Karen Lewis
Chief People Officer Cardurion Pharmaceuticals
Karen Lewis is Chief People Officer at Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, bringing over two decades of global HR leadership across biotech and pharma. She previously served as Chief People Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals and held senior roles at Axcella, Biogen, and Amazon. Karen is known for leading high growth organizations through transformation, global expansion, and talent strategy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Rider University.
Seminars
For life sciences organizations, the moments of greatest strategic change, a commercial launch, an IPO, or a move to private ownership, are also the moments of greatest people risk. Culture can fracture, critical talent can walk, and the hiring demands can overwhelm even the best-prepared teams. This panel draws on real experience of navigating these inflection points to surface the people decisions that matter most, the mistakes most commonly made, and the practical approaches that keep organizations on track through their most consequential transitions.
The role of the CHRO and CPO has never been more complex or more consequential. As life sciences organizations navigate simultaneous pressures, from AI-driven restructuring and geopolitical volatility to talent scarcity and shifting employee expectations, the people function is being asked to do more, with less, faster than ever before.
In this candid, peer-to-peer discussion, a group of the most senior HR leaders in life sciences come together to share what is actually working, what isn’t, and what they wish they’d done differently. Expect frank conversation on how to maintain culture through relentless change, how to position HR as a true strategic partner to the C-suite, and how to build a people function that is genuinely fit for the future.
