natalie enjoys laughing, cycling, golfing and meeting new people.
Ken Rollins, partner at Cooley LLP, represents public and private life sciences and technology companies in a wide range of general corporate, transactional and securities matters, including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters, private financings and employment and compensation arrangements. His clients span the biotechnology and pharmaceutical, medical device, software, wireless and internet industries and range in size from true start-ups to mature public companies. He also regularly represents venture capital funds as investors in emerging growth companies. Ken received his BA in Accounting from Southern Utah University and his JD from University of Virginia School of Law.
J. Tanner is a Managing Director in EY’s San Diego assurance practice. She has experience serving a range of life science clients from early stage research and development companies to large multi-national commercial companies. Her experiences include financial audits, technical accounting and financial reporting under AICPA and SEC standards including on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, as well as assisting companies throughout the IPO process. J. serves as a board member of Athena, a women’s advocacy group founded in San Diego which is focused on leadership development and the empowerment of women in STEM fields. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in California and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In addition to her professional endeavors, J. has a passion for health and wellness and completed training as an Integrative Nutrition Health coach. She is a life-long learner who enjoys mentoring and coaching women.