Fitzsimons Innovation Community’s Women in STEM

Inspiration, innovation, and thoughts on the future from top women scientists.

At Fitzsimons Innovation Community, women in STEM isn’t just a buzz phrase. Many of the innovative companies on our campus are led, founded, and staffed by women scientists, physicians, and inventors doing remarkable work. In celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, we spoke with some of the esteemed women leaders and innovators from three organizations that call Fitzsimons Innovation Community home. We were honored to interview:

Tina Roark , Ph.D., F(ACHI), Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School and Associate Director at ClinImmune

Louise Helander , M.D., Medical Director at ClinImmune

Dash Batt, Ph.D., Associate Director, Biologics Development and Manufacturing at Gates Biomanufacturing Facility

Felicia Lanzarone , M.S., Senior Manager of Cell Therapy Manufacturing at Gates Biomanufacturing Facility

Melissa Krebs, Ph.D. , CEO, and Founder of GelSana and Associate Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Colorado School of Mines

The stories and accomplishments of these women are both inspirational and a driving part of what makes Fitzsimons Innovation Community so dynamic. Here are some highlights from our conversation with these trailblazers.

Fitzsimons Innovation Community: Thank you all so much for joining us today to talk about your experiences as successful women in STEM fields here on campus. We want to start by having each of you share a little bit about what inspired you to pursue life sciences.?

Roark: The initial reason I decided to pursue science as a career was after meeting a guest professor at Colorado College where I did my undergraduate degree. Her name was Priscilla Campbell, and she was from National Jewish Hospital. I asked her after class for information about working in a lab, and she ended up hiring me. She was such an inspiration to me because she introduced me to immunology as a career path. I decided I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in a medical field, and immunology became my main interest.?

Helander: I started my career as a medical vendor for an orthopedic device company and was encouraged to attend medical school by many of the physicians I worked with in that capacity. I did my medical training in Australia, which gives me an MBBS degree, the European equivalent of an M.D. here in the states.

Lanzarone: I think from a young age I just kind of grasped that science was an explanation of how the world works, and that was always so exciting to me and always had me thinking about it. After having some amazing female science teachers in high school, I decided to major in biology in college, and the applications for healing the human body became the driver for me. From early on, I was interested in what I can do to help reverse disease and come up with cures.?

Krebs: I was always drawn to science and math all the way through high school, and when I went to college, I discovered the field of biomedical engineering and thought it was such a great combination of using math and engineering in tandem with biology. It was all so intriguing to me. I initially thought I wanted to go to medical school but decided I would rather be creating new technologies for patients. That led me to go into engineering with a focus on biology and to do research. I’ve been doing research since my freshman year in college. Once I started, I loved it and have never stopped.

Batt: It may sound cliché, but my dad is a nuclear physicist in Mongolia where I’m from. I came to the United States for my Ph.D., but as a kid in Mongolia I got a lot of exposure to the sciences through my dad’s work. He worked at the National University, so I would often go to his work with him and look at all the different equipment and experiments. One of the things I found so amazing as a kid was a huge liquid nitrogen generator at the school. For a kid, liquid nitrogen is a really cool thing, as long as you stay safe, of course. So, in a way, I kind of had no choice but to follow a path to science. I knew from the time I was in elementary school that I wanted to be a physicist like my dad, but I actually ended up being a biology major and found that it suits me better. I’ve been in the biotech industry ever since.

Fitzsimons: What brought you to your current organization and thereby to Fitzsimons Innovation Community?

Roark: Before coming to ClinImmune Cell & Gene Therapy I worked with a small startup company here at Fitzsimons Innovation Community. I’d always wanted to have a medical slant to my Ph.D. because I wanted to help people, which is why I chose immunology. Helping people get transplanted is something that inherently makes a difference, and it’s one of the main reasons I chose to work at ClinImmune.

Helander: During my residency, I was introduced to the world of blood banking and the cellular therapy. It became my main interest, and when I came here for my fellowship to study it further, I was introduced to Dr. Brian Freed the Executive Director of ClinImmune. I knew I wanted to pursue cellular therapy and HLA so I was excited to be able to work for this organization when my fellowship ended.?

