Spencer Stuart – How to Get on the Boards You Want

Join us for a panel discussion with outstanding female leaders in the biotech sector.  We have Christos Richards (of Spencer Stuart’s BioPharma practice in Los Angeles) leading our panel with insights into current trends in biotech board recruitment, joined by Barbara Duncan, Arlene Morris, and Karah Parschauer who sit on a total of ten public company boards in the U.S. and Europe currently.  Hear their advice and how they are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speakers: 
 
Barbara Duncan

Barbara Duncan serves as a Director of Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc, Immunomedics, Inc., Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., ObsEva plc and Ovid Therapeutics, Inc. . Ms. Duncan served as the chief financial officer of Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 2009 to 2016 and as treasurer from 2010 to 2016. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Duncan served as chief financial officer and then chief executive officer at DOV Pharmaceutical, Inc. Previously, Ms. Duncan served as a vice president of Lehman Brothers Inc. in its corporate finance division from 1998 to 2001. She serves on the board of directors. 

Ms. Duncan holds a B.S. degree from Louisiana State University and an M.B.A from the Wharton School. 

Arlene M. Morris

Arlene M. Morris is the CEO of WillowAdvisors LLC a biotech advisory firm. Ms. Morris was previously the chief executive officer and president of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of an epigenetic therapy for treatment-resistant cancers from April, 2012 to May, 2015 and a member of the board of directors from May, 2011 to June, 2015. Prior to Syndax, Arlene served as the president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Affymax, Inc. from 2003 to 2011, a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on peptides and development of therapies for renal disease  She has held various management and executive positions at Clearview Projects, Inc., a corporate advisory firm, Coulter Pharmaceutical, Inc., a publicly traded oncology pharmaceutical company, Scios Inc., a publicly traded cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company, and Johnson & Johnson, a publicly traded healthcare company where she rose through the ranks to VP Business Development over a 15 year  career.  Arlene is currently a member of the board of directors of Neovacs, SA, a French publicly traded biotechnology company; and Palatin Technologies, Inc. and MiRagen both U.S. biopharmaceutical companies. She is also on the Board of Viveve a publicly traded device company. She is also on the board of the Foundation for Research Development of the Medical University of South Carolina and Carlow University and previously served on numerous other boards including most recently the Dimension and Biodel Boards as well as the Board of BIO and the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. Ms. Morris received a B.A. in Biology from Carlow College.

Karah Parschauer

Ms. Parschauer is the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: RARE), a commercial stage biotechnology company focused on the treatment of rare genetic diseases. In this role, she is responsible for leading the company’s legal, compliance, and government affairs functions. Ms. Parschauer also leads the Nucleic Acid Business Team and is responsible for the business strategy and execution of the mRNA development platform and programs.

Ms. Parschauer serves on the Board of Directors for Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOLS), an aesthetic biotech company, and Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARCT), a RNA medicines company focused on opportunities in rare, liver, and respiratory diseases as well as vaccines.  She is Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees for Evolus.

Before joining Ultragenyx, Ms. Parschauer spent 11 years at Allergan plc, most recently as Vice President, Associate General Counsel. Prior to joining Allergan, Ms. Parschauer was an Associate Attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP in where she practiced in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and corporate governance.

Ms. Parschauer received her B.A. in Biology, magna cum laude, from Miami University. She received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. 

Christos Richards

Christos Richards is a consultant in Spencer Stuart’s Los Angeles office. He has 30 years of executive search experience, including 25 years focused on serving biopharmaceutical and healthcare clients across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Christos has also served clients in devices, diagnostics, agricultural biotechnology, animal health, tools, services and digital health. In addition, he has extensive experience serving early-stage venture-backed clients and global commercial-stage clientele.

Seasoned CEO and Board Search Expert

• »Christos has completed more than 350 executive-level assignments with more than 150 board, CEO and CEO succession projects in the life sciences sector.
• »Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, he was an equity partner for an executive search firm focused on the life sciences sector. Christos expanded the firm’s board practice by 500 percent over five years, and helped grow the firm from eight to 35 full-time employees.
• »Earlier, Christos spent 20 years as a partner with two prominent super-boutiques. For one of those firms, which had five domestic offices, he served for nearly 10 years as CEO.
• »Before his career in executive search and human resources consulting, Christos spent five years in general management in Switzerland.

Christos earned his diploma in hospitality management from Schweizerische Wirteschule in Lucerne/Davos, Switzerland. Since 2011 he has served on the Board of Coherus BioSciences, a publicly traded commercial-stage biotech company. He is also an advisor at UCSF Innovation Ventures’ Entrepreneurship Center. Christos is fluent in German and Swiss German.