Dr. Dinah Sah is President and Director of CADSTI-New England. She is also a member of the Caribbean Science Foundation’s (CSF) Governing Council and co-directs the CSF’s Student Program for Innovation in Science and Engineering (SPISE). Dr. Sah has more than 25 years of experience in research and drug development in the biotechnology industry, and was most recently Chief Scientific Officer at Voyager Therapeutics, a start-up biotech company in Cambridge, MA. Prior to Voyager, Dr. Sah served at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where she was Vice President of Research, Biogen, and Signal Pharmaceuticals. Her accomplishments include leadership of multiple programs from early research through Phase 1 clinical trials, and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and drug candidates that advanced into clinical development. Her leadership of drug discovery programs based on RNAi therapeutics resulted in the landmark demonstration of human proof-of-mechanism for this novel class of drugs in patients. She is an inventor on more than 40 patents and her publications across diverse research areas include articles in the journals Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Molecular Therapeutics, Neuron, PNAS, and EMBO Journal. Dr. Sah received a B.S. in Biology from MIT, her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Harvard University, and her post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Cardinal Warde is a Director of CADSTI-New England. He is also President of CADSTI and the Interim Executive Director of the Caribbean Science Foundation. Dr. Warde is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has served on the faculty since 1974. His research activities are centered on the development of: (1) compact optoelectronic neural network co-processors for brain-like computing, (2) light modulators based on micro-electro-mechanical-systems for optical switching and projection displays, and (3) high-resolution adaptive wavefront phase compensation systems for imaging and optical communications. In addition to his undergraduate and graduate teaching responsibilities, Professor Warde’s commitment to young people is reflected in his role since 1997 as the Faculty Director of the MITES program at MIT, a six-week intensive program in science and engineering for gifted under-represented minority high-school seniors. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Warde founded Optron Systems, Inc. in 1982, and then in 1999 co-founded Radiant Images, Inc. which was subsequently acquired by Hoya Corp. of Japan. Professor Warde has published over 150 technical papers on optical materials, devices and systems as well as 3 book chapters, and also has co-edited a book on optical materials. He is the holder of 12 patents on spatial light modulators, displays and optical information. Dr. Warde was born in Barbados. He received his B.S. in Physics from Stevens Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University.

Dr. Lori Fitz is Treasurer of CADSTI-NE and assists in providing internship opportunities to students from the Caribbean and the annual newsletter that highlights the experiences that each of the students have during their internship. She also is Director of Scientific Outreach and Technology Platforms at Pfizer, Kendall Square Cambridge (KSQ) where she oversees the centralized technology platforms that are available across research units at Pfizer KSQ and leads various programs to develop STEM careers in the life sciences industry. She believes that the future of drug discovery is dependent on inclusive, creative and collaborative workspaces as well as access to cutting-edge technology. She is passionate about creating opportunities for groups who are under-represented in science.

Dr. Richard Fauconier is the Secretary of CADSTI-New England. He is also a Principal Electrical Engineer at Precisyx, LLC and a former physics teacher, with more than a decade of experience in various aspects of electronics and embedded computing. Dr. Fauconier has created radar algorithms for target discrimination and tracking, wavelet-based algorithms for the recognition of chemicals on surfaces by their diffusely reflected infrared spectra, digital signal processing algorithms for the recognition of disturbed earth by machine analysis of scattered infrared spectra, and DSP algorithms for automatic noise reduction in audio and communication systems. Before becoming an engineer, Dr. Fauconier was a mathematics and physics teacher in Trinidad, West Indies, a physics and electronics teacher in Brooklyn, New York, USA, and an adjunct professor in computer communications at New York City Technical College. Since arriving in New England, he has been a volunteer in education causes in the Greater Boston area. Dr. Fauconier received his B.Sc. in Physics from the University of the West Indies, his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University (now New York University's School of Engineering) and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Dr. Paul McLean is Vice President of CADSTI-NE. He is also a Principal Scientist at Takeda Pharmaceuticals which has a facility in Lexington, MA. Dr. McLean is a biochemist with over 20 years of experience in industry conducting research and development of protein therapeutics and small molecules. He has extensive multi-disciplinary research experience in protein biochemistry / enzymology, cell biology, immunology and molecular biology. His current activities focus on the development of analytical methods for recombinant proteins, including especially the discovery of new analytical technologies for application to rare diseases. Dr. McLean was born in Barbados and educated at Harrison College in Barbados, He was a Barbados National Scholar and pursued post-secondary biochemistry studies in England. Dr. McLean received a B.S. from the University of Birmingham, his PhD from the University of Sussex, and his post-doctoral training in protein characterization in the chemistry department at MIT and in immunology at Tufts University.

Dr. Karen-Leigh Edwards assists the CADSTI-NE in providing internship opportunities to students from the Caribbean and the annual newsletter that highlights the experiences that each of the students have during their internship. Karen-Leigh is a chemist who is works in the biotech industry currently leading the Global Operations business development activities in addition to managing the External Manufacturing function at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Having had the opportunity to experience a variety of roles in biotech, Karen-Leigh knows the value of a strong STEM foundation: “Without the discipline, analytical thinking and perseverance learnt from my chemistry training, I would not have been able to succeed with the diversity of positions awarded to me throughout my career”. Karen-Leigh holds degrees in Chemistry from the University of the West Indies (BSc), the University of London (MSc), the University of Kansas (PhD) and an MBA from MIT.

Mr. Josh Sheldon assists CADSTI New England with creating processes to track the interns’ background and experiences and develop policies to ensure a positive internship experience. Josh is the Director of Services Products for a software company, TraceLink, which pharmaceutical companies use to trace drugs as they go through the pharmaceutical supply chain in order to secure the supply chain against counterfeit, fraud and quality issues. In his current role he leads a diverse group of teams in Boston, London and Mumbai. He has deep experience in managing operations throughout retail and software industries and loves working with numbers to understand how to improve processes. In his 18 years of management experience, he has most enjoyed the opportunities he gets to help guide people along their career path and develop their skills so that they are challenged and are working toward a fulfilling career.