Harvard Business School Announces 2021-2022 Kaplan Fellows
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BOSTON – Harvard Business School (HBS) has announced the 2021-2022 recipients of the Robert S. Kaplan (MBA 1983) Life Sciences Fellowship. Established in 2008, the fellowship was created by Robert S. Kaplan who formerly served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and was the Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice at HBS and vice chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
The Kaplan Fellowship encourages passionate students with credentials in the life science disciplines to attend HBS by presenting approximately 10 incoming MBA students awards up to $20,000. Past recipients of the award have served in leadership roles within the industry and demonstrated a strong commitment to continuing their career in life sciences after graduation, including the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship.
“The life science industry has grown tremendously since the Kaplan Fellowship was created, and each year we see more and more MBA candidates who want to make a difference in the field while at HBS and beyond,” said Robert Huckman, faculty chair of the HBS Health Care Initiative. “This year’s Kaplan Fellows are science and business-minded students who will immerse themselves in the Harvard life science ecosystem and become next-generation leaders.”
The 2021-2022 Kaplan Fellows are:
Evan Beiter (MBA 2023)
A fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School, Evan brings patient experience and an extensive research background to the Kaplan community. As a neuroscience major at Washington University in Saint Louis, he focused his undergraduate research on computational neurogenetics, then during the COVID-19 pandemic transitioned to analyzing outcome disparities, vaccine economics, and the costs and efficacy of telemedicine. His publications have been cited in hundreds of academic papers to date. At HBS, Evan looks forward to melding his interests since, as he notes, “The pandemic has shown us that large-scale virtual care is much more feasible than we ever imagined; I hope to continue the telemedicine momentum in neurogenetics and cognitive decline.”
Patric Cao (MBA 2023)
Patric has spent the last several years in the life sciences industry in both investing and operating roles. He started his career at Roivant Sciences, focused on the diligence of biopharma and health tech investment opportunities as well as developing the strategy and operations for the firm’s portfolio companies. More recently at PatientPoint Health Technologies he led sales strategy and analytics over digital and point-of-care advertising programs for pharma, medtech, and consumer health brands. “As a Kaplan Fellow, I am most looking forward to discovering new innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities to deliver meaningful impact to communities of need,” Patric said.
Sam Casey (MBA 2023)
Sam is passionate about using technology to improve access to and effectiveness of health care. His prior experience includes deploying machine learning algorithms in pharmaceutical manufacturing and leading a business accelerator team to commercialize a block chain platform at a health care startup. Through his MBA journey and as a Kaplan Fellow, Sam is “exploring applications of artificial intelligence in biopharmaceutical development.”
Shane Fagan (MBA 2023)
As a senior hardware systems engineer in the Digital Healthcare Group at Analog Devices, Shane designed and evaluated vital signs monitoring (VSM) solutions. One of these solutions was the ADI VSM Study Watch, an open and robust biomedical evaluation platform that can seamlessly detect key vital signs, which enables accessible, transparent, and improved patient outcomes. Shane commented, “Innovation in the life sciences and health care technology field can drastically decrease health care costs, increase accessibility, and improve patient outcomes. After HBS, I hope to continue driving this life sciences and health care technology revolution.”
Julia Kirslis (MBA 2023)
Prior to HBS, Julia was the R&D finance manager at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where she led various financial exercises to support strategic decision-making for the R&D and Global Medical Affairs organization. Prior to that role, she was a financial analyst at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals supporting the company's first commercial launch. Julia said, “Taking innovative science and translating it into new medicines for patients – this is what excites me.”
Morgan Moncada (MBA 2023)
Morgan has spent the last five years working with biotechnology startups to translate cutting-edge research into commercial opportunities. He spent two years in business development at Trellis Biosciences to adapt native human immunities into therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases. Morgan has also led operations at Aromyx, a Bay Area startup digitizing taste and smell via biosensors to accelerate development of healthier foods and beverages and to detect diseases. He is pursuing his dual interests in business and biotechnology through HBS’s joint MBA and MS Biotech program. “The incredible resources of Harvard, including the Kaplan Fellowship, will accelerate my growth as a biotechnology leader and introduce me to new opportunities for innovation in regenerative medicine and synthetic biology,” he said
Ted Obi (MBA 2023)
Ted cares deeply about leveraging health care innovation to reduce human suffering. For the past three years, he has taken care of patients as a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Ted’s previous experiences include co-founding Melanin Doc, a non-profit supporting the next generation of minority health care providers as well as co-founding the Diversity Innovation Hub, a Mount Sinai venture addressing social and structural determinants of health in NYC. He joined HBS to pursue his MS/MBA in Biotechnology and said, "From addressing issues with health care access to ensuring underserved communities capitalize on the potential of precision medicine and other emerging technology, there is work to be done to ensure health equity, and I intend to help."
Kaila Smilen (MBA 2023)
Kaila joins HBS after five years in the life sciences sector, first as a strategy consultant and most recently at Flatiron Health, where she built and managed data partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies. These partnerships enable companies to use real-world data to enhance efficiency of their clinical trials and improve patient access to new treatments. Kaila is passionate about therapeutic innovation in areas where recent investment has been limited, particularly reproductive health. She said, “As a Kaplan Fellow, I am excited to learn from students and alumni who are similarly motivated to solve seemingly intractable problems in health care.”
Stefania Trepekli (MBA 2023)
Stefania’s aspiration is to work towards making innovative pharmaceutical products accessible and start by increasing access to Cell & Gene Therapies (CGTs) due to its ability to cure as opposed to treat patients, and believes CGTs have the potential to revolutionize our health care systems. She joined Novartis' Global Leadership program and worked in plants across three countries (USA, Slovenia and Switzerland) and learned a lot about novel production methods, standardization and optimization opportunities. Stefania said, “Upon completing my MS/MBA in Biotechnology, I envision cooperating closely with research institutions and regulatory authorities to actively promote the sustainable commercialization of future scientific advancements."
Kevin Tyan (MBA 2023)
Kevin is the co-founder of Kinnos, a biotechnology startup focusing on infectious disease disinfection. He helped develop a process of colorized disinfection that he field-tested in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare. As a joint degree candidate at HBS and HMS, Kevin also focuses on the advancement of new cancer treatment strategies, and recently designed and attained grants for a Dana-Farber clinical trial now enrolling patients in stereotactic radiation therapy for rare salivary gland cancers. He also supports other fellow entrepreneurs through investing at Pillar VC and Petri. Kevin said, “As a Kaplan Fellow, I am eager to focus on providing quality care for my patients while advancing new solutions and innovations in the continual pursuit of better healthcare.”
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