Despite increasing recognition of the gender gap in STEM fields, women remain underrepresented in the bioprocessing industry—especially in leadership roles. Here, GEN spotlights some of the remarkable women who are breaking barriers, setting standards, and driving innovation in this space. These 12 leaders are shaping the future of bioprocessing through their expertise, vision, and drive. They are not only showing what’s possible in biomanufacturing—they are also proving why the industry needs more women at the top.
Melanie Cerullo
Chief Quality Officer, Kindeva Drug Delivery
Melanie Cerullo joined Kindeva earlier this year as Chief Quality Officer. In this role, she leads the company’s global quality, compliance, and regulatory strategy. Cerullo’s responsibilities include overseeing product quality risk management, driving quality training initiatives, and ensuring all projects comply with or exceed standards. Before joining Kindeva, Cerullo held senior quality leadership positions at ReciBioPharm, Arranta Bio, and WAVE Life Sciences.
Susan Billings, PhD
Chief Commercial Officer, Resilience
Dr. Susan Billings joined Resilience in 2024 and serves as the Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, she oversees the company’s commercial strategy, driving brand development, revenue growth, and market expansion. Before joining Resilience, Billings was the founding Chief Commercial Officer at Vivodyne and
previously served as Vice President & Global Head of Business Development at Curia.
Christiane Bardroff
Chief Operating Officer, Rentschler Biopharma
Christiane Bardroff joined Rentschler Biopharma as Chief Operating Officer in 2022, overseeing global clinical and commercial manufacturing, engineering and technology operations, and production automation. With over 15 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry—primarily within large corporations—she has specialized in operations and automation, including leading the construction of new biotechnology facilities.
Jennifer Meade
President, Aldevron
Jennifer Meade first joined Aldevron in October 2022 as General Manager, Nucleic Acids, and was named President in September 2023. Prior to joining Aldevron, Meade served as President of the Breast & Skeletal Health Solutions division of Hologic, a medical device company focused on women’s health.
Diane Black, PhD
Executive Vice President, and Chief Quality Officer, Samsung Biologics
Dr. Diane Black is Executive Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at Samsung Biologics, bringing over 30 years of experience in quality and related functions within the biopharmaceutical industry. Before joining Samsung Biologics, she served as Chief Quality Officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Lorna Patrick
Chief Operating Officer, Upperton Pharma Solutions
Lorna Patrick has over 20 years’ experience in drug development, optimizing operational processes and change management across a variety of roles including manufacturing, analytical, project management, clinical operations, and regulatory affairs. She has previously held senior roles at Quotient Sciences, after starting her career at Thermo Fisher Scientific and AstraZeneca.
Nikki Whitfield
Chief Executive Officer, Upperton Pharma Solutions
Nikki Whitfield brings 30 years of technical and operational leadership experience across both pharmaceutical companies and CDMOs to her role as CEO of Upperton Pharma. She has led drug development programs across a range of dosage forms for both small molecules and biologics—from early-phase development through to late-stage and pre-launch.
Elena Erroba
Chief Commercial Officer, 3PBIOVIAN
Elena Erroba has served as Group Chief Commercial Officer at 3PBIOVIAN since February 2024. Previously, she was Chief Commercial Officer at 3P Biopharmaceuticals. Erroba has
defined and implemented commercial and business development strategies while managing client portfolios across Europe, the USA, and other regions.
Rita Shaknovich, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer, Agilent
Dr. Rita Shaknovich currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Agilent Technologies, where she oversees medical strategy and contributes to the development of innovative diagnostic solutions. Prior to joining Agilent, Shaknovich held senior leadership positions at GRAIL and Cancer Genetics, where she played pivotal roles in clinical and translational initiatives.
Maja Pedereson
Chief Quality Officer, Fujifilm Biotechnologies
With 20 years of leadership experience in the life sciences and biopharma space, Maja Pedereson is responsible for driving the quality assurance, quality control, and regulatory affairs for the global FUJIFILM Biotechnologies network. Pedereson returns to FUJIFILM Biotechnologies from Biogen where she last served as Global Head of External Manufacturing, overseeing the entire CDMO network.
Becky Buzzeo
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Maravai
Becky Buzzeo joined Maravai in October of 2022. Prior to that, she was the Vice President and General Manager, Advanced Therapies, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she oversaw CDMO services for plasmid DNA, cell therapy and mRNA. Buzzeo has more than 20 years of commercial leadership experience with a strong background in translational science product development.
Beate Mueller-Tiemann, PhD
Chief Technology Officer, Cytiva
Dr. Beate Mueller-Tiemann joined Cytiva in early 2023, having held senior leadership positions at Sanofi and Bayer. She has experience in many aspects of the pharma value chain from early target discovery, lead generation, lead optimization, cell line development, chemical manufacturing and control (CMC) production and commercial manufacturing for both biologics and synthetic molecule therapeutics.
