Advisory Board

Ben Benton

Ben Benton is currently the Dean of Math and Science at Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) in Worcester. Until recently, Ben also served as the Biotechnology Program Coordinator and Professor of Biology at QCC. As Dean, Ben facilitates partnerships between QCC faculty and biotechnology efforts at MassBioEd, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, and other Massachusetts colleges. Two of the goals of these efforts are to improve science and math curriculum to match the skill sets needed by local biotechnology companies as well as developing transfer pathways between community colleges and four-year institutions for science and math majors. Additionally, as faculty he developed articulation agreements between local high schools and the QCC biotechnology program.

Prior to his appointment at QCC, Ben spent over a decade at several small biotechnology companies in the New York and Boston areas directing programs in drug target validation and drug discovery in the fields of inflammation, diabetes, and cancer. He received his Ph.D. in Tumor Cell Biology from Northwestern University and did his postdoctoral studies at Osaka University and Rockefeller University on the genetics of cell cycle regulation.

Fredericka Butler

Fredericka Butler is currently Head of HR for the Massachusetts Biologics division at Takeda based in Lexington, MA. She has over 15 years of HR leadership experience across diverse industries. Fredericka’s first job in biotech was with Dendreon Pharmaceuticals, an organization that developed the first FDA-approved immunotherapy made from a patient’s own immune cells. This was a very impactful experience having lost her father to cancer. She is very proud of the work being done to impact patients and families. She holds a MA degree from Webster University in addition to holding a Birkman leadership coaching certification and a Senior HR Professional certification. She recently moved to the Boston area with her husband and three children. Fredericka is passionate about mentorship and provides career counseling services to civic organizations and looks forward to mentoring and supporting Clark’s biotechnology students.

Judy Carmody, Ph.D. ’95

Judy Carmody is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Carmody Quality Solutions, LLC, a quality solutions provider to life science startups and global Fortune 500 organizations who are as passionate as we are about keeping patients safe and delivering quality products.  Dr. Carmody has 25+ years of specific expertise driving vision in quality and operations. She is the former founder and president of Avatar Pharmaceutical Services, an FDA-registered contract research organization and manufacturer which was acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2010.

Prior to founding Avatar, Judy spent 10 years in the Life Science industry, developing and validating methods for small molecules and oligonucleotides, and managing QC, Analytical, and Validation groups.

Judy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Worcester State University, and a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Clark University.

Valerie Pivorunas, ’06, MBA ’07

Valerie Pivorunas is an Associate Scientific Director in Precision Medicine Immunology Development at AbbVie. Val received her B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2006 and MBA in 2007 from Clark University while completing an internship at Abbott in Worcester, MA focused on the crystallization of druggable protein kinases. Val went onto Harvard University to earn her Ph.D. in 2012 where her thesis focused on investing the mechanism of transport of DNA by SpoIIIE during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. After completing her Ph.D., Val returned to AbbVie (formerly Abbott) where she has held several positions of increasing responsibility including: laboratory-based senior scientist and research laboratory head in Immunology Discovery, and most recently clinical biomarker lead for several early and late stage IBD assets in Immunology Clinical Development.

About serving in the advisory board, Val notes “I am serving on the biotechnology advisory board because my experience and time at Clark has given me the skills and confidence to take on new and exciting leadership challenges year after year. Paying this forward to as many Clark students as possible is my passion.”

Deborah L. Robertson

Deborah Robertson is a professor in the Department of Biology and the current director of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program at Clark University.  Her research harnesses the power of molecular and biochemical methods to understand the cellular processes that underpin the growth and productivity of marine algae.  While her team’s research explores questions relevant to ecological and evolutionary processes, their findings are of interest to applied research exploring biofuel and food production.  Deb’s research experiences include both field and laboratory studies which illustrate how one’s career path in science is not always linear.

As an advisory board member, “I look forward to assisting with curriculum development as well as staying abreast of the rapidly changing biotechnology landscape here in Central Massachusetts and beyond.”

Ahmed Shafei

Ahmed Shafei is an accomplished expert and forward-thinking leader in IT Management with a focus on Security, Healthcare Technology, Voice UI, and AI. He’s the Business Information Security Officer for Omnicom Health Group, a healthcare media company, and also the co-founder of CloudPixel, a tech company serving the healthcare industry.

Ahmed possesses over 20 years of experience in IT operations and Infosec with diverse expertise in building focused IT organizations. He demonstrates a valuable blend of technical and business knowledge with a proven track record of leveraging cross-functional expertise to develop robust, impactful business solutions as part of large-scale initiatives. He’s effective in fostering cross-functional collaboration between technical and non-technical personnel.

Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and an Executive MBA in Strategy and Finance. He also maintains CISSP certification.

Zu Shen, ’04

Zu Shen is the Vice President at Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), a private, non-profit organization that promotes the life and health sciences across Massachusetts as an early-stage life science incubator, workforce catalyst and economic development advocate. Zu earned his B.A in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Clark University and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from UMass Chan Medical School. After exploring a post-doctoral fellowship in drug delivery, Zu joined SignaBlok, a biopharmaceutical company to pursue the development of novel targeted therapeutics for oncology and other diseases with unmet clinical need. To broaden his skills beyond the lab, Zu transitioned into marketing by joining MilliporeSigma as a Product Manager prior to his current role.

Zu serves on the advisory board for Clark’s Biotechnology program to help the future generation of Clarkies navigate their career paths.

Sunny Tam

Sunny Tam is the Director of the Professional Science Master’s (PSM) program in Biotechnology at Framingham State University (FSU) and former Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at FSU leading new curriculum development.

Sunny is also currently an Affiliate in Clark University’s Department of Chemistry in recognition of his contributions as past Research Associate Professor at Clark where he established a state of the art Proteomic and Metabolomics laboratory for internal research and student teaching and his ongoing support for the BS in Biotechnology program in curriculum development and help to prepare and nurture talent in biotechnology.

Sunny has 20 years of biotechnology and academic experiences in early-stage R&D, preclinical testing, assay and technology development following his training from the Harvard University School of Public Health. He has held numerous scientific and management positions in small molecule discovery and protein therapeutic companies including Mitotix, Inc., Texas Biotechnology Corporation and Tanox Inc.

Sunny is a pioneer in protein microarray development and application of proteomic tools in drug discovery, biomarker discovery and assay development.  He is well published and has contributed significantly toward a number of issued patents and federally awarded grants.  During his tenure as Program Director at Charles River Laboratories and then University of Massachusetts Medical School, Sunny successfully completed numerous projects for major US biopharmaceutical and government sponsors in new protein technology development, further advancing biomarker discovery and product applications in a number of chronic human diseases.  While serving as the VP of R&D at Nuclea Biotechnologies, he built a GLP facility for the development of FDA regulated clinical diagnostic assays with novel biomarkers.

He received his BS from Boston College and PhD from Boston University Medical School; Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University School of Public Health.