Officers

President: Linda Park
Vice-President: June Eisenman
Treasurer : Abbe Rubin
Secretary: Patty Ryan

Board of Directors

Michelle Chow
David Cosman
Tim Dickenson
June Eisenman
Richard Gayle
Kyoko Maruyama
Nancy McKay
Carol Olson
Linda Park
Patty Ryan
Abbe Rubin
Janis Wignall

Committee Chairs

Collaborations/External Networking, Board Co-Chair: Linda Park
Board Co-Chair : Carol Olson
Scientific Advisory Group, Integrated Programming, and Directed Initiatives, Board Co-Chair: David Cosman
Seminar Series: Kyoko Maruyama
Seminar Series Chair:  Nan McKay
Collaborations/External Networking: Janis Wignall
Engagement, Board Co-Chair: Tim Dickenson
Communications/PR, Rebranding, Board Co-Chair: June Eisenman
Technology / Internal Networking: Richard Gayle
Webmaster: Michelle Chow
Treasurer: Abbe Rubin

SBLF Board Bios

Michelle Chow completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University, Australia in 2004. Upon relocating to Seattle from Australia in 2006, Michelle worked briefly as a science writer at the University of Washington. In March 2007, she took up her current position at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she works in the Director's office as an information researcher for the Partnership for Personalized Medicine. Michelle also holds a B.A. and B.Sc.(Hons.) from Monash University.

David Cosman has a B.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a Ph.D in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, in 1983 he joined Immunex where he held several positions in discovery research including Vice President and Director of Molecular Biology. After the aquisition by Amgen, he continued to work in research, most recently as a Scientific Director, until retiring in November 2005. During his scientific career, David served on the Keystone Symposia Scientific Advisory Board and as a member of the Faculty of 1000. He has published more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is listed as one of the Institute for Scientific Information's highly cited scientists in Immunology. Prior to joining the SBLF board, David served on the SBLF Grant Committee.

Tim Dickenson is a leadership and organizational effectiveness consultant working at the headquarters for Providence Health and Services. He was Sr. Director of Training and Organizational Effectiveness at Immunex and worked on projects related to leadership and employee development, performance management, and corporate culture. He has done pro bono consulting related to board development and strategy for non-profits in the Puget Sound and has worked for SBLF on issues related to governance and strategic planning. Tim has a BA from Wichita State University in International Organizations and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

June Eisenman, SBLF board co-chair, was a member of the SBLF Founding Advisory Group and has served on the SBLF Board of Directors since 2003, with responsibilities including communications, development and strategic planning. June studied endocrinology and nutrition in the Animal Sciences Department at Washington State University and received a MS in 1982. June entered the Biotechnology sector, working at Immunex from 1982 to 2002 as a scientist in the Cellular Biochemistry, Experimental Hematology and Protein Chemistry Departments, and at Amgen from 2002 to 2007 as a Senior Scientist in the Protein Sciences Department.

Richard Gayle has been involved with SBLF since its inception, acting as a member of the SBLF Founding Advisory Group and on the SBLF Board of Directors. After gaining a BS from the California Institute of Technology, getting a Ph. D. from Rice University and doing his postdoctoral work in the lab of Dr. Marvin Caruthers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Richard joined Immunex in 1986, where he worked in Discovery Research, using his expertise in biochemistry, molecular biology, structural biology and protein expression on a wide variety of projects. Leaving Immunex in 2002, he worked on several projects for the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, including Invest Northwest. In 2004, he joined Etubics Corporation, a biotech startup focussed on developing vaccines for the 21st Century, as Vice President, Research. In 2008, he founded a new venture, SpreadingScience, dedicated to providing new internet technologies for researchers, permitting them to access and distribute the large datasets now being generated.

Kyoko Maruyama holds a Ph. D. in genetics from Washington University in St. Louis and an undergraduate degree in literature and education from Waseda University in Tokyo. After working in academia, Kyoko has been working as a volunteer at non-profit organizations. To advance her work with those organizations, she is continuing her education at University of Washington Extension in such fields as project management and fundraising management.

Nancy  McKay served for six years as Environmental Sustainability Manager at The Russell Family Foundation.  Prior to that she worked for three Washington governors as Deputy Director and later Executive Director of the Puget  Sound Water Quality Authority and as Chair of the Puget Sound Action Team.  She also worked for the associations of cities and counties in four states on energy policy and for the League of Oregon Cities on issues ranging from land use to juvenile justice to election law.  She has had additional experience in mental health, international relations and education.  Nan was a founding member of the Washington Governor's Council on Environmental Education and of the Association of National Estuary Programs.  She has chaired and served on a variety of boards, commissions and task forces working on sustainablity, energy policy, mental health, libraries, ethics, indicators of coastal health, jail standards and environmental education.

Carol Olson began working at Immunex in 1987 as a clinical trial monitor. She became Senior Manager of Medical Writing with Immunex and left Amgen in 2003. Before joining Immunex, Carol did laboratory research and later held positions in quality control, clinical and regulatory affairs, and quality assurance with companies manufacturing biologics and medical devices.

Linda Park has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan and spent 18 years in the Discovery Research group at Immunex. Linda focused her scientific career on human immune system research, and was director of the Biochemistry Department for 10 years. During her last 3 years at the company, Linda undertook the role of scientific representative and liaison for planning, design and construction of the new Immunex research and development center at Interbay, now home to Amgen Washington. Linda retired from Immunex in 2002 and is now directing her time and scientific experience to projects in the non-profit and philanthropic arenas. She is passionate about bringing both the value of collaboration and cooperation, and an understanding of the interconnected nature of our world, to these new ventures. Among other activities, Linda serves on the community grant making committee for The Seattle Foundation, and on the Board of Directors of Sustainable Seattle. Linda was one of the original founders of SBLF, and served the organization as President and Board chair for its first 3 years.

Patty Ryan holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from Temple University and a Pharm.D. from the University of Kentucky. She has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and for the past 15 years, has been dedicated to clinical drug development, managing her own consulting firm. Patty prepares scientific and regulatory documents for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. She also provides advice for the analysis and interpretation of clinical data and participates as clinical faculty for workshops in medical writing. Patty has previously done pro bono work with non-profit organizations by writing grants and strategic plans. She also serves on the SBLF Grant Committee.

Abbe Sue Rubin is a retired statistician who currently serves as Treasurer for SBLF. She also serves as Treasurer for Music of Remembrance, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering Holocaust musicians. Before retiring in 2004, Abbe spent 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. She was Vice President of Biometrics at Immunex, responsible for statistical and data management functions related to the design and analysis of clinical trials. She also served as a statistical consultant to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center focusing on AIDS vaccine research. Abbe holds a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Rochester, MA degree in mathematics from Indiana University, and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from MIT.

Janis Wignall is the Director, Science Education Outreach at Children’s Hospital in Seattle where she is developing a science education curriculum to improve the health of children in Washington State. Previously she worked at Immunex/Amgen for 19 yrs, first as a molecular biologist and then as the manager for a Science Education K-12 outreach program. She was on the cloning team of TNF receptor which became the multi billion dollar drug ENBREL for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. In 2000 Janis accepted a Golden Apple Award from Governor Locke for recognition of Immunex’s efforts in science education.