Get on Board: Inside the Board of Directors – Hosted by WEST

If you would like to serve on a board, are already on a board, or work with a board, join us for Get on Board! The panelists are directors of both for-profit and nonprofit organization boards, and will address issues relating to service as directors, including the combinations of skills and experiences that boards are seeking, how to best position yourself for nonprofit or for-profit board candidacy, resources available to help you identify and take advantage of both paid and volunteer board opportunities, what it’s like to serve as a director on a board, and issues particular to women on boards.

Panelists:
– Sally Wang Liang, VP of Business Development, Head of the Global Business Unit at PepLib
– Darshana Zaveri, Managing Partner at Catalyst Health Ventures

Sally Wang Liang, JD, MPH is life sciences business executive and a multidisciplinary IP & Regulatory lawyer with over 15 years of healthcare and biopharma industry experience. She has been on the board of numerous life sciences companies and non-profit organizations. She is VP of Business Development, Head of the Global Business Unit, and a member of the executive team at PepLib, a peptide discovery and therapeutics company. She is actively involved in the biotech ecosystem: consulting as a Venture Partner for Viva Bioinnovator, serving on the Scientific Advisory Board of New Equilibrium Biosciences, as Expert-in-Residence at the Harvard iLab, and mentor with MassBIO. Previously, she was EiR at the biotech VC that focused on NewCo formulation. She has substantial operating, business development, and fundraising experience as a serial entrepreneur in digital health. As a lawyer, she practiced pharmaceutical patent litigation and IP licensing. She was also involved in national life sciences policy making at the FDA and the US Senate. She serves on the corporate boards of FuseBio and IpiNovyx and has been on a number non-profit boards including SHARE cancer support, NY Legal Aid Society NLB, and National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) Boston and New York chapters. Sally received a A.B. in Biology from Harvard College, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a M.P.H from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Darshana Zaveri is Managing Partner at Catalyst Health Ventures and member of Catalyst’s investment committee. Actively involved in all aspects of Fund Management including Investments and Capital Raising. Led Catalyst’s investments in Augmenix Inc. (Acquired by Boston Scientific, NYSE: BSX), nVision Medical (Acquired by Boston Scientific, NYSE: BSX), Maxwell Health (Acquired by Sun Life Financial, NYSE: SLF), Lantos Technologies, Aria CV, Atacor Medical, Panther Therapeutix and Instylla Inc. Actively involved with prior portfolio company Allegro Diagnostics, Inc. (acquired by Veracyte, NASDAQ: VCT).