President, Karen M. Page, Ph.D. 

Karen is a cell biologist at Pfizer where she currently specializes in biomarker assay development for early clinical studies.  She has over eighteen years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry focused primarily on primary human cell models, in vitro assay development, and new target identification in support of drug development efforts to treat chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.   While working as a research associate at Genetics Institute and Wyeth, she earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine.   She has served as a mentor for two AWIS Mentoring Circles, has led the chapter's Mentoring Committee for the past two years, and was instrumental in establishing our new mentoring partnership with the Science Club for Girls.  Karen is also a very active member of the Junior League of Boston and currently serves as the Director of Strategic Management and Planning for that organization.  Her volunteer efforts reflect her commitment to the development of women as leaders and the health and education of girls in our community. 

Vice-President, Beth M. Hovey, Ph.D.

Beth completed her bachelors’ degrees in Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Biochemistry with a minor in Chemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She worked at a biotech company for several years as a research associate working with siRNA. She attended Boston University School of Medicine, completing her Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine. Currently, Beth is the Editorial Director at the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). She has been a member of Mass-AWIS for many years, first joining as a graduate student. Recently, she has been very involved in the organization, planning events and recruiting new members. 

Administrator, Anne-Elise Tobin, Ph.D.  

Anne-Elise is an analyst in the Central Nervous Systems Disorders group at Decision Resources, Inc. and volunteers as an editor for the local environmental organization GreeningRozzie. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience at Emory University, where she served on the program’s admissions and curriculum committees. During her postdoctoral research at Brandeis University, she founded the Brandeis University Postdoctoral Organization to facilitate interdisciplinary scientific discourse, career development, and networking events.  Anne-Elise has been an active member of AWIS since 2009, serving on the Event Planning Committee and the board of directors. 

Treasurer, Karen Yee, Ph.D. 

Karen is presently a Research Lab Manager at Harvard University.  Previously she was an Instructor and a post-doctoral fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Karen obtained a B.A. degree with Honors in biological science from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. degree in molecular and cellular biology from University of Washington.  Karen first joined AWIS as a graduate student at the University of Washington and chaired the AWIS-Seattle Chapter Scholarship Committee for two years as well as held a number of positions on the AWIS-Seattle Chapter Board including Treasurer. She was delighted when the AWIS-Massachusetts chapter was revived soon after she started her post-doctoral fellowship, and served as the Administrator on the Board in 2001. Since then she has participated in the chapter in various capacities including being the chair of the Leadership Workshop Committee, member of the Mentoring Committee, member of the Events Committee and chair of the Membership Committee. Her scientific interest has revolved around how cells interact with one another as well as with the extracellular matrix in a number of diseases including atherosclerosis, cancer and heart disease. When Karen is not in the lab, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Lewis, and her two young daughters, Sofia and Athena. 

Membership Committee Chair, Janet Buhlmann, Ph.D.

Janet received her B.A. in Biochemistry from Mt. Holyoke College in 1989, after which she worked as a research technician for 2 years at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA.  From there, she went to Dartmouth College where she received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1997.  Janet’s studies focused on understanding the role of CD40:CD40L in the development of allogeneic immune responses in the laboratory of Dr. Randolph Noelle. Janet’s postdoctoral studies were done under the direction of Dr. Arlene Sharpe at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.  From there, she returned to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  After four years, she transitioned from academia to biotech/industry working as the Director of Cellular Immunology at EpiVax, Inc.  After a year and a half, Janet moved to the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation at Pfizer, Inc where currently a senior scientist. Within Mass-AWIS, Janet has been a member of the mentor circle committee since the program’s inception and currently serving as a mentor.

Mentoring Committee Co-Chairs, Tooba Cheema, Ph.D. and Sohini Mazumdar

Tooba is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital working at the Brain
Tumor Research Center. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Tooba has been an active member of AWIS-MA since 2008 and served as the co-chair of the Mentoring Committee last year, where she significantly increased the participation of both mentors and mentees in the mentoring circles program. She has also been an active member of the MGH postdoc Association and the HMS/HSDM Postdoc Association organizing and leading career/social events for the postdoc community. Tooba is passionate about science policy issues since her internship at the National Academies and hopes to continue helping women overcome career hurdles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. 

Sohini completed her undergraduate work and her first Master’s degree in Lifesciences while back in India. She came to Los Angeles to pursue a second Master’s degree in Forensic Science at California State University because she wanted to apply her scientific skills to directly impact the human condition. Three years of studying and interning at the crime lab made Sohini realize that she missed R&D, and that she would need a more advanced degree to really be able to make a difference. Sohini moved to Boston to pursue a Ph.D. in Genetics from Tufts University. Her graduate work involves understanding genes and epigenetic modifications important for progression of types of breast cancer that are refractory to treatment. In addition to her graduate work, she consults for a Relay Technology Management which helps transfer innovations and new technologies from an academic space to commercial enterprises. In her spare time, (carefully eked out with the help of AWIS work-life balance workshops) she likes painting, pottery and trying new cuisines.

Events Committee Co-Chairs, Christa Van Dort, Ph.D. and Yoojin Chung, Ph.D.

Christa is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying the mechanisms of sleep and general anesthesia induced loss of consciousness.  Christa received her B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Hope College in Holland, MI and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.  She has recently become active in Mass-AWIS, helping organizing events and the mentoring circle program.  She is also helping improve resources for women in the Harvard system through Harvard’s Joint Committee on the Status of Women Mentoring subcommittee.

 Yoojin is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School studying the neurophysiology of cochlear implants. Yoojin received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. She has been a member of the MASS-AWIS Events Committee since 2011. She also served as a member of Steering Committee of student, postdoc and medical resident chapter of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Yoojin has been an active AWIS member since 2007. 

Get Involved

In addition to our Executive Board, we have many committees looking for new members - including Fundraising, Workshops, and Mentoring.  Volunteering is a great way to meet people and build new skills!

Contact us for more information!