The Awards were designed by ZachZacks DesignWorks and 3D printed by Formlabs in Somerville, MA.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Rob Perez and Susan Windham-Bannister were our masters of ceremony for the evening. Perez was also an X of the Year winner. His award was for Community Contribution of the Year, for his work creating and chairing the nonprofit Life Science Cares. Windham-Bannister was a finalist for the Commitment to Diversity Award.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Cool lighting effects set the mood for the evening. On the screens, we showed pictures of the finalists and their teams.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
The emcees announced the evening's winners, presented the awards, and had a little back-and-forth.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Wagle is with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Wagle worked with patients to create the Metastatic Breast Cancer Project, which collects DNA and medical information from patients to better learn about the disease and its response to treatment.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Schulman is CEO of the drug-delivery startup Lyndra.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Schulman is a relative newcomer to both Boston and the startup world. She moved from Pfizer in New York to join Polaris Partners, before heading up Lyndra.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Mahadevia is president and CEO of Spero.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Spero is working on a variety of approaches to tackle drug-resistant microbes.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Reede is Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School. She launched many programs to support STEM students, and address the recruitment and retention of medical students and faculty.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Reede was one of two winners of the Commitment to Diversity Award.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Nelsen won a Lifetime Achievement Award, for her work leading MIT's Technology Licensing Office and helping to transform Cambridge and Kendall Square into a hotbed of innovation.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Nelsen (left) recently retired from MIT. Ramita Tandon of ICON (right) presented the award to Nelsen. ICON was a Platinum Sponsor of the event.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Minita Shah-Mara of Biogen (left), Kristi Sarno, President Emeritus of Women in Bio (middle), and Theresa McNeely, board member, Women in Bio (right). Women in Bio runs the Boardroom Ready program, which Biogen first started as an internal program in 2015.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Whitesides said a few words of reflection after accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Whitesides is a leading chemistry professor at the forefront of nanotechnology, soft robotics, and other fields. He also co-founded several companies. Tandon is with ICON, and presented the award to Whitesides.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Sharei, 30, is the CEO of SQZ Biotech, which is working on cell therapies using cell-squeezing technology he developed as an MIT grad student.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Bhatia of MIT was trained as a physician and engineer, and combines biology, nanomaterials, and engineering in her research.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Gerngross is co-founder and CEO of Adimab and a Dartmouth professor. He has taken a unique approach with his company, which is self-sustaining, profitable, and privately held.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Kaye led Sarepta Therapeutics and helped it gain FDA approval for its first drug. Bosley is the head of Editas Medicine, which is moving its CRISPR-based drug into human trials.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
David Livingston of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (left) and Tyler Jacks of the MIT Koch Institute (right) are co-leaders of the Bridge Project, which funds collaborative research from both institutions.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Sato won as Xport of the Year, for her work exporting key elements of the Boston life sciences community to New York City, as she helps the big city build its biotech industry.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Lawton gave a tribute to Henri Termeer, who passed away earlier this year. Lawton worked closely with Termeer at Genzyme for more than 20 years and is now the chief operating officer at Aura Biosciences.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Lawton and gala attendees raised a glass to honor Termeer's life and accomplishments.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Amri Johnson of Novartis (front left) and Andrew Lo of MIT (front right) were among the many Awards finalists in attendance.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Harvard geneticist George Church (right) was one of 11 judges who helped Xconomy pick the winners.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Bob Buderi, Xconomy founder and editor-in-chief (right), wowed us with his unusual fashion choice.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Armon Sharei (right), winner of the Young Innovator Award
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Sangeeta Bhatia (center) of MIT, winner of the Innovation at the Intersection Award
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Paula Ragan (right), founder and CEO of X4 Pharmaceuticals. Ragan was a finalist in the CEO category.
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
Brock Reeve (left), executive director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Photography by Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben
We at Xconomy were thrilled to see such a great turnout at our first-ever Awards Gala—350 people from the Boston life sciences community filled a Hynes Convention Center ballroom. As Bob Buderi, our founder and editor-in-chief, said in his opening remarks on September 26 before a sold-out crowd: We clearly struck a chord.
Top scientists, CEOs, and many others from across the life sciences ecosystem came out to celebrate the Award winners and finalists. The atmosphere was festive, with rock music, a cool lightshow, and suspenseful silence that fell across the room as everyone waited for our emcees, Susan Windham-Bannister (president and CEO of Biomedical Growth Strategies) and Rob Perez (founder and chairman of Life Science Cares), to open the envelopes and reveal the winners.
In accepting their Lifetime Achievement Awards, Lita Nelsen, who recently retired as head of the MIT Technology Licensing Office, and George Whitesides, a chemistry and materials pioneer at Harvard University (and co-founder of Genzyme), reflected on their long careers.
We paused for a few moments to pay tribute to the life of Henri Termeer, the longtime Genzyme CEO who passed away earlier this year. Alison Lawton, who worked closely with Termeer for more than 20 years at Genzyme and who sits on the boards of some of the startups Termeer co-founded, gave the tribute and led a toast as everyone stood and raised their glasses. Lawton, chief operating officer of Aura Biosciences, spoke about how focused Termeer was on patients and how he took the time to chat with his employees in the cafeteria and to mentor budding CEOs.
We’d like to thank our Platinum Sponsors: ICON and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Gold Sponsors: Arrakis Therapeutics, Sanofi, Syros, Wyss Institute.
Silver Sponsors: Dragonfly Therapeutics, GE, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, LEO Science & Tech Hub, Shire, Stratacuity, Tesaro, Veritas, Wuxi AppTec.
And thanks to Alex Gagne and Rythum Vinoben for taking the photographs in the slideshow.
You can read more about the Awards finalists in a series of articles listed here, and stay tuned for videos, profiles, and Q&As with the winners. Also, please keep an eye out for nominations for next year’s Awards—and we look forward to seeing you at the 2018 Awards Gala.
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