ITHS Biomedical Innovation Fireside Chat Series 2025 Session 1: Women in Life Sciences and Healthcare Entrepreneurship

This panel discussion includes three dynamic women who are changemakers in their fields. Join to hear about the potential of their current innovative endeavors and take away some inspiration.

Speakers include:

• Ruchi Thanawala, MD, MS is a surgeon and informatics expert who co-founded FireFly Lab, a startup that is helping to reshape surgical education in the US by building a system that is geared toward surgeon and surgical resident workflow.
• Cathy Robinson, PhD is a researcher at the University of Oregon who has co-founded Keybiome, LLC, a microbiome company that aims to treat diseases of chronic inflammation such as inflammatory bowel disease.
• Ashley Whitley oversees the Washington Center for Women in Business based in Thurston County, Washington. She invites all to the statewide INSPIRE Women’s Business Conference at the Great Wolf Lodge on May 22, 2025.
• Moderated by Melissa Mudd, MPH, Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Alliance Manager at Oregon Health & Science University