Batt: I was looking for new opportunities after working for a small diagnostics company. I ended up getting the job at Gates Biomanufacturing Facility and before I knew it, I had moved to Colorado. Now I’ve been here for four years.

Lanzarone: After moving to Colorado and conducting a job search here, I found that Gates was hiring a tech transfer position with direct work in cellular therapy products, and I thought it was so exciting to be able to have a direct impact on patients, especially patients at the hospitals right across the street.?

Krebs: When I started GelSana we knew we would need wet bench lab space in addition to office space which can be limited on the Front Range. Through my work at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus , we got to know Fitzsimons Innovation Community, and this space made the most sense for us due to the proximity to the school and research facilities. Fitzsimons: Are there any women who inspired you in pursuing science and innovation?

Roark: I mentioned Dr. Campbell before, but later on, I ended up working in a lab that was run by Rebecca O’Brien, and it was so nice to have another female mentor. She and her husband ran the lab and also had a family, and she demonstrated how you can balance life and work and be very successful. I found it so inspiring, and they were both great mentors in my career. Along the way, there have been fewer women mentors, but ClinImmune employs many women leaders. We have so many women around us as a support group, and that has become a great part of working here.

Helander: I was originally encouraged to pursue this career from my dad.? But my mom was also key in inspiring me. My mom went to college in her forties so I learned through her that I could do it at any age. In my medical vending career, it was also many male physicians who pushed me toward pursuing a medical degree and publication. I was lucky to find the fields of pathology and blood banking because there are many more women in these areas. I’ve worked with and been mentored by many women leaders both here and in Louisiana in these areas of research who have been incredibly supportive in moving women forward. These women were the reason I met Dr. Freed here at ClinImmune.?

Lanzarone: I had two women teachers in high school who really inspired me, my chemistry teacher and biology teacher. They had such a great way of teaching and encouraging girls, and that’s when science really clicked for me. They taught in a way that made traditionally difficult classes almost effortless for me, and it really inspired my lifelong interest in science.?

Batt: Dr. Brenda Winkel, my faculty advisor for my Ph.D. was such an inspiration to me. She was very successful and I looked up to her and wanted to achieve what she had.?

Krebs: Though not a woman, one of my most important mentors was my Ph.D. advisor. I came into my Ph.D. studies as a non-traditional student being already married and having worked in industry for a few years before coming back to my Ph.D. My advisor truly grasped the obstacles women in STEM careers face and understood that I wanted to start a family while still pursuing my career. He mentored me and was great at introducing me to people in our field. This helped me realize the importance of building a network early on in my career. Fitzsimons: What advice do you have for young women aspiring to enter STEM fields?

Lanzarone: To be brave and bold. Fight for your voice and fight for your seat at the table and, when you get your seat, fight to keep it. You deserve to be there.?

Batt: It’s not easy to get that seat at the table. You fight to be heard. And sometimes you have to say, let me speak.?

Krebs: I always tell the women I mentor to pursue what their passion is. Early in my career I was given this advice:?

Worry less about planning your entire future and career and more about what the options are in front of you today, and which ones feel like the right one for you right now. Then trust your instinct for what’s next at that moment.?

That’s advice I have passed on to students I mentor so many times because it takes some of the pressure off the long vision. I also tell my students to make sure to find mentors at every step of their careers.

Fitzsimons: What excites you most about the future of life sciences?

Lanzarone: STEM is an ever-evolving field. There is always going to be that next frontier, and we see that every day in cellular therapies. The first cellular therapy was FDA approved in 2017, and in the grand scheme of things that isn’t long ago at all. This field is rapidly evolving, and the new therapies are curing diseases right now. I’m so excited to see even more cures.?

Batt: On my side, our discoveries go back hundreds of years to the discovery of the first insulin treatments. And now many of the new products are complex versions of what was discovered hundreds of years ago. It’s become a cross-section of multiple different disciplines and that’s where I’m excited to see the new discoveries coming from. When this many people with different expertise work together, the discoveries are phenomenal.

Krebs: I’m excited about so much; it’s why I got into this career and continue to enjoy it so much—just to see how much potential and how fast things change. It’s amazing to me that every semester I teach, how much has already changed from the previous semester. It blows me away, and I’m working in the field. The students are so excited and curious to learn about new developments and that makes it even more exciting. It’s so interdisciplinary, so a field like bioengineering requires scientists, engineers, computer specialists, mathematicians, and other experts to keep it moving forward, and I think we’re going to continue to move faster and faster. Fitzsimons: What message would you share with the next generation of women scientists and innovators?

