LGBTQ Participants in Pharmaceutical, Vaccine and Biotech Studies
The Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, and Vaccine industries are three of the fastest growing professions today. Advances in health sciences have been growing at a high compounded annual rate due to the aging population, the fight against disease (such as cancer), and the emergence of global health pandemics. The LGBTQ community has been a prominent participant of these three industries for a long time, and many individuals have had a significant impact.
The Pharmaceutical industry has been a prominent player in the LGBTQ community since the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
Most recently, Great Britain's Paul McKay as the gay lead research academic at Imperial College London, and lesbian Corinne Le Goff as Chief Commercial Officer of drug company Moderna in the United States, have been prominent individuals in developing the vaccines for fighting against the COVID-19 global outbreak.
Many of the notable individuals on our list have successfully founded and lead pharmaceutical research and development companies, such as transgender CEO Jennifer Petter of Arakis Therapeutics, Paul Sekhri of eGenesis, and Laura Shawver of Silverback Therapeutics. Others are involved in the academic world working on research on the intersection of healthcare and the LGBTQ community.
To rally the LGBTQ community in the biotech industry, several participants created the action group OutBio UK. The industry needs to respond to, acquire the foundational knowledge about, and be sensitive to the unique health needs of our community. Pharmacists must be aware of the diversity of the different segments of the LGBTQ community in order to better serve it.
We have identified the following notable LGBTQ participants in Pharmaceutical, Vaccine and Biotech studies.
Canada
- Isabel Aznarez, Stoke Therapeutics
- Ken Chan, government
- Gerald Crowell, consultant
- Anita McGahan, academic
Great Britain
- Jim Ford, Allen & Overy
- Tim Funnell, New Transatlantic Fund
- Paul McKay, academic research
Portugal
- Alexandre Quintanilha, research scientist
United States
- Ana Arriola, Theranos
- Barbara Belmont, American Research and Testing Inc.
- Carolyn Bertozzi, academic
- Orlan Boston, consultant
- Matt Fust, ArsenalBio, Altara Biotherapeutics, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, and Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals
- Jesus Gomez-Navarro, Takeda Oncology
- Kenneth Hillan, 23andMe
- Sarah Kaplan, academic
- Corinne Le Goff, Moderna
- Joseph Osmundson, academic
- Jennifer Petter, Arrakis Therapeutics
- Martine Rothblatt, United Therapeutics
- Ellie Schafer, City of San Francisco Vaccination Centers
- Laura Shawver, Silverback Therapeutics
- Paul Sekhri, eGenesis
- Susan Silbermann, Pfizer Vaccines
- Denice Torres, The Ignited Company
- Patricia Turney, Acelyrin
- Noah Whiteman, academic
See Also
- Prominent Medical Practitioners Who Identify as LGBTQ
- LGBTQ Biologists and Chemists
- LGBTQ Government Ministers of Health
- LGBTQ Cancer Research and Support
