Karen Bernstein, PhD

Karen is co-founder and chairman of BioCentury Inc. and was Editor-in-Chief from October 1992 to August 2012. She is a director at Ovid Therapeutics Inc., which is focused on developing drugs for orphan diseases of the brain, and at Codiak BioSciences Inc., which is pioneering exosome research and development to create an entirely new class of medicines, exosome therapeutics. She is on the board of trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute of the Applied Life Sciences. She serves on the board of overseers of Scripps Research and on the boards of the Critical Path Institute and Mind What Matters, a non-profit that provides support for Alzheimer’s family caregivers.

Karen holds a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and a B.A. in politics and history from Brandeis University, where she served for many years as a member of the Brandeis University Science Advisory Council.

In 2005, the annual gathering of biotechnology chief executive officers at The Biotech Meeting in Laguna Niguel, Calif., inducted Karen into their Hall of Fame, citing her lifetime contribution to the biotech community. In 2007, Karen received a Special Recognition award at the American Liver Foundation’s Salute to Excellence, honoring individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to biotechnology and medical innovation. In 2013, she was named as one of the 100 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. In 2015, Scientific American named Karen as one of The WorldVIEW 100 most influential people in biotech today. In 2016, she was named Commentator of the Year by the European Mediscience Awards.