ACS Career Day September 28 | Inspiring Women in Chemistry

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

ACS Virtual Career Day

Inspiring Women In Chemistry:

Career Conversations Driven by Pfizer

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

A virtual experience only.

This ACS Virtual Career Day is a FREE half-day career development workshop for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the advancement of women in the chemical sciences. Attendees will interact with notable scientists at Pfizer and ACS Career Consultants during keynote and panel discussions on career planning, breakthrough science, and advocating for a healthy work-life balance.

Questions about this Career Day?

Email us at: careers@acs.org

Agenda

Tuesday, September 28 (Eastern Time)
11:30 AM	Welcome
11:45 AM - 12:25 PM	Planning a for a Career in Science: Navigating the Path Ahead - with Jennifer Lafontaine, Ph.D.
12:25 - 12:35 PM	Break
12:35 - 1:20 PM	Career Breakthroughs Panel
1:20 - 2:00 PM	Discovery of Oral Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease for the Treatment of COVID-19 - with Joy Yang, Ph.D.
2:00 - 2:30 PM	Break
2:30 - 3:15 PM	Behind the Breakthroughs Panel
3:15 - 3:55 PM	Development of a Commercial Manufacturing Process for Ibrance - with Nga Do, M.S.
3:55 - 4:15 PM	Closing Remarks

Meet the Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Jennifer Lafontaine, Ph.D.

Vice President, Oncology Medicinal Chemistry | Pfizer

"Planning for a Career in Science: Navigating the Path Ahead"

Jennifer LaFontaine has worked as a medicinal chemist and people leader at Pfizer for over 20 years, leading drug discovery teams responsible for the delivery of more than 20 Pfizer clinical candidates for cancer, ophthalmic diseases, diabetes and obesity. Jennifer currently serves as the Head of Oncology Medicinal Chemistry, where her team’s focus is to discover and advance transformational cancer therapies for patients as quickly as possible by leveraging their expertise in small molecule design, synthesis, protein sciences, and structural biology. Jennifer previously led the Oncology Medicinal Chemistry Synthesis and Analytical Sciences group, Cancer Platform Chemistry, and the Ophthalmology Therapeutic Area Medicinal Chemistry group.

Jennifer earned her B.A. in chemistry with Distinction from Swarthmore College, and then received her Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, before joining Pfizer in 1993.

Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn

Joy Yang, Ph.D.

Associate Research Fellow, Medicinal Sciences | Pfizer

“Discovery of Oral Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease for the Treatment of COVID-19”

Joy Yang received her Ph.D. in biophysics at University of Pennsylvania. In Professor Kim Sharp’s group, she studied and developed computational methods for macromolecular simulation and modeling. Joy did Postdoctoral research at GSK on discovering broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. From 2010-2015, Joy worked at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, continuing the research and discovery in antibiotics. In 2015, Joy joined Pfizer Neuroscience computation chemistry group where she has been working on many early and late stage programs across different therapeutic areas.

Connect with Joy on LinkedIn

Nga Do, M.S.

Principal Scientist, Process Chemistry | Pfizer

“Development of a Commercial Manufacturing Process for Ibrance”

Nga Do received her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Purdue University, and her master’s degree under the direction of Scott Rychnovsky at UC Irvine. Nga has been in Pfizer’s process Chemistry Group for 23 years and has worked on a spectrum of both early to late stage products including the commercial products: Ibrance, Daurismo, Steglatro, as well as the COVID 19 vaccine.

Connect with Nga on LinkedIn

Career Breakthroughs Panel

During this panel discussion, panelists will provide advice and insight into networking, interviewing, career growth and the differences between working in industry and academia.

Michelle Tran-Dubé, M.S.

Senior Principal Scientist, Medicinal Sciences, Pfizer

Cheryl Hayward, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Process Chemistry, Pfizer

Prof. Courtney Roberts, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota

Samina Azad, Ph.D.

Career Consultant, American Chemical Society

Behind the Breakthroughs Panel

During this panel discussion, panelists will provide insight into their lives beyond the lab, including what work-life balance means to them and other challenges that may be unique to women in the workplace.