Boston Life Science Summit

As President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Bob’s mission is to advance Massachusetts' leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system and improve patient lives. Over the last decade, Bob has truly become a champion for patients by ensuring innovative companies have the best environment possible to research, develop, and commercialize breakthrough therapies and cures for people around the world who need and deserve them. Bob has spent his career in both the public and private sectors. Before joining MassBio, he served as the Undersecretary of Economic Development within Governor Deval Patrick's administration, where he prioritized both healthcare and economic development issues and was a strong advocate for the life sciences industry in Massachusetts. Prior to that, he was elected as State Representative to the 11th Norfolk district for three terms. Bob has also held senior executive positions in the environmental services, capital management and venture capital industries. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Bob is an active member in the community. He is a past board member of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and is currently serving on the board of directors for The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare and Aridis Pharmaceuticals. He also is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Boston Children’s Hospital, and has served as the honorary chairman of the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk since 1996. In years past, he co-chaired the Children’s Hospital Boston signature event, Champions for Children’s and the Schwartz Center’s Compassionate Healthcare Dinner. In 2011, the American Diabetes Association honored Bob with their Father of the Year Award. In 2012, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation honored Bob with the CF Foundation Volunteer Leadership Award and in 2013 he received the Boston Irish Business Award from the Boston Irish Business Association. In 2014, he was awarded for his leadership in Biotechnology by the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research. He received the NTSAD advocate of the year in 2015 and was named to the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50, Top 50 Most Influential Bostonians. In 2016, he was honored with the Boston Biotech CEO Lifetime Achievement Award. His latest honors include the first-ever awarded Governor Paul Cellucci Fatherhood Award from the Children’s Trust and the Breath of Life Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (2017). He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he majored in Marine Engineering, and served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve. He brings passion and energy to all of his endeavors.

As Project Executive of our Life Sciences Division, Greg brings more than 20 years of construction experience to JC&A. Greg has worked on a variety of projects from complex ground up construction projects, to major interior renovations, to the development of biotech/life science campuses for manufacturing, laboratory and office space as well as LEED certified projects. Greg has worked on the service provider side as the Vice President, Sector Head, Life Sciences for STV|DPM where he managed teams for clients such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Perkin Elmer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi Genzyme, Pfizer, Shire, AstraZeneca, Tesaro, Ipsen, Amgen, Ariad, Genocea and a host of startups. He has also worked directly on the client side having held leadership positions in real estate planning at Shire Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda). The rapid growth of these companies has left him with the great knowledge of the sustainable working environments as well as expertise in facilities operations in this specialized sector. Greg is active in many associations including Mass Bio, which represents 1000+ biotechnology companies, academic institutions, disease foundations and other organization involved with life sciences and healthcare and ISPE, the world’s largest not-for-profit association serving its Members by leading scientific, technical and regulatory advancement throughout the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle.

Mr. Stephen N. Faber serves as an Executive Vice President of Related Beal, LLC. Mr. Faber served as Senior Vice President and Partner of Related Beal, LLC(also known as The Beal Companies, LLP). Mr. Faber oversees asset and property management of Beal owned and managed real estate as well as development of real estate investments. His diverse experience includes management, leasing, sale and development of individual assets and portfolio management for a variety of property types: research and development, office, retail, multi-family and planned unit developments. Mr. Faber has managed assets in seventeen different markets from Jacksonville, Florida to Seattle, Washington. He has significant systems design and implementation experience, and has authored and published detailed Policy and Procedure Manuals for property operations. Prior to joining Beal and Company, Inc., Mr. Faber was Vice President of Property Management with the Rubin Organization in Philadelphia. Mr. Faber was responsible for the management of over 5,000 apartment and condominium residences in five states. Preceding his employment at the Rubin Organization, Mr. Faber was Director of Property Management for Liberty Real Estate Group, a Boston-based real estate subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, where he developed a fee management subsidiary serving institutions, partnerships, and individuals. Mr. Faber is a Member of Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA) and National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). Mr. Faber received a BS degree in Business Administration from Boston University.

Amrit spent his first eight years in industry working with R&D leaders at 100+ universities, biotechs, and large pharma companies to develop commercial products from discovery to market approval. ​In 2007 he founded Advanced Peptides, a biopharma contract research organization​. He holds patents in chemistry for global commercialized products​ and is one of INC Magazine’s top 20 innovators in healthcare.

Chuck maintains over 25 years of experience within the science and technology sector being immediately involved in global real estate, large scale capital projects, facilities engineering and management, global environment, health and safety, corporate security and related technical and operational support functions. He possesses extensive knowledge in developing science and technology facilities from the ground up having been involved in all stages of the process: developing and managing successful project teams in the planning, construction, delivery and validation of multiple large scale facilities worldwide. Chuck’s current responsibilities at Vertex include oversight over the company’s facility global assets including Planning, Construction, Operations, Security, EHS, Business Continuity and Real Estate. Chuck is a member in the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) as well as the Association of Facilities Engineers (AFE), International Facilities Managers Association (IFMA), CORNET and CEB – Real Estate Chuck is a graduate of both Norwich University and UMass Lowell obtaining both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering Technology and Environmental Science.

