Keynote SPEAKER

"How to build a scientific life"

Rita Balice-Gordon, Ph.D., is the Global Head, Rare and Neurologic Diseases Research Therapeutic Area at Sanofi, Inc.  She leads groups of scientists based in Boston and Paris working on small molecules, antibodies and gene therapy as modalities for discovering and developing innovative and transformative therapeutics for patients with rare genetic disorders, Multiple Sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Balice-Gordon was formerly Vice-President and Head of Circuits, Neurotransmitters and Signaling in Pfizer’s Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit, and was Head of the Worldwide Research and Development Postdoctoral Program there.  Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Balice-Gordon was Professor of Neuroscience and Chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Group in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she currently holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor. 
Dr. Balice-Gordon and her laboratory have studied the cell-cell signaling mechanisms underlying synapse formation and maintenance, the mechanisms underlying neuromuscular development and disease and the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying autoimmune CNS disorders that affect cognition and behavior.  She was continuously funded by the NIH for more than 30 years. 
Dr. Balice-Gordon has authored more than 100 scientific papers, has been the recipient of several awards and honors, has given hundreds of invited research talks around the world, has chaired or served on many NIH, national and international committees and study sections, has served on the editorial board of several leading scientific journals, and has served on the scientific advisory boards of several startups/biotechs.  Dr. Balice-Gordon is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.