2026 Highlights List
Women in Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Featured in the 2026 Women in STEM Highlights List: Rachel Haurwitz, PhD, Sharon Mates, PhD, Shoshana Shendelman, PhD.
Rachel Haurwitz, PhD
Rachel is a co-founder of Caribou Biosciences (alongside Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna) and has been its president and chief executive officer and a director since the company's inception in 2011. In 2018, the Association for Women in Science recognized Rachel with the annual Next Generation Award. She serves on the board of directors for Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Rachel earned an AB in biological sciences from Harvard College and a PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
BiotechnologySharon Mates, PhD
Sharon Mates served as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-founder of Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. (ITI) from June 2002 until its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) for $14.6 billion in 2025. Intra-Cellular Therapies focused on developing medicines for mental health disorders like bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia and received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its novel antipsychotic CAPLYTA® in 2019. She has served on several not-for-profit boards and is also a director of Medincell, a biopharmaceutical company in France (Euronext: MEDCL) and NASDAQ listed Benitec (BNTC). Dr. Mates received a B.S. from Ohio State University, a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and completed her postdoctoral fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
BiotechnologyShoshana Shendelman, PhD
Shoshana Shendelman is a scientist and entrepreneur, founder of several biotech companies, and a pioneer in developing drugs for rare and underserved diseases. She currently holds leadership roles in several private biotech companies and serves as CEO of Cyana Therapeutics, an oncology company developing drugs to treat solid tumors.