On Friday December 18, 2020, the TiE Boston membership gathered for our 2020 gala on a virtual platform to honor the incredible achievements of our community. This year’s theme, “A Whole New World,” was a reflection over the past year and a look ahead to the future of growth and innovation.  The 2020 awardees truly embody the this year's theme as their contributions have directly impacted and helped the greater community during these unprecedented times.

TiE Boston 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awardee Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D

Congratulations to 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Dr. Purnanand Sarma. Sarma serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunome, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMNM), a biopharmaceutical company utilizing a proprietary human memory B cell platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody therapeutics, with a focus on oncology and infectious diseases including COVID-19. Sarma has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple R&D platforms and led the development of therapeutics in companies ranging from venture-backed biotechnology start-ups to large cap pharmaceutical companies. 2018 Lifetime Achievement Awardee Dr. Amar Sawhney spoke to how Sarma is a stalwart of the life sciences industry and is "going after diseases with unmet needs". He also emphasized how Sarma is an inspiration to all of us, but especially to young entrepreneurs.  2019 Lifetime Achievement Awardee Anant Agarwal congratulated Sarma  citing his work as "beyond critical", and commended his "relentless commitment to developing technology that informs and furthers the global efforts to treat cancer and infectious diseases, including Covid-19."   Keynote speaker Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw spoke to Sarma's entrepreneurial spirit seen in his "commitment and single minded focus, taking science to patients, addressing unmet needs, and his enduring effort in building companies to deliver on taking science to patients." In addition to his work in life sciences, Sarma is also very involved in a lot philanthropic causes and supports a number of Boston-based nonprofit organizations that support causes in India. Congratulations Sarma!

TiE Boston 2020 "President's Choice" Award Nikhil Bhojwani

The President's Choice award is given to an individual who has created something absolutely necessary and made a difference  to the times that we are living in. Congratulations to Nikhil Bhojwani, Managing Director of Recon Strategy, for receiving the 2020 "President's Choice" Award! Nikhil, along with Dr. Atul Gawande, coined the term Assurance testing in a July 2020 Harvard Business Review article that formed the blueprint for the Assurance Testing Alliance and CIC-Health, which has since become a leading national marketplace for Covid testing.  Nikhil founded Recon Strategy, a consulting firm, in 2010 where he works with healthcare leaders on questions relating to vision and strategy. Nikhil has served on the board of TiE Boston since 2016 and has been active in TiE ScaleUp and TiE Angels, and started TiE’s Digital Health Catalyst program. Congratulations Nikhil!

Keynote Fireside Chat with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, Asia’s leading biopharmaceuticals enterprise, sat down with TiE Boston President Anu Chitrapu for a virtual fireside chat. Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw is the proud recipient of two of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Shri (1989) and the Padma Bhushan (2005). She was also honoured with the Order of Australia, Australia’s Highest Civilian Honour in January 2020. In 2016, she was conferred with the highest French distinction - Knight of the Legion of Honour. She has been named as the winner of EY World Entrepreneur of the Yearâ„¢ 2020 Award, which is a testimony to her entrepreneurial journey of over four decades. Kiran graciously shared her experience as an entrepreneur and some of the obstacles that she had to overcome. She encouraged entrepreneurs embracing "foolish courage" along the path to success! To hear the full fireside chat with Kiran, click the video below.

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