Conversation with Dr. Noubar Afeyan and Dr. Karin Markides: Data-Driven Bioscience

About the Event:

Join a conversation with Dr. Noubar Afeyan and Dr. Karin Markides on the topic of Data-Driven Bioscience hosted by the AUA Open Center for Transformative Health Solutions and HENAR, moderated by Dr. Kim Hekimian. The event will be held on Wednesday, July 6 at 3:30pm in the AUA Manoogian Hall.

This event is open to the public. Registration is required. Please register here.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Noubar Afeyan is Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life science platform companies to transform human health and sustainability. An entrepreneur and biochemical engineer, Dr. Afeyan holds more than 100 patents and has co-founded and helped build more than 60 life science and technology startups during his 33-year career. He is co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna, the pioneering messenger RNA vaccine company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic, and serves on the boards of several private and public companies.   

Dr. Afeyan is a member of the Advisory Board of HENAR Foundation. Together with his partners, he has launched and supported various philanthropic projects in Armenia including the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, UWC Dilijan School, Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), and ARMENIA 2041 Foundation.

Dr. Karin Markides is the fifth president of the American University of Armenia (AUA). She has served as Vice Director General of Vinnova, the Swedish innovation agency (2004-2006), and President of Chalmers University of Technology (2006-2015), after which she developed and led the Swedish Scientific Council for Sustainable Development as a higher education advisory body to the Swedish Government. After completing her doctorate in analytical chemistry at Stockholm University in 1984, she began her research career at Brigham Young University in Utah. In May 1990, she returned to Sweden as Chair Professor and Dean of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Uppsala University. She also served as visiting professor at Stanford University.

Dr. Markides is the author of 290 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 7 patents. Dr. Markides is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science since 1992 and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science since 1999, selecting the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She is the elected president of the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN) as of October 2021.

Dr. Kim Hekimian is Assistant Professor of Nutrition (in Pediatrics and the Institute of Human Nutrition) at Columbia University. She teaches public health nutrition, survey research, qualitative methods, and research methods. She is also the Associate Director of Education for the Program for Global and Population Health at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and was recently the Associate Director of the Medical Nutrition Program for Health Professionals at the Institute of Human Nutrition. Before joining Columbia University, she taught at AUA’s Turpanjian College of Health Sciences, where she was the Associate Director of the Master of Public Health Program and Director of the Center for Health Services Research and Development. She consults for international health projects and has worked for USAID, UNICEF, World Vision, and the World Bank, among others.

Language: English