Roark: My advice to my daughter when she was considering entering STEM was to seek out mentors, be proactive, and not be afraid to approach someone and ask for what you want. If I hadn’t been willing to approach Dr. Campbell when she was a guest professor at Colorado College, I would never have gotten that first summer job. Networking is so important, and it’s getting even harder. I tell people to get into the office, talk to your professors in person instead of just via email, and make those connections. Working with Dr. Helander, I have learned so much about what she does and have been able to collaborate with her, which would not had been possible if we did not work side-by-side.?

Helander: I think mentors are so important. I really think women are generally supportive of other women, so finding a female role model can be key. Also, take every opportunity you’re given.?

Krebs: I remember walking up and down academic hallways in college and seeing almost no other women’s names on doors. I knew I wanted a family in the future, and it made me wonder if it could really be done. I obviously found my way and my path through that despite my worries. With so many more women role models in STEM now and many of the fields beginning to even out, I hope the new generations of women won’t have those same doubts. Choose the best thing for yourself right now.

Lanzarone: I think being a role model is one of the most important things that women in STEM can do and early exposure to girls in schools is so important. Early intervention is key in inspiring new women leaders in STEM.?

Batt: I agree that early exposure is so important. Starting in elementary school, kids should be seeing cool experiments to inspire interest in science. Here on the Fitzsimons Innovation Community campus last year, it was Take Your Child to Work Day, and kids big and small were so interested and excited about the demonstrations we put on, and I think those outreach programs really should be expanded. I also think training teachers is imperative. Teachers of young students are key in building interest in STEM, and they are on the frontlines with the kids every day, so it’s vital that they are getting the proper training.?

Fitzsimons: How is your work contributing to advancing life sciences and making a difference in the world?

Krebs: At GelSana we are engineering novel polymer materials that are inherently anti-inflammatory. They can repel bacteria and evade foreign body reaction. We currently use these materials in wound care, especially wounds with overactive inflammation, chronic wounds, severe burns, and other traumatic wounds. Though our products are scientifically advanced, they are relatively easy to make, meaning that there are many applications for these products in the future, but first and foremost we’re focused on wound and severe burn care.?

Roark: My work is split between two different things here at ClinImmune. With transplant, it’s obvious how that makes a difference in the world, finding better matches and helping people get transplanted. The other side of my job is working on gene editing technologies that we have been awarded patents. The potential advances from these technologies are huge. Our research demonstrates that we can edit the HLA molecule and halt progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and that this new molecule will not be rejected by a recipient. This opens the idea of personalized medicine in cellular therapy. We are starting with RA and plan to move on to other autoimmune diseases, like MS and diabetes. It’s exciting to me as an immunologist that the experiments we do here on the bench translate directly to saving and healing people.?

Helander: I work on a lot of desensitization protocols and that is something that we’re doing more of, and it will open the transplant pool to even more patients. ClinImmune is modernizing transplant processing techniques, which helps in expanding the donor pool, and making it all more accessible. It’s amazing to see it making a difference in patients.?

Lanzarone: At Gates Biomanufacturing Facility, we build the system and physically make the cells responsible for life-saving therapies at the hospitals. We directly touch the cells and then know that, across the street, they’re being infused into real patients as cancer therapies in clinical trials. These cells are often a last-chance therapy, and they’re saving lives.?

Batt: We’re currently working on brain cancer blastoma treatment. We also recently manufactured a new Alzheimer’s vaccine to prevent the progression of that disease. It’s so humbling, but I’m also so proud to be a part of making these things. People are getting cured and its very rewarding. There are a lot of things that scientists can work on, but we’re making life-saving treatments and it’s such a special thing about this work.?

Celebrating women in STEM all year. When we said speaking to this group of scientists was inspiring, we weren’t kidding. Thank you to all the women in our discussion for taking the time out of their busy schedules to discuss their careers and inspire future women in STEM. Fitzsimons Innovation Community is honored to have these and so many other accomplished women at the organizations on our campus. The future is bright, and you have a huge part in that.?

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