Women in STEM honored at LSC annual luncheon
On Monday, December 9, the Board of Trustees and Women’s Leadership Council honored eight distinguished women with the LSC Women in STEM Award.
It was a delightful afternoon. Congratulations to all of the honorees!
Dr. Mary Abed is the Chair of the Department of Cardiology at Jersey City Medical Center. In this role, she provides strong leadership to a growing cardiology department. Dr. Abed is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. One of Dr. Abed’s most important alliances is with the American Heart Association. Dr. Abed is very involved in outreach in the community and is a member of the Liberty Science Center’s Women’s Leadership Council.
Cathryn Clary, MD, MBA, FAPA is the Head of US Medical and Chief Scientific Officer at Novartis. Dr. Clary has been very involved in professional societies for psychiatry and medicine over the years, and has always enjoyed creating opportunities for younger women in medicine and affiliated sciences, through mentoring, coaching, and employment. Throughout her years at Pfizer and Novartis, she continued to actively mentor women in early or middle stages of their careers.
Dr. Jean Fuller-Stanley is the Associate Dean of the College of Science and Health at William Paterson University. Dr. Fuller-Stanley is a strong advocate for promoting undergraduate research to retain underrepresented minority students and mentoring women pursuing science majors. Fuller-Stanley holds a doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a bachelor’s degree from University of London (Bedford College), London, England.
Karen Graham, MS is Chief Operating Officer of Summit Medical Group. She was named as one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2009 and Hospitals and Health Networks’ Most Wired Winner in 2008. She holds a Bachelors in Business Administration and Management from the Wharton School of Business and Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics and Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Laura B. Overdeck is the Founder and President of Bedtime Math, a non-profit that aims to make math as fun and recreational for kids as the bedtime story. In addition to serving as a trustee of Liberty Science Center, Mrs. Overdeck also works with other non-profits on STEM education initiatives. She is from Westfield, NJ, and holds a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
MaryPat Sullivan, RN, MSN, CNS is Chief Nursing Officer at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey. As an integral part of Overlook’s senior leadership team, MaryPat works to create a healing environment within the health care system, focusing on health care literacy and diversity, as well as implementing programs that provide for seamless pre-hospitalization, acute care, and post-hospitalization transitions of care. A Rhode Island native and graduate of New England College, MaryPat also holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Rhode Island College and a master of science degree in nursing in high-risk women’s health care from Loyola University of Chicago. She resides in Cranford, New Jersey.
Dr. Ann Weber is Vice President – Discovery & Preclinical Sciences & Chemistry Head at Merck’s Rahway, NJ site. In this role, she is responsible for the discovery of potential new therapeutic agents in support of the Diabetes & Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease franchises. Dr. Weber obtained her B.S. degree in chemistry summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. She earned her Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. Dr. Weber is the author or co-author of over 70 publications, and co-inventor on 25 issued US patents with 13 additional applications pending. She was part of a team that received the 2007 Prix Galien USA for JANUVIA, and was named among the 2008 Outstanding Women in Science by the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research.
Xiaokui Zhang, Ph.D. is Director of Discovery Research at Celgene Cellular Therapeutics where she leads the development of innovative approaches for cell therapeutics and technology. Dr. Zhang joined CCT as Senior Scientist in 2006, leading efforts to characterize novel placenta derived stem cells and identify therapeutic applications for such cells. She received a B.Sc. in Physiology from Nanjing University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from the Rockefeller University with further post-doctoral training in the Functional Genomics Department of Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
