Board Members
JOE VOGEL (he, him)
Joe is a Sr. Director, Clinical & Program Leadership at Hemab Therapeutics and serves as the current OUTbio President. In his 15+ years in the biotech industry he has held a variety of roles spanning clinical operations and program management across all phases of drug development.
Joe is a lifelong DE&I practitioner, from leading his high school's Gay Straight Alliance to developing grass-roots DE&I organizations and starting Employee Resource Groups. He is energized by helping teams form and evolve. Joe holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Syracuse University and an MBA from UMass, Amherst.
RAMSEY JOHNSON (he, him)
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Ramsey Johnson is the founder and former President of OUTbio. In his “day job”, Ramsey is a clinical and regulatory operations professional with nearly 30 years of experience with special expertise in rare genetic disorders. He brings extensive clinical operations leadership experience, currently serving as Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aditum Bio. His prior roles include Vice President of Operations at Phoenix Tissue Repair, Senior Director of Clinical Operations at X4 Pharmaceuticals, and Senior Director of Clinical and Regulatory Operations at Edimer Pharmaceuticals.
In 2015, Ramsey founded OUTbio with a desire to create a community where LGBTQ professionals in drug development could network and feel supported in their industry.
BRYAN HOFFMAN (he, him)
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Bryan Hoffman is a Board member at OUTbio. Bryan is married to his husband, Josh, and has a 4 year old son, 3 dogs, and a turtle. He is also the founder and CEO of Boston Microscopes, a company specializing in the sales and service of microscopes, cameras and imagers.
Bryan enjoys skiing, swimming, tennis, and outdoor activities. Being an advocate for the LGBT+ community is an important part of his life. Bryan holds a bachelor's degree in animal sciences from Cornell University.
MICHAEL SAMAR (he, him)
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Michael Samar is the Treasurer and Board Member for OUTbio. Michael was one of the original Board members for OUTbio Bay Area and helped to launch that chapter in 2021. In 2023, he and his husband Jimmy, along with their bulldog and Siamese cat, relocated to Boston and settled in Southie and Michael transferred to the OUTbio Board. Michael is originally from Philly and Jimmy is from Georgia, so both were excited to get back to the East Coast and be closer to family.
Michael is currently the CFO and Treasurer of Windgap Medical, Inc., a combination device company in Watertown. Prior to that he was CFO of Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a public biotech in South San Francisco, focused on virology. Michael really enjoys cooking and mastering his new outdoor pizza oven, and Jimmy loves to eat everything he makes (and is the bartender of the family).
They recently became certified boaters and are looking forward to a summer out on the water. They are also big foodies and love to travel. Michael holds a BSBA in Finance from Bryant University, and an MBA from Villanova University.
PATRICK LEROY (he, him)
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Patrick is a high-performing scientist, independent thinker, recognized innovator, effective communicator, and respected colleague with over 20 years of experience in oncology research.
He currently works as a researcher at Takeda Oncology. Outside of oncology drug discovery research, Patrick is passionate about giving back to the LGBTQ community. Patrick is a veteran rider/swimmer of the Harbor 2 the Bay (H2B) and the Provincetown Swim for Life, charters that both raise money for LGBTQ causes.
He holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Bates College.
JENNIFER PETTER (she, her)
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Jennifer Petter, Ph.D., is a Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Arrakis Therapeutics. An experienced drug hunter, scientist, and life science executive, Dr. Petter’s research has spanned different fields over the years, with a current focus on RNA at Arrakis.
She is the author or co-author of over 50 papers and over 50 patents and/or patent applications. Prior to creating Arrakis, Dr. Petter was Vice President of Chemistry at Celgene. She joined Celgene after the acquisition of Avila Therapeutics, a startup, in 2012. She has also held roles at Mersana Therapeutics, Biogen, and the Sandoz Research Institute (now a part of Novartis).
Dr. Petter received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. from Duke University. She completed her post-doctorate research at Columbia University.
SUSU WONG (she, her)
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Susu is the CEO and Founder of Tomo360, an online marketing agency since 2012. She leads an experienced business and marketing team that works on a variety of companies from high-tech industry, healthcare, biotech, higher education to startup companies.
Susu is an advocate in helping women advancing their careers. She is the Co-Founder of Women Accelerators, a grassroots organization that provides networking, education, and mentoring to help women in advancing their career goals. She holds an MBA from Lesley University.
ZACH CARTER
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Zach Carter is a quantitative scientist, advocate of servant leadership, and board member of OUTbio. He brings a wide range of leadership experience - from organizing large-scale programming events to representing diverse communities in high-level discussions. Passionate about fostering supportive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community, Zach is dedicated to inclusion and community building.
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Originally from Alabama, he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry and dual bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Chemistry before completing postdoctoral research at New England Biolabs (NEB). In 2022, Zach and his husband, along with their cat, Whisky, made their home in Beverly on the North Shore. He now works in drug disease modeling at Pfizer in Kendall Square. Outside of work, Zach enjoys weightlifting, watching new films, and discovering great food.
KAREN CAMPBELL
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Karen is an accomplished clinical development professional with nearly twenty years of experience in clinical trial operations. She currently is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Avacta Therapeutics. Her experience ranges from overseeing early stage first in class medicines to late-stage registration directed trials. Karen is passionate about ensuring clinical trials are built to be inclusive and meet the needs of the communities in which we serve.
Outside of work Karen enjoys summers on the coast and spending quality family time with her wife, two kids and one dog at their home in Concord, MA. Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire.
MICHAEL SHUSTER​
Michael Shuster is a partner in Goodwin’s Life Sciences group, providing strategic intellectual property advice to biotechnology, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other life sciences companies. He handles an array of IP matters – including patent prosecution, portfolio analysis, due diligence, litigation, and opinion work – for clients ranging from startups to established biotechnology companies, venture capital firms, and research universities and hospitals. He also provides IP evaluation and counseling for companies raising and investing growth capital, executing strategic partnerships and M&A transactions, and going public.
Leveraging a background in science, Michael has advised extensively on IP issues related to immunotherapy, antibody technologies, microbiome-based technologies, ag biotechnology, biologics, gene therapy, therapeutic vaccines, synthetic biology, small molecule therapeutics, and drug formulations, among other complex technologies.
Prior to joining Goodwin in 2019, Michael co-headed the Life Sciences group at Fenwick & West LLP. Before attending law school, he was part of a Columbia University team, led by Professor Eric Kandel, that conducted research into the mechanisms underlying short-term memory storage. Kandel was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Medicine for a body of work that included that project.
Volunteers
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COURTNEY ANDERSON (she/her)
Courtney is a Patient Access Manager at Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals. She has over 10 years of experience, ranging from hospital clinical and administrative operations into patient services within biopharma.
Courtney is passionate about ensuring everyone has an experience to be their true selves while at work. She volunteers with the Human Rights Campaign and also serves as the co-lead for the Ipsen LGBTQIA ERG, SPECTRA. Courtney holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northeastern in Criminal Justice and a MHA from Boston College.
IAN VOLLMER (he/him)​
Ian is an Associate Consultant at Veeva, specializing in Clinical Data Management within the Research & Development sector. In his role, he implements clinical data products for Biopharma clients to streamline trials and accelerate the delivery of high-quality treatments to market. Prior to Veeva, Ian served as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Emory University and contributed to published research in genetics and clinical neuroscience.
As an active OUTbio committee member, Ian leads the organization’s Mentorship Program and served on the 2025 Scholarship Committee, focusing on connecting early-career professionals with industry leaders to build a more inclusive biotech ecosystem. Ian holds a Bachelor of Science in Genetics from the University of Georgia.