Meet the panel:

Andrés López Castaño, Vaccine Therapeutic Area Lead, Global LGBTQI+ ERG Lead, MSD Switzerland

Andrés has around 17 years’ experience in Clinical Research. His experience expands from site coordination, clinical operations, clinical trial metrics through clinical data management. For the past 10 years at MSD, he was part of the leadership team in Clinical Data Operations and member of the foundational team that set a new team in Zurich focused on Vaccine Clinical Data Operations. Andrés is also a seasoned Diversity & Inclusion lead and has participated as speaker in this area in many opportunities. He currently leads D&I for the Europe LGBT+ Employee Resource Network, the Zurich office as well as the Global Data Management organization at MSD. In these spaces, he designed, rolled out and implement several D&I initiatives, locally, regionally and globally. Andrés was recognized in 2021 by OUTstanding as 100 LGBT+ Future Leaders List supported by Yahoo Finance.

Tricia Lucas-Clarke, Early Talent Recruitment Inclusion and Diversity Manager, GSK

Tricia is an early talent recruitment inclusion and diversity manager, diverse reverse mentor and race champion who is committed to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in society. She is also a contributing writer and podcaster for female-focussed projects as well as facilitating discussions for people to discuss ethnicity and gender, so understands why individuals, particularly women, still struggle to speak up about their achievements and feel unheard when they do.

Noor Shaker, Senior Vice President and General Manager, X-Chem

Noor is a biotech entrepreneur and recognized healthcare innovator. Prior to Glamorous AI (acquired by X-Chem in October 2021), she was an assistant professor at Aalborg University. Noor is passionate about data and artificial intelligence (AI) and is on a mission to cure disease by pushing the boundaries for what is possible with AI. She has a record of achievements in AI, including numerous papers published in the field and its application to drug discovery, as well as holding a number of AI patents. She sits on AI and diversity advisory boards for prestigious organizations and universities and is a recognized healthcare leader — she was one of the 2018 winners of Innovators Under 35 Europe from MIT Technology Review and named one of BBC’s 100 Women of 2019.

Sandra Van de Cauter, Innovation Enabling Partner and Diversity and Inclusion Lead, F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Sandra can be described as a true polymath coming as a result of life happening while you make plans. She acquired a number of technical skills and certifications that she completed with extensive education in the so called ‘soft skills’ arena. The multiple work experiences in a variety of industries and roles has given her the ability to deeply understand people without a linear career track experience and how valuable they also are to any company. Headhunters have no clue how to explain her linkedIn profile, however for herself it is pretty clear: I help people succeed by removing the roadblocks they either create for themselves, have in their own way or are creating for others. Her passion is seeing people, teams, departments thrive and manage complex challenges. She believes that companies succeed when the uniqueness of every individual has a chance to show up and is invited to be part of the creative innovative process. Diversity only works when there is Inclusion, and Inclusion only happens when people truly feel safe. Currently she holds the position of Innovation Enabling Partner and Diversity and Inclusion Lead for pharma research and early development for F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in Basel.

MODERATOR: Marsha N. Ganthier, President, HBA Paris Chapter

Marsha has been an active member of the HBA (Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association) since 2015. She became the Programming Director for the Paris chapter in 2020, and received the Honored Volunteer award in 2021 for her commitment and contribution to the board. In February of this year, Marsha was elected to the role of President of the Paris Chapter.

In her new role, Marsha will collaborate with the board to set the chapter’s vision and strategic initiatives. She will ensure alignment with the HBA mission and strategy, and oversee the creation of the chapter’s strategic and annual plan, establish priorities and culture for the board, and mentor and support the team in their leadership roles and professional development.

Marsha has over 10 years of experience in the Healthcare industry, having worked at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, and most recently GSK. A New Jersey native, Marsha’s career has allowed her to live and work abroad and brought her to France in 2017. Marsha holds a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and is based in Paris.