Director of The Year Awards

Corporate Governance

Mark D. McLaughlin

Companies in Transition

Chris L. Shimojima

Advisory Board Chair, Chain Mountain
Board Director, Metagenics
Board Director, Milani Cosmetics
Chief Executive Officer, Provide Commerce

Chris Shimojima is an accomplished board director, former chief executive officer, and strategic advisor whose career has been defined by helping companies navigate pivotal moments of growth, transformation, and transition.

He currently serves on the boards of Milani Cosmetics and Metagenics, chairs the Advisory Board of Chain Mountain, and has been a member of Gryphon Investors’ Executive Advisory Board since 2008. His prior board service includes Aurora Health Care, Xoom Corporation, Implus Corporation, and Kirkland’s, Inc. Across these roles, Chris has contributed to organizations facing ownership changes, mergers, strategic repositioning, digital transformation, and accelerated growth.

As CEO of Provide Commerce, a $650 million specialty retailer whose brands included ProFlowers, Shari’s Berries, RedEnvelope, Personal Creations, and Gifts.com, Chris led a broad transformation from a transaction-focused business to a customer-centered, brand-led organization. He established a new strategic vision and operating model, strengthened the leadership structure, restored profitable growth, completed two acquisitions, and partnered with Liberty Media in the successful sale of the company to FTD.

Earlier, as Nike’s first Vice President of Global Digital Commerce, Chris built Nike.com from an $80 million U.S.-only business into a $400 million global operation spanning 24 countries. At Sears Holdings, he led the nearly $1 billion in direct-to-customer business for Sears and Kmart and helped establish Sears.com as an early leader in integrated retail. His career also includes senior leadership roles at Kozmo.com, Prudential, AT&T, Pepsi-Cola, Nestlé, Tambrands, and Dentsu.

Since leaving full-time management, Chris has focused on board service, CEO advisory, and mentoring. Through C5 Advisory, which he founded, he works directly with CEOs and senior leadership teams on growth, organizational effectiveness, customer strategy, and complex cross-functional challenges. From 2015 to 2023, he was also active with EvoNexus, participating in the admissions selection process and mentoring startup founders.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Chris is fluent in Japanese. He earned his bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Chris lives in La Jolla with his wife, Shirley.

Not-for-Profit Board Governance

Kathy Scott

Chief Financial Officer, ARS Pharmaceuticals
Executive Compensation Committee Chair & Prior Board Chair, YMCA of San Diego County
Audit Committee Chair, Dermata Therapeutics
Audit Committee Chair & Compensation Committee Chair, NKGen Biotech

Kathy is currently the Chief Financial Officer of ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biopharma company commercializing a nasal spray alternative to the EpiPen for severe allergic reactions. Prior to ARS Pharma, Kathy was the Chief Financial Officer of Neurana Pharmaceuticals, a private neurology company. 

Prior to Neurana, Kathy spent a number of years working as a Venture Partner with Hale BioPharma Ventures, acting as CFO for various biotech and med device companies under the leadership of David Hale. Previously, Kathy was a Partner at RA Capital Advisors, a San Diego private investment bank providing financial advisory services. Ms. Scott spent over 15 years with RA Capital Advisors, completing billions of dollars of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings for a broad range of corporate clients. Kathy started her career as an auditor in Arthur Andersen’s San Diego office, focusing on both public and private clients. Kathy is on the board of directors of Dermata Therapeutics and NKGen Biotech. She is a past board chair of the YMCA of San Diego County and currently serves on a number of the Y’s board committees, including chairing the executive compensation committee.

Kathy graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in economics and business and is a CPA and CFA charter holder. Kathy has been married for 34 years to her husband Travis and has two boys and two grandchildren.  

Enhancement of Culture & Inclusion

Kim Kamdar, PhD

Managing Partner, Medical Excellence Capital
Managing Partner, Domain Associates
Chair, Seraphina Therapeutics
Chair, Recellience 15
Chair, Sera Prognostics
Board Member, Clic Bio
Board Member, Trotana
Board Member, Truvian

Kim Kamdar, Ph.D. is a Managing Partner with Medical Excellence Capital. Kim has been involved in cutting edge therapeutic start-ups and companies with promising molecular and companion diagnostics to support personalized medicine for over 20 years. Kim has helped to create and served on the board of over a dozen companies. She was founding CEO for Truvian Sciences. Kim has also helped to create Seraphina Therapeutics and currently serves as Chair. She was the Founding CEO for Obalon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OBLN) and Aspen Neuroscience. Kim was an early investor and helped to create companies including Syndax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SNDX), Singular Genomics (NASDAQ: OMIC) and Pleno. Additional investments and BOD memberships include Alume Biosciences, Clic Bio, Recellience 15, Savanna, Trotana, Evofem Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVFM) and Sera Prognostics (NASDAQ: SERA).

Kim was involved with Ariosa Diagnostics until the company was sold to Roche in January 2015 for $625MM, Omniome until the company was sold to Pacific Bioscience (NASDAQ: PACB) in September 2021 for $800M, Corthera until the company was sold to Novartis in February 2010 for $620MM and BiPar Sciences until that company was sold to Sanofi in April 2009 for $500MM.

Kim has been part of Domain Associates since 2005 and a Partner since 2010. Prior to Domain, Kim was a Kauffman Fellow at MPM Capital where she participated in the firm’s investments in Transform Pharmaceuticals, Portola Pharmaceuticals and Affymax. Previous to that, she was a research director at Novartis, where she built and led a research team that focused on the biology, genetics and genomics of model organisms. Kim is the author of ten papers as well as the inventor on seven patents. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics from Emory University.

