Biopharma leaders paving the way for LGBTQ+ scientists, patients, entrepreneurs and C-suites
To intro last year’s inaugural Endpoints News feature on LGBTQ+ leaders in biopharma, I wrote about the movement and progress being made for this community.
I feel I might have jinxed it in some ways. Anti-LGBTQ+ bills are running rampant through the US, children can no longer read gay books in some regions and this community still feels misunderstood by the pharma world.
Being LGBTQ+ is just one part of a person’s identity, but a critical one that often is not visible to outsiders, as some people on this year’s list point out. Others worry the recent onslaught of anti-gay rhetoric in some corners will force LGBTQ+ people to no longer feel comfortable speaking out or being open about who they are in the workplace.
“The rate at which the progress is accelerating is not as high,” says scientist-turned-investor Mira Chaurushiya. “Maybe that’s to some extent reflective of progress we’ve made as a community, but I think there’s still a ways to go.”
This year’s honorees do speak out, whether that’s in the halls of their biotechs, on visits to pharmaceutical sites outside the US, in boardroom discussions, on the manufacturing floor, in clinical research and in bringing a new drug to market.
As with lists like these, we weren’t able to highlight everyone who was nominated, but I hope we have been able to paint a broad look at who makes up the LGBTQ+ community in the biopharma industry.
If you’re reading this while at Endpoints’ first day of BIO panels at the Seaport Hotel, then be sure to tune in again for day 2, when I will virtually moderate a discussion with some of this year’s honorees about LGBTQ+ issues.
THE ENDPOINTS LGBTQ LEADERS IN BIOPHARMA, 2023
Edith Perez — Bolt Biotherapeutics chief medical officer
Eliav Barr — Merck CMO
Tia Lyles-Williams — Goffman Bougard CEO and founder
Alaina Kupec — Gilead senior director of portfolio strategy & analytics
Joan Lau — Spirovant CEO
Ramsey Johnson — OUTbio founder
Susan Whitehead — PACT Pharma president and COO
Paul Hastings — Nkarta CEO and BIO chair
Celia Sandhya Daniels — Rebekon Consulting CEO and founder
Martin Chavez — Recursion chair
Jayson Johnson — Genentech diversity & inclusion
Mira Chaurushiya — Westlake Village BioPartners managing director
Greg Vladimer — Exscientia VP
Peng Leong — BioAge chief business officer
Joshua Cohen — Braeburn medical chief
Amit Rakhit — Flare Therapeutics CEO
Coy Stout — Brii Biosciences SVP
Allene Diaz — Ionis and Mersana director
Jon Newton — ICON VP
John Davis — Sonoma Biotherapeutics interim CMO
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