(NCHRA) Northern California HR Association - Life Sciences HR Conference

NCHRA Members: $340 / General: $425
Join NCHRA for $150 and attend at the member rate

Lunch Sponsor:

As a successful HR professional in the life sciences industry, you know the importance of creating a nimble organization that can respond to changing external environments at the drop of a hat. With so many moving targets, this requires forward-thinking, flexibility and quick adaptation to new scenarios. How will you support your organization in the days ahead?

Think As Business Leaders Think: ‘Blue Sky’ the Future of the Life Sciences
Bioscience executives must be one step ahead at all times. They use scenario planning to play out multiple strategies and plan for all possibilities before changing direction. How can they afford not to? More importantly, how can you support their goals? Join a panel of HR practitioners from biotech, pharmaceutical and medical devices and gain insight into the science behind the process. Learn how C-level bioscience executives construct scenarios about the future and what criteria they use to move from scenarios to strategy. Find out about using “Plan B” to address the unexpected, uncover key issues around M&A activities, and discover new hot beds for life sciences, including technologies, locations and skills.

Moderator:
Diana Bartlett is the Director of Corporate Partnerships for Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. She is responsible for identifying and implementing productive collaborations with biotech, health care, pharmaceutical, medical device, research tools, and diagnostic companies. Prior to joining KGI in 2004, Ms. Bartlett was President of Sorelli B Inc., a market strategy consultancy that served Fortune 50 clients such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson as well as start-up enterprises in fields as varied as neonatal testing and anti-STD gels made from corn.

Panelists:
Coleen Bentley, Vice President, Global Lean Six Sigma Champion, Beckman Coulter, has 30 years experience in various facets of Human Resources. She has been employed by Beckman Coulter since 1999 as is presently working outside of Human Resources in an Operations role leading a global Lean Six Sigma initiative. Prior to this role, she was the Group Vice President, Human Resources of Global Businesses; and the leader of Global Learning and Organization Effectiveness.

Alisa Judge is Vice President of Human Resources at Sequenom, Inc. Sequenom is developing safe, non-invasive prenatal testing for Down Syndrome that may be utilized early in pregnancy, reducing the need for amniocentesis and contributing to the care and prevention of birth defects. Ms. Judge has over 20 years of human resources experience having previously served as Vice President of Human Resources at Claritas, a division of the Nielsen Company, the world's leading provider of marketing information and audience measurement. Prior to Claritas, Ms. Judge held the same role for GKN Aerospace Chem-tronics.

Mary Ann Rafferty is a Biotech Industry Human Resource and Leadership Development Consultant. Mary Ann’s areas of specialization include executive compensation and coaching, effective change leadership, as well as innovation in biotech leading and learning. Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Ms. Rafferty held the position of Vice President, Talent Acquisition and Development with Signature Bioscience. She is past chair of the human resource committee of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a member of Bay Bio’s Workforce Development Committee and founder of the Bay Area Biotechnology Senior Human Resource Group.

Marco F. Rosa is Vice President of Human Resources at MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Rosa has over 20 years of human resources experience. Previously, Mr. Rosa worked at Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. as Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources. He was an integral part of the senior management team overseeing the company's growth and the commercial launch of several ophthalmology and surgical microscopy devices. In addition to his extensive human resources experience, Mr. Rosa served as a Captain in the Bio-Medical Corps of the United States Air Force.

Science Boot Camp for Non-Scientists
You work in HR, not a laboratory. Yet, you serve a company of scientists who are experts in their field. How can you be a part of the conversation? By defining scientific concepts, you’ll be able to better understand the scientific mind you encounter everyday on the job. And in turn, be able to engage in meaningful conversations with CEO's, R&D Heads, and CFO's and talk in their terms to make these relationships more functional and collaborative within the organization. We’ll cover: cell and molecular biology, recombinant DNA, stem cells, virus, iRNA, pharmaceutical discovery and development, translational science, and more.

Speaker:
T. Gregory Dewey, Ph.D. is the former Vice President for Academic Affairs at Keck Graduate Institute. His research is in the general area of biophysics and computational biology with the goal of understanding complex biological systems. He has worked on a range of scientific problems including theoretical sequence-structure relationships in proteins and RNA and dynamic modeling of gene expression. Dr. Dewey earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Rochester and completed his postdoctoral work in chemistry at Cornell University.

