Trailblazing Women Leading in Connecticut’s Life Science Ecosystem – Hosted by EWIB-CT

ANGELA HWANG

Angela Hwang is a member of Pfizer’s Executive Team and Group President of the Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group, which comprises 80% of Pfizer’s revenues. Her organization of 26,000 colleagues is responsible for bringing over 600 innovative medicines and products to patients. In 2019, more than 434 million people benefited from a Pfizer Biopharma medicine or vaccine to improve their health and, in some cases, save their lives. Altogether, Pfizer Biopharma generated around $40 billion in 2019 revenues.

As Group President of Pfizer Biopharma, Angela leads 7 commercial business units, reaching patients in more than 125 countries. Together, these businesses strive to deliver transformational medicines that address major global health priorities in cancer, rare disease, inflammation & immunology, primary care, infectious diseases, and preventative care with vaccines.

Angela has been with Pfizer for 23 years, working across all geographies and therapeutic areas. She is motivated by the common purpose that all Pfizer colleagues share, to bring breakthroughs to patients, regardless of where they are in the world. Her childhood as an Asian girl growing up in apartheid South Africa, defined her worldview and underscored the importance of equity in everything she does today.

Angela sits on the Boards of Directors at UPS, the global leader in supply chain logistics and package delivery, EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations), as well as the Pfizer Foundation, a charitable organization that addresses global health challenges. She has also been active in industry groups such as BIO, where she previously co-chaired the Vaccines Policy Committee. In 2019, she was named in Crain’s Notable Women in Healthcare list.

Having always been curious about transformation and the art of the possible, in 2019, Angela launched Diverse Perspectives, a podcast series where she hosts global thought leaders pioneering change across a variety of industries. You can learn more about Diverse Perspectives here, and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming platforms.

Angela received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town and MBA from Cornell University. She is a wife and proud mom to a teenage son and daughter, and a strong advocate for women’s leadership and sustainable global health equity.

To learn more, follow Angela on LinkedIn and on Instagram using @angelahwangpfizer.

AKIKO IWASAKI, PHD

Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale School of Medicine

Professor Akiko Iwasaki has made major discoveries in innate anti-viral and mucosal immunity that have resulted in paradigm shifts in the understanding of the immune response to pathogens as well as in vaccine design. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at mucosal surfaces, which are a major site of entry for infectious agents. The knowledge gained in her lab can be used to design more effective vaccines or microbicides to prevent transmission of viral and bacterial pathogens.

Professor Iwasaki’s research group developed a new vaccine strategy, termed “Prime and Pull”, that can be used to treat those infected with virus, unlike many vaccines that are given preventatively. This method is currently under phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of high grade cervical lesions caused by infection human papillomavirus (HPV).

Professor Iwasaki received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Toronto and completed her postdoctoral training with the National Institutes of Health before joining Yale’s faculty in 2000. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in Biomedical Sciences, the Wyeth Lederle Young Investigator Award, the BD Biosciences Investigator Award, and the Seymour & Vivian Milstein Award for Excellence in Interferon and Cytokine Research. Professor Iwasaki has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2014, a prestigious honor that provides the researcher long-term, flexible funding that gives them to freedom to explore new avenues of research. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018, and to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019. Dr. Iwasaki is also well known for her Twitter advocacy on women and underrepresented minority in the science and medicine fields.

Currently, Professor Iwasaki is directing translational immunology team to investigate the role of immune response in COVID-19 disease outcome. She also co-directs the IMPACT (Implementing medical and public health actions against coronavirus in Connecticut) team to generate an extensive biorepository for specimens collected from patients and health care workers, as well as implementing viral testing in both groups.

ANNIE LAMONT

Annie Lamont is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT where she focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in Healthcare and FinTech.

Annie currently serves on the Boards of Brightline, CareBridge, Independent Living Systems, Oncology Analytics, OODA Health, Poynt, Precision Medicine Group, Quartet, Vesta Health, VillageMD and is a Board Observer at Notable. Annie is also actively involved with Devoted Health, Inscripta, and Komodo Health.

Prior investments include Aspire Health (acquired by Anthem), athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) American Esoteric Laboratories (acquired by Sonic Healthcare Limited), Argus Information & Advisory Services (acquired by Verisk Analytics), Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT), CareMedic Systems (acquired by Ingenix), Castlight Health (NYSE: CSLT), CLARiENT (acquired by GE Healthcare), Health Dialog (acquired by British United Provident Association), iHealth Technologies (merged with Connolly to become Cotiviti), Odyssey Healthcare, Oak Tree (acquired by Oxford), NetSpend (acquired by TSYS), PayFlex Systems (acquired by Aetna), PharMEDium Healthcare (acquired by CD&R), Point Carbon (acquired by Thomson Reuters), Psychiatric Solutions (acquired by Universal Health Services), TxVia (acquired by Google), United BioSource (acquired by Medco Health Solutions) and Vesta Corporation.