MANSFIELD (MA) To expand Mansfield BioIncubator role as ecosystem hub supporting the development of the biotech industry in Southeastern Massachusetts, Mansfield Bio-Incubator added two pharma veterans to the team. Julia Rashba-Step, PhD and Alex Shlyankevich, PhD will serve as a Mentorship Director and Investment Relations Director respectively.
Dr. Julia Rashba-Step is a senior pharmaceutical professional with an extensive background in nanotechnology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Julia has experience working at both small companies (Epic Therapeutics) and global pharmaceutical companies including Baxter, Wyeth and Pfizer, where she held positions of growing responsibilities, leading formulation, packaging and delivery groups Julia's most recent position was a Vice President of Research & Development and Alliance Management at Phosphorex where she worked closely with Pharma and Biotech partners to help advance cutting edge innovative technologies into the critical pre-clinical and clinical stage programs. Dr Rashba-Step has multiple scientific publications in the field, as well as patents and and serves on multiple Advisory Boards. Julia is passionate about mentoring and coaching as the way of giving back to the community. Julia was a Co-chair of Women’s leadership Network at Pfizer, served as a Mentor for HBA (Healthcare Business Women’s association. Julia received a Life coach certification with the focus on career development coaching. Julia served as a mentor for MassBio Connect program, helping biotech startups to develop their business cases.
Over the course of his 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Alex Shlyankevich has contributed to numerous drug discovery, development and commercialization programs in technical and leadership roles. As Director of mRNA Preclinical Testing at Moderna, he established and led a department responsible for evaluating mRNA therapeutic and vaccine candidates during the company’s formative period. In his role as Senior Director of Analytical R&D at Nitto-Denco, Alex managed contract services for the global oligonucleotide-based therapeutics industry. Building on his industry expertise, Alex has dedicated the last 9 years to creating and managing a life science investment portfolio for the VC arm of an international family office, resulting in a number of exits via acquisitions and IPOs. Dr. Shlyankevich currently serves on the board of four therapeutic and medical device companies. Alex holds an MS and PhD from the First Moscow State Medical University.
“We are thrilled to welcome Julia and Alex to our leadership team. Their expertise and dedication will help us achieve our goal of providing superior mentoring to startups and creating new companies," said Dr. Russ Yukhananov, President of Mansfield Bio-Incubator, "We look forward to working with Julia and Alex to build a world-class life sciences ecosystem in the region.”
Mansfield Bio-Incubator is currently accepting applications for the Spring 2024 Mentoring Program cohort and for the $20K Pitching Competition Challenge on May 21, at no cost to the startup company.
The Mentoring Program is a 6-week program tailored to a given company’s individual needs, with the end goal to create a compelling pitch deck. The company then has a chance to practice pitching in front of the key stakeholders, with the initial $20K Challenge taking place on May 21, 2024.
Apply here.