B-SoCCS 2019

Steve Canham, PhD

investigator II at novartis institute of biomedical research

Steve Canham obtained his PhD from the University of California, Irvine with Prof. Larry Overman where he completed the synthesis of several natural products. Subsequently, he worked on re-engineering the cellular surface glycocalyx to study how cancer cells evade immune detection from natural killer cells with Carolyn Bertozzi at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon joining Novartis in 2013 his general research interests have been in chemical biology -- building chemical and genetic tools to enable a biological pathway-based approach to gain mechanistic understanding of disease. A current area of research focus is in the development of chemical and genetic tools in order to elucidate biological pathways of lysosomal storage disorders as well as innate immunology. 

Michelle Lyles, PhD

Senior District Manager, Biosciences Division at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Michelle Lyles, P.D., Senior District Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, brings 20+ years of Marketing, Sales and Leadership experience ranging from Early Stage Start-Ups to Large Global Life Science Companies.  Michelle’s professional focus has been dedicated to integrating an unambiguous application/scientific focus to the marketing and sales of advanced technologies supporting life science research. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, Michelle held positions of increasing leadership and management responsibilities including Vice President of Commercial Operations at Trianja Technologies, Vice President of Global Sales and Support at Hamilton Thorne, Vice President of Marketing Sales at Febit, Director of Sales at Sigma Aldrich, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Panomics (Affymetrix).  Michelle received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine, and post-doctoral training at Emory University. She also has B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Chemistry, and is author of a dozen publications.

Carol Manahan, PhD

Director, Scientific and Team Excellence/ Portfolio Management at novartis institutes for biomedical research

Carol joined NIBR in October 2005 where she is responsible for enabling project team leaders and teams to perform at their highest level both scientifically and interpersonally.  She develops content and supports skill development in scientific strategy, decision making, team leadership and drug discovery and development. As an experienced project manager, Carol has been responsible for low molecular weight, cell technologies and biologics projects covering various disease areas.  She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and collaborates with project team leaders to build leadership and scientific skills needed to be successful at NIBR.

Carol joined NIBR after completing an Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Fellowship at the National Science Foundation (NSF) where she served as the subject-matter expert to measure the contributions of postdoctoral researchers to the US scientific enterprise.   She also was a member of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council committee, “Building Bridges: Fostering Talent in the Biomedical Sciences.” While a postdoctoral researcher, Carol was one of the founders and is the founding Chair of the National Postdoctoral Association (www.nationalpostdoc.org), a group that advocates for positive change in the experience of postdoctoral researchers.  It was this experience that expanded her network nationally and led to her job at Novartis.

Carol performed her postdoctoral research in Dictyostelium chemotaxis at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the laboratory of Peter Devreotes.  She received her PhD in Molecular Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, where her thesis elucidated the role of lipid modifications on G-protein signaling in S. cerevisiae.

Roxana Salim, PhD

Lead Product Specialist at i-Motions A/S

Roxanna Salim leads the North American Product Specialist team at iMotions. She studied biological and cognitive neurosychology during her time at University of California, Irvine and Claremont Graduate University. While at Claremont Graduate University, her research focused on the interaction between stress physiology and behavioral outcomes such as memory performance, anxiety, and depression. She also worked as the Research Director for the Psychology Department at Pomona College during this time where she coordinated and conducted research studies in collaboration with different faculty members and undergraduate students. Since starting at iMotions in mid 2015, she has helped develop the product specialist department into the research and development and scientific branch of the company. She hopes to provide guidance to aspiring researchers looking for opportunities in biotechnology.