During the 2020 Medtech Women AdvanSE of Southeast Life Sciences (formerly Medtech Women@SEMDA) virtual event on September 8, 2020, Founder, Chair and GCMI CEO Tiffany Wilson will pass the gavel to Allyson Bower-Willner. Willner, Marketing Director for Strategic Accounts with Molynlycke Health Care, has served on the MW@S board since its inception in 2016.
“We founded Medtech Women to serve as a strong advisory network for mentoring and professional development for female professionals and innovators across the medical technology industry in the Southeast,” Wilson said. “There is a meaningful gender gap in the C Suite. We know this. At the same time we are seeing more female technologists — doctors and engineers — with their names on patents, but we are not seeing a corresponding jump in the number of women involved in medtech startups.”
“Our goal is to continue our work making the southeast a world-class region for the medical device industry,” Willner said. “Medtech Women can play an integral role in that mission by enhancing the opportunities for female inventors, entrepreneurs, and other industry professionals in the southeast.”
Since its inception, Medtech Women@SEMDA has evolved to include an advisory board of 20 medtech and life science executives, physicians and successful entrepreneurs. The group has added educational programs, webinars and is now positioned to expand its capabilities and reach in large part thanks to the merging of the Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) with SE BIO in the new combined entity Southeast Life Sciences.
“The convergence of medical technologies, including devices, with bioscience technologies including drugs, data, digital and combination products necessitates the convergence of these entities,” former SEMDA Executive Director and now Southeast Life Science Executive Director Jason Rupp said. “In order to respond to the combined needs of stakeholders in both ecosystems, the time arrived for SEBIO and SEMDA to come together under one roof.”
“We have given Medtech Women life and validated its reason for being: creation of opportunities for women in medtech and life sciences for growth, leadership and professional development,” Wilson says. “Shifting from start-up mode into growth mode and maturity is an exciting time for any organization, particularly in an ever evolving industry like medtech and the life sciences.”
“Thanks to the chair and the board’s leadership to date, and the remarkable environment in which we all find ourselves, the impact potential for Medtech Women AdvanSE is high,” Willner said. “We encourage all members of the southeast life science ecosystem to engage with us. Registering for the 5th annual Medtech Women AdvanSE virtual conference is an excellent place to start.”
Those interested in serving on a committee like programming, conference, sponsorship or other should contact Jason Rupp at jrupp@southeastlifesciences.org or (202) 438-4960