Lunch Keynote
Stress is a Matter of Life - How You React to It Matters!
Through the use of autonomic technology, we’ll see how various stressors impact the body and learn ways to improve our reactions to stress. Participants will be invited to volunteer during this fun, interactive and informative presentation.

Speaker:
Colin McKechnie is an internationally recognized training consultant who has over 24 years experience helping companies and organizations worldwide become more profitable and productive through stress management and advanced communications skills. His courses regularly receive rave reviews and amongst his treasured comments are praise from Queen Elizabeth II of England, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Colin takes pride in offering reasonably priced courses that fit all budgets and positively transform the workplace.

Managing Compensation in Turbulent Times: Market Trends and Firsthand Advice
2009 has been an extremely tumultuous year for the life sciences industry. Many companies have been operating with minimal cash and no access to raise capital in the current markets, while others have become targets for large pharmaceuticals trying to upgrade their talent and their pipelines. In the first half of this dynamic session, we’ll evaluate current compensation trends related to salary, incentives and equity, and identify their impact on companies at all stages of development. Then, find out firsthand how three industry experts representing the various life cycles of a life sciences company are addressing compensation-related issues in the current environment and how their approaches differ given their stage of development within each cycle.

Speakers:
John Radford is Senior Vice President for Radford Surveys + Consulting. John co-founded Radford Associates in 1975 and led the firm to a premier market position as the top compensation survey provider for the technology industries. After nearly 20 years at Radford, he accepted the top compensation position at Cisco Systems where, over the next eight years, he implemented some of the most recognized and leading compensation and HR-related programs in the field. John rejoined Radford in 2002 and is responsible for the management of the Global Life Sciences Survey and the company's Strategic Steering Committees.

David Knopping is Vice President for Radford Surveys + Consulting. David has nearly 10 years of compensation consulting experience on a variety of issues. Areas of focus include executive and broad-based compensation strategies, employment contract development, Board of Director pay, and short- and long-term incentive plan design. David's primary consulting projects cover various sectors of the high technology industry, including software products/services, semiconductors and Internet/e-commerce. He also has significant experience working with life sciences and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Radford, David held consulting positions at Buck Consultants, and was a financial associate for the Vanguard Group.

Panelists:
Eric Chaisson – Director of Compensation, Genentech
Carol Siacotos – Compensation Manager, Facet Biotech
Danielle Olander – Associate Director of Human Resources, Portola Pharmaceuticals

Hot Employment Law Issues in Life Sciences
Practicing HR in the life sciences sector presents a unique set of business demands, and along with these demands, a set of employment law issues as specialized as the life sciences industry itself. Get the latest on issues surrounding mergers and acquisitions, cost-cutting measures and layoffs. Plus, identify potential problems related to hiring employees of competitors, trade secret issues and wage and hour issues, including overtime exemptions as specifically applied to life sciences positions.

Speakers:
Ray Hixson and Brian Nagatani are partners with Hixson Nagatani LLP. Having practiced law for a combined 22 years, each has substantial experience representing employers in a wide range of employment matters. Ray and Brian frequently conduct training sessions for attorneys, HR professionals and managers. They started their own law firm, Hixson Nagatani LLP, in September 2008 with a tech company focus, and the goal of providing sophisticated, personal legal representation that is cost-effective.

Conference Chair:
Jenny L. Vonderwerth, SPHR-CA is an HR and Employee Benefits Consultant at Liberty Benefit Insurance Services. Jenny helps clients design total rewards programs that address their unique needs, with a diverse workforce, in a variety of industries and at different stages of a company’s life cycle, including start-ups and more mature organizations. Jenny is an adjunct instructor at San Jose State’s Professional Development Department and University of Cal-State East Bay. She has been instrumental in teaching the SHRM Learning System to HR professionals preparing to take the PHR or SPHR certification exam.

Conference Agenda:

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM	Registration
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM	Think As Business Leaders Think: ‘Blue Sky’ The Future Of The Life Sciences
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM	Break
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM	Science Boot Camp for Non-Scientists
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM	Lunch Keynote: Stress is a Part of Life - How You React to It Matters!
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM	Managing Compensation in Turbulent Times: Market Trends and Firsthand Advice
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM	Break
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM	Hot Employment Law Issues in Life Sciences

Early registration is encouraged. Walk-ins will be charged an additional $20 late fee and cannot be guaranteed admission. CANCELLATION DEADLINE is one week prior to program. No refunds will be given after this date.

Back to Events Page

Back to Top of the Page