Kim is currently an Advisory Board Member for Dr. Eric Topol’s NIH supported Clinical and Translational Science Award for Scripps Medicine.

Emerging Board Leader

Neha Krishnamohan

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Business Officer, Latigo Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Board Director & Audit Commitee Member, Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Board of Advisors, Life Science Cares San Diego

Neha Krishnamohan is a seasoned biotechnology executive and finance leader with more than 15 years of experience spanning healthcare investment banking, corporate strategy, business development, capital markets, and public company leadership. She currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer of Latigo Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative non-opioid medicines designed to stop the transmission of pain.

Prior to joining Latigo, Ms. Krishnamohan served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Artiva Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: ARTV), where she played a key leadership role in the company’s $179M initial public offering. Prior to Artiva, she served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Kinnate Biopharma, a clinical-stage precision oncology company where she led finance, business development, investor relations, and corporate communications, and helped guide the company’s strategic alternatives process, resulting in an asset sale to Pierre Fabre Laboratories and the sale of Kinnate to XOMA Corporation.

Earlier in her career, she was a Vice President in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group and a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. While at Goldman Sachs, she established herself as a senior leader in the healthcare coverage group, working with a variety of biopharmaceutical boards and management teams on a broad range of strategic financial matters, executing financings as well as leading M&A transactions.

Neha has successfully executed more than $100 billion in transactions in the biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and tools and diagnostics sectors. Neha is currently on the board of Arcutis Biotherapeutics, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company focused on inflammatory dermatology conditions, serving as a member of their audit committee since 2022. She was previously on the board of Latigo Biotherapeutics serving as their audit chair until February 2026. She is also on the board of advisors of Life Science Cares San Diego. She holds a B.S.E. in biomedical engineering and economics from Duke University. Beyond her professional achievements, she and her spouse, a physician serving in the United States Navy, are raising two boys while balancing careers dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of others.

Impact Award

Laura K. Shawver, PhD

Chief Executive Officer,Birdseye Therapeutics
Board Chair, Adcendo, SpA
Board Chair, Azalea Therapeutics
Director, ARS Pharma
Director, Dovetail Therapeutics
Board of Managers, Life Science Cares
Board Member, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance

Laura Shawver, PhD is currently Chief Executive Officer of Birdseye Therapeutics, bringing forward TENON™ antibodies in I&I diseases.  Laura brings to Birdseye more than twenty-five years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry.  Prior to Birdseye, Laura was President and CEO of Capstan Therapeutics (acquired by Abbvie in 2025) focused on targeted lipid nanoparticles for B-cell mediate autoimmune disorders.  Before Capstan, she was CEO of Silverback Therapeutics (acquired by ARS Pharma in 2022), Synthorx (acquired by Sanofi in 2020) Cleave Biosciences, Phenomix and President of SUGEN, Inc (acquired by Pharmacia).  She also serves as Board Chair for Adcendo ApS and Azalea Therapeutics as well as Director of ARS Pharmaceuticals and Dovetail Therapeutics.  

Laura is a passionate patient advocate and founded the non-profit, Clearity Foundation in 2008 (merged with OCRA in 2025) after her own diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer in 2007 to help other women access molecular diagnostic tests to help better understand treatment options. She currently serves on the OCRA Board, the Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares San Diego and on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Stand Up To Cancer.  Laura has received many accolades throughout her career including 2025 UCSD Moore’s Cancer Center Rell Sunn Award and FiercePharma Fierce 50 Award, 2024 San Diego Business Journal Most Influential People and UCSD Moore’s Cancer Center Duane Roth Achievement award, 2020 Endpoints Women in Biopharma, 2018 San Diego Girl Scouts Cool Women, 2012 PharmaVOICE 100 and FierceBiotech’s 2011 Women in Biotech. In 2011, she was honored as the University of Iowa’s Distinguished Alumni for her professional achievements, service and influence in the world of science and medicine. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Iowa.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Ann Clare Kessler, PhD

Board Chair, EraCal Therapeutics (Zurich)
Board Chair, Kyoto Symposium Organization (KSO)
Vice President Board of Trustees, San Diego Museum of Art

My life has been guided by the belief that improving the human condition is our highest calling. Whether through scientific discovery, medical innovation, education, or the arts, I have sought opportunities to help people live healthier and more meaningful lives.

I earned BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Biochemistry before joining Roche in 1969, where I established the company’s obesity research program and built a career focused on the pharmacological regulation of metabolism. I authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications on energy balance, lipid metabolism, appetite, and thermogenesis, and was awarded 16 patents. While these achievements represent scientific milestones, their greatest value was advancing human health and improving lives.

My work at Roche led to my appointment as Vice President and Head of Drug Discovery in the United States before relocating to Roche’s global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. There, I led the globalization of Research and Development, integrating research centers in Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan to guide therapies from discovery through commercialization. I came to understand that leadership, bringing talented people together around a shared purpose, could multiply impact.

Following my retirement from Roche, I continued this mission through corporate governance, serving on the boards of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and molecular diagnostics companies in North America and Europe. I currently serve as Board Chair of EraCal Therapeutics, where I helped guide the company’s pioneering anti-obesity drug discovery platform and exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk in 2023.

Inspired by Dr. Kazuo Inamori’s vision that humanity’s highest calling is to strive for the betterment of society and the world, I now serve as Board Chair of the Kyoto Symposium Organization, advancing educational opportunity, personal growth, and leadership development for underserved students in South Bay San Diego. As Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the San Diego Museum of Art, I support the belief that access to art, like access to education, is not a privilege but an essential contributor to health, well-being, and human flourishing.

Looking back, I see science, biotechnology, education, and the arts as different expressions of a single lifelong mission: advancing human health, fostering human potential, and helping people flourish.