Tuesday February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. At present, less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women. According to UNESCO data (2014 – 2016), only around 30% of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Globally, female students’ enrollment is particularly low in IT (3%), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5%) and in engineering, manufacturing and construction (8%). This is why it is so important to celebrate and promote the women we know who are killing it in scientific roles. Girls need role models.
Covalent Bonds specializes in helping scientific companies use data to make better marketing decisions. To this end, we work alongside some amazing women who have reached great heights in the scientific world. Today we want to celebrate these inspiring women:
Olga Torres
Chief Optimization Officer at Covalent Bonds
Degree: BS in Medical Biology
Olga started her career in the lab as a bench scientist. She worked at Boston University Medical Center and Duke University before transitioning to roles in technical sales and marketing at a range of life science companies, including Averica Discovery, Kelly Scientific Services, and MorphoSys US. In 2018 she co-founded Covalent Bonds with a mission to increase the use of marketing data analytics in life science companies. In the past, Olga volunteered with the North Shore Technology Council Bioscience Special Interest Group, the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Boston chapter, and Society of Sales and Marketing Professionals in Science (SAMPS). She currently serves as a Hack.Diversity mentor. We interviewed Olga for a recent episode of our podcast: Talk Life Science Marketing Analysis on Data-Led Marketing: A Natural Fit For Scientists, But Not For The Faint Of Heart.
Denise Aronson
Founder and CEO of Safety Partners
Degree: BS in Biochemistry
From “intra-preneur” to “solo-preneur” to “entrepreneur”. Denise started in bench science work at Beth Israel Hospital Pathology Research, though after many years of academic research she found herself with lab management and EHS skills. She landed at T Cell Sciences to be their first EHS full time employee. She started her consulting career in One Kendall Square with some great companies including Millennium, Focal, Ontogeny, Exelexcis, Mitotix. Soon, Safety Partners became a reality because of its true spirit of practical, efficient EHS without over-doing regulatory but rather capturing the spirit and essence of workplace safety and compliance.
Jocelyn Davé
VP of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships at NanoTemper Technologies
Degree: BS in Biological Sciences
Jocelyn has brought her experience from leading demand generation at a technology company to the scientific world. Starting at the bench, Jocelyn progressed through sales roles at companies like VisualSonics and Carestream Molecular Imaging, before transitioning into senior marketing roles at companies like ProteinSimple. Jocelyn honed her marketing skills in the technology world, as Head of Demand Generation at Double Dutch. Ultimately she is leading the marketing drive at market leading protein company Nanotemper Technologies, bringing her learnings from technology marketing to the science world. We were lucky enough to interview Jocelyn for a recent episode of our podcast: Talk Life Science Marketing Analysis: People + Technology = The Winning Formula in Marketing Measurement. Listen to learn more.
Marty Farmer
Co-Founder and Board Member at North Shore InnoVentures
Degree: BS in Zoology, NIH post-doctoral Fellowship, Biophysical Chemistry, PhD Physiology and Pharmacology
Marty has had a varied career starting out as the Manager of the Blood Substitutes Program at the Naval Research Lab, via roles at companies such as Baxter Healthcare, and BetaGamma. She is best known for founding, in April 2008, the North Shore InnoVentures (NSIV), a technology incubator for innovative startups in life sciences and cleantech. Marty officially retired in June 2018 as President & CEO of NSIV. Leaving on a high note, Cummings Foundation awarded NSIV a ten-year Sustaining Grant and the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) and the Dinah Atkins Technology Incubator of the Year in April of 2018 for its work accelerating the growth of startups through access to well-equipped labs, mentoring, sponsored services and networking to capital. The portfolio of 44 startups has raised more than $250M and created 300 good jobs.
Who has inspired you during your journey in a STEM field? Join us in celebrating those mentors who beat the way ahead of you using #mentorsinSTEM
https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day
