ELKINS PARK, Pa., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- BioStrategy Partners, Inc. (BioSP) a virtual incubator for pre-seed and early-stage life sciences companies in the tri-state area, announced that it has named Karen J. Hanson, Ph.D., executive director. She replaces Dr. Carolyn D’Arville, the organization’s founder, who has stepped aside to devote more time to helping the young companies in the BioSP portfolio.
Hanson, who reports to the BioSP Board of Directors, has been active in the organization since 2005. As a member of the BioSP Advisory Board, she led its successful effort to obtain a Keystone Innovation Zone grant for the tri-county Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia 611 corridor, and has headed the new KIZ -- BioLaunch611+ -- since it was formally established in mid-2006. In her new post, she is responsible for the overall operations of BioStrategy Partners, including its KIZ unit.
“Karen’s rich background in organizational and regional development and her skills as a professional manager are just what BioSP needs at this critical point in its development,” said Patricia Weeks, BioSP Board chair and vice president-planning and business development for Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Her position is key to establishing the organizational infrastructure that will allow our dedicated core of volunteers to continue to support the youngest and most fragile life sciences companies in the region.”
Hanson was previously a senior vice president at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and prior to that, managing director of Greater Philadelphia First (GPF), the southeastern Pennsylvania business leadership organization that merged with the Chamber in 2003. She spearheaded GPF’s life sciences agenda, partnering with Pennsylvania BIO, the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Philadelphia Commerce Department to win BIO 2005 for the region.
Earlier in her career, Hanson worked on a number of initiatives in New York City, including establishing a program to facilitate Community Reinvestment Act compliance for the City’s foreign wholesale banking community, and implementing a federally funded study of child abuse fatalities for the Mayor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. A Fulbright Scholar, Hanson holds a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science & Chinese Studies from Swarthmore College. She received her doctorate in Anthropology, and a certificate in East Asian Studies, from Columbia University.
Founded in 2004, BioStrategy Partners is dedicated to providing a continuum of services, support and infrastructure to discovery, pre-seed and early stage life sciences companies in the Greater Philadelphia region that will allow them to grow and thrive. We occupy a unique niche in this Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey tri-state area, specializing in meeting the full spectrum of needs experienced by these very young companies. For further information, visit the BioSP website, http://www.biosp.com, or contact Karen Hanson at 215/780-1532 or khanson@pco.edu.
CONTACT: Christina Pagano, Pagano & Co. PR
212/213-2851 or paganopr@aol.com
BioStrategy Partners, Inc.
CONTACT: Christina Pagano of Pagano & Co. PR, +1-212-213-2851,paganopr@aol.com, for BioStrategy Partners, Inc.
Web site: http://www.biosp.com//