Project Executive Alex Main joined Wise Construction in 2009, and has grown to become the area’s industry leader on complex, logistically-challenging projects ranging from $10M - $100M. With a focus on life-science, clinical, and manufacturing facilities, he thoroughly understands the intricacies of these specialized buildings. Alex has worked to bring the latest technologies and delivery methods to every project, including design assist, immersive 3D scanning, virtual pull planning, and cloud-based project management, reducing both project risk and timelines for all his clients. His innate creativity helps him work to develop solutions for complex constructability issues, something that often comes up while converting some of Boston’s oldest buildings into modern lab spaces. A sampling of his clients includes Vertex, Novartis, Takeda, Moderna, Agios, Biogen, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Jamestown, and Flagship Pioneering. A natural leader, Alex frequently works to mentor some of the industry’s up-and-coming young professionals. He is a graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology, and is an active member of the WIT Alumni Association, the Spondylitis Association of America, MassBio, and NAIOP

John Sullivan, AIA joined SGA in 2005, and leads the architecture studio managing the firm’s major commissions in the mixed-use, office, life science, and higher education sectors. Recent architecture commissions include Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ 50+60 Binney Street, Skanska’s Two Drydock, Boylston Properties’ LINX and Arsenal Yards, Cresset Development’s XMBLY at 5 Middlesex Avenue, and various ongoing commissions at higher education institutions, such as Vanderbilt University and Wheaton College. John currently resides in Norwell, MA, and received his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees from Virginia Tech.

Paul Bauer, Practice Area Leader, Real Estate, Finance, and Corporate, is a lawyer representing businesses, individuals and institutions throughout Massachusetts in sophisticated transactions with an emphasis on big real estate projects and challenging commercial law issues. Paul regularly advises developers, mortgage lenders, tenants and property owners across various industry sectors in complex development, acquisition, financing, business planning and leasing transactions – both public and private – including the biggest lease in the history of Boston at the time. Much of Paul’s real estate experience falls into three areas: Life science and medical school leasing for landlords and tenants. This includes comprehensive, campus-wide representations, as well as one-off projects. Higher education real estate development, often for major, iconic institutions. According to Paul, “I’ve also served as counsel to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.” Privately-held real estate projects, representing developers and owners, often family-owned. “I enjoy working with anyone who has or wants a large building,” Paul says. Developers, investors and property end-users turn to Paul to plan, negotiate and structure real estate-based projects. He advises clients on multi-party, mixed-use and affordable housing projects. As Paul notes, “I also help a number of real estate companies in a variety of commercial sectors – including office, industrial and retail – in the sale, acquisition, financing, management and leasing of their real property investments.” In addition, he adds, “I also advise income property owners on related issues, including real property acquisitions and sales, property ownership structuring and estate planning for developer clients who hold complicated real estate assets.” While Paul represents property end-users in most commercial segments, he has significant experience representing entrepreneurs and life science companies of all sizes with respect to their property leasing needs. Paul’s experience includes representing a life science company in one of the largest lease transactions ever to occur in the city of Boston. In addition, Paul represents a number of craft brewers and their brewery facilities. This representation includes leasing, financing and permitting services. In addition, Paul represents privately-held companies for their structural, financing, and contractual needs. He often works with early-stage companies to provide them the counsel necessary to protect their interests in obtaining contracts, investors and lending facilities. Paul is also a co-editor of the Commercial Real Estate Insight & News blog. In the community, Paul is Chair of the Advisory Board for the Entrepreneurial Innovation Center at Framingham State University, where he advises the Center on its program helping entrepreneurs develop their ideas and small businesses.

Lisa Hemmerle is the Director of Economic Development at the City of Cambridge, a city with over 5,000 businesses and over 122,000 workers. Lisa oversees policy development that supports major economic sectors and plays a pivotal role in creating and implementing strategies that improve economic conditions regionally. In 2014, Lisa created and launched the Life Sciences Corridor (LSC) in partnership with 4 other cities to focus on regional economic development efforts. In 2018, the LSC partnered with BIO International Convention to host area biotech ecosystem tours, partnering directly with MIT and MIT Koch Institute, LabCentral, as well as developer/property owners Biomed Realty Trust, DivcoWest, and MITIMCO. Prior to working for the CDD, Lisa worked as the Deputy Director of Economic Initiatives at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, developing, promoting, and implementing strategies to attract and retain Boston businesses. Lisa also founded and was the executive director of a New Hampshire nonprofit and worked for KPMG LLP as a consultant on trillion-dollar international banking clients. Lisa graduated summa cum laude from both Northeastern University in 1996 and Harvard Kennedy School in 2007. Lisa is a 2007 Lucius N. Littauer Fellow, recognizing academic achievement at Harvard Kennedy School, and a 2010 Boston Business Journal “40 Under 40” Honoree, recognizing emerging leaders in Boston. Her programs have also been recognized by the Harvard Kennedy Ash Center for Innovations in American Government and the International Downtown Association.

