Jeanne joined the MLSC in October 2020 and currently serves as the Chief Business Officer. In this role, she develops and executes strategies to enhance life sciences job growth in the Commonwealth by building relationships with key industry stakeholders, workforce training partners, and public agencies.

Prior to joining the MLSC, Jeanne served as the Economic Development Director for the Gateway Hilltown Collaborative, a pilot program unifying community development efforts in six small towns in Western Massachusetts. Jeanne earned her BA from Boston University, and worked at the Cambridge-based political magazine Boston Review. She received her Masters in Public Policy and Masters in Business Administration from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where she focused her efforts on entrepreneurship, economic justice, and community development. After graduate school, she worked at the Boston Public Market in a variety of roles including business operations. Jeanne originally hails from the small town of Clarksville, Missouri where she grew up on a working farm. She enjoys playing music, collecting vintage NASA memorabilia, and running with her Sheprador.

Dan McGrath oversees the leasing and asset management of Berkeley’s overall investment portfolio. In this capacity, he develops and implements strategies to add value to the portfolio, manages all leasing activity, and oversees property performance. He is also involved in investor reporting and has served in project management roles overseeing permitting efforts and redevelopment projects at various properties across the portfolio. Before joining Berkeley, Dan spent nearly 14 years at New Boston Fund, a private equity real estate investment firm. Dan is an active member of ULI as well as NAIOP, where he is past chair of the Programs Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He is a past recipient of the NAIOP MA President’s Award and its National Developing Leader Award. Dan is also an active volunteer with United Way. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MS-RED from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ben joined the MassBio team in 2017. As Vice President of Economic Development and Workforce, he oversees MassBio’s relationship with municipalities, international organizations, and the local real estate and development community. He also works with member and non-member companies to support their decision-making on relocation or expansions. Through relationships with foreign economic development agencies, Ben works to connect foreign companies to the US market. Additionally, he serves as a resource for Massbio member companies as they look to grow their operations in Massachusetts from a personnel standpoint.

Prior to MassBio, Ben worked as Director of Business Development and Regional Strategy at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center where he was responsible for recruiting new companies to do business in Massachusetts and developing relationships with municipalities across the Commonwealth with the goal of expanding the industry state-wide.

Ben has a B.A. in Political Science from Union College(NY). He lives in North Reading with his wife and two kids.

Andrew J. Merken (Andy) is a Shareholder (Partner) at Polsinelli, an AM LAW 100 firm with over 1200 lawyers in 25 offices, where he serves as a member of Polsinelli’s Life Sciences Leadership Team. Andy focuses on corporate and transactional matters for a wide variety of clients covering the entire business life cycle, from start-up (formation and organization) to seed and venture stage funding to growth stage (later stage funding, corporate collaborations and buy-side M&A) and ultimately exit (sell-side M&A or IPO). Andy actively works with his clients in all such phases and often serves as outside general counsel to his clients, handling and/or overseeing day-to-day matters for both growth-stage and mature companies including corporate governance, labor and employment, customer agreements, strategic partnerships, tax, IP, privacy and cybersecurity, cross-border transactions, real estate leasing and dispute resolution.

Andy works primarily with life sciences/health care companies (biotech, pharma, medical device, digital health and health care) and tech companies but also represents clients in such industries as consulting, real estate, professional services and consumer goods.

Andy has a long history of community and industry involvement; he currently serves as a member of the American Cancer Society Eastern New England Area Board of Directors, the ACS CAN (American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network) Breakfast Event Committee, the Board of Advisors of the Lappin Foundation, the Board of Advisors of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, the Tufts Alumni Council (Emeritus Member) and the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors New England Chapter. Andy received a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Comparative Labor Law Journal.

Daniel is responsible for leading all capital market activities at CC&F. This includes securing capital for new and existing real estate projects and negotiating joint venture, operating, and loan agreements with investors and lenders. Additionally, Daniel helps identify, underwrite and close potential development and acquisition projects and provides on-going investment analysis for properties within the firm’s portfolio. In complement to these responsibilities, Daniel provides debt placement services through his affiliate AIP Investments, Inc. (www.aip-investments.com).

Prior to CC&F, Daniel was a Founding Partner of Andean Investment Partners, a real estate firm focused on investments and developments in Lima, Peru. Prior to Andean, Daniel worked in acquisitions and asset management at Taurus Investment Holdings, an international private equity real estate firm headquartered in Boston. Daniel received a B.A. from Colgate University and is currently an M.B.A. candidate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

With more than 30 years of experience as both an architect and project manager, Kerrie Julian brings a multifaceted perspective to her role as Senior Director of Business Development for Wise Construction’s Science & Technology market sector. Over the course of her career, she has led projects across corporate, commercial, and institutional markets, and for the past 16 years has focused exclusively on Science & Technology. Kerrie’s project experience spans everything from laboratory infrastructure improvements to large-scale research consolidation initiatives. Her passion lies in supporting the science and technology community by creating environments that foster innovation, where scientists and end users can advance lifesaving therapies and environmental solutions. Prior to joining Wise, she served as Director of Science Strategy at Margulies Perruzzi, where she partnered with clients to deliver facilities that enable groundbreaking work. Kerrie holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology and a certificate in Lab Safety Design from the Harvard School of Public Health

Alex Testa is the Director of Life Sciences at Siena Construction. Over her decade-long career in construction building, Alex has managed renovation projects for life sciences, healthcare, higher education, commercial, and non-profit clients throughout greater Boston. Her portfolio of clients includes Moderna, Novartis, BioNTech, BioMed Realty, and Alexandria Real Estate. With a professional and academic background in engineering, Alex brings her understanding of MEP systems to complex facilities, ensuring end-user requirements are met while still maintaining budgets and often fast-paced schedules. She earned degrees from UMass-Amherst (MS, Structural Engineering) and Tufts University (BS, Civil Engineering).

Ryan Burnette, Ph.D. is the Senior Vice President at Merrick & Company and leads the Life Sciences practice. He is an international biorisk management practitioner with a strong focus on biosecurity and biodefense, infectious disease facilities, and laboratory capital programs. To date, Dr. Burnette has worked with over 100 universities, biopharmaceutical clients, and governments, practicing extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, India, and the Caribbean on biosafety/biosecurity and laboratory capacity building. Dr. Burnette is the author and editor of one of the authoritative volumes in biosecurity, entitled Biosecurity: Understanding, Assessing and Preventing the Threat. His second book, Applied Biosecurity: Global Health, Defense, and Developing Technologies, was released in June of 2021.