Morgan Weinstein joined BioMed Realty in 2010 and has served as Senior Director, Boston Leasing since January of 2017. Prior to BioMed Realty, Morgan served as Assistant Superintendent for Suffolk Construction at Boston Medical Center, Tufts University and Partners Healthcare and represented Suffolk Construction's Healthcare Division as a Business Development Manager for the East Coast. Morgan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from the University of Delaware and received his Massachusetts Real Estate License in June of 2009.

As Managing Director of DivcoWest Real Estate Investments, Mark Roopenian leads all leasing and marketing initiatives of the Company’s NorthPoint development, a 45 acre, 4.5 million square foot mixed-use project located in the cities of Cambridge, Somerville and Boston, MA. Mark joined DivcoWest in 2015 bringing over 30 years of ground-up development and leasing experience having played significant roles in projects such as One International Place, John Hancock Tower, and Trip Advisor’s world headquarters. Mark has been deeply involved in all aspects of planning and permitting of NorthPoint, the largest development in Cambridge’s history, and is focused on attracting world-class tenants to this one-of-a-kind project and city. Prior to joining DivcoWest, Mark was a Principal with Normandy Real Estate Partners, a leading real estate operator and investment manager, overseeing all leasing and development activities for the Greater Boston and Los Angeles markets. Prior to that Mark oversaw all leasing and suburban development activities for the Chiofaro Company, a Boston area real estate development firm. Mark graduated from Boston College with a degree in Marketing and was a defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League prior to starting his real estate career. A Boston native, Mark is active in numerous local community and charitable organizations including CASPAR, Cambridge Family & Children Services, East End House, CYO and others. He currently lives in Sudbury, MA with his wife and has 3 grown children.

Jim has dedicated his career to supporting client’s development of life saving therapeutics and novel consumer products in the science and technology market sector by developing Real Estate and Facility master planning strategies and managing resulting complex construction projects to deliver cutting edge technical and creative work spaces. With over 20 years in the AEC life science industry, he has provided subject matter expertise and consultation within the biopharmaceutical, manufacturing, semi-conductor and medical device industries. In his role as Vice President & Project Executive at Timberline Construction, Jim takes his highly- specialized technical expertise to provide program management advisory services and industry best practices to support the development of on time, cost-effective solutions for Timberline’s clients. Jim has an early work history in the pioneering era of the Cambridge biotechnology sector as it was developed including work with legendary firms such as Genetics Institute and Transkaryotic Therapies. Jim has worked at some of most successful science and technology firms such as Sanofi Genzyme, Shire and Pfizer/Wyeth. He is well respected industry-wide as a knowledgeable resource for client focused negotiations, business plan development, procurement and contract negotiations, identifying cost savings strategies, and creating and implementing space planning strategies to support business expansions. Jim’s portfolio includes spear heading the identification of the Shire life sciences headquarters site with expansion up to 1M SF which included cGMP Manufacturing plant and product development program. He was the point person for procurement of over $500 million worth of ground up and renovation construction. Jim was the 2010 CoreNet Global New England Regional Executive of the Year. Jim has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from Babson College. He also has a Mass. CPA certification. Jim lives in Bolton, MA with wife and three young children, active in sports and school club activities, and his even more active two Bernese mountain dogs.

Denise Aronson is a pioneer in the life science health and safety industry. Denise founded Safety Partners Inc. in 1992. Since then, Denise and her team have implemented safety programs for more than 500 top life science companies. Prior to founding Safety Partners, Denise served as an environmental, health, and safety manager at T Cell Sciences, and managed a clinical prenatal diagnostics laboratory. She began her career as a research associate at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, after receiving a BS in Biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire. Denise is a certified chemical hygiene officer through the National Registry of Certified Chemists. She is active in more than 20 professional societies and trade organizations and was a founding member of the New Hampshire Bio/Medical Council, Preferred Provider Leads Group; the Tom Vance, Life Sciences Connector Group; and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Life Sciences Leads Group. She is a regular on the industry speaking circuit, a member of the MassBio SEF Working Group, and an American Chemical Society (ACS) Expert. Denise also serves on the Advisory Board for the UMass Lowell Department of Work Environment as well as the Boards of The Bioscience Network and The Waldorf High School of Massachusetts Bay. Safety Partners is a Certified Woman-Owned Business and has been named one of the 25 Best Small Companies by Working Mother magazine.