Two new members of the Keck Graduate Institute Board of Trustees were introduced Thursday at the October 2024 meeting, with Cissy Young, Ph.D., and Maria Millan, M.D., joining the board and bringing a wealth of expertise in the biotech and healthcare fields.

Young serves as a Partner at Catalyst Advisors, a leadership advisory and executive recruitment firm. Young specializes in board and executive recruitment for biotech/pharma companies and is a trusted advisor to Boards and CEOs on topics ranging from recruitment; assessment; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); executive development; and leadership transition and succession.

Millan serves as Expert and Entrepreneur in Resident for DigitalDx Ventures, a majority women-owned impact fund focused on delivering meaningful returns, access to healthcare and gender parity. Millan recently served as President and CEO of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a multi-billion-dollar state funding agency devoted to accelerating scientific discoveries and cures to serve unmet medical needs.

“As trustees for KGI, it is our responsibility to provide governance and guidance to the Institute’s mission, operations and financial planning,” said Board Chair Ross Grossman. “Dr. Young and Dr. Millan bring outstanding experience in their areas that will strengthen the board to support the institution.”

“I look forward to working with our two new trustees and tapping into their expertise to benefit our students, faculty and operations as we elevate excellence together at KGI,” said President Mohamed Abousalem.

Prior to joining Catalyst Advisors, Young was the Chief People Officer at Valo Health, where she led the talent strategy for assembling tech and pharma/biotech talent to build an AI-powered computational platform for drug discovery and development. Young received her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Columbia University, an MBA in entrepreneurship and strategic management from The Pennsylvania State University and a BA in biology from Brown University.

“I am honored to serve on KGI’s Board of Trustees and I am excited to contribute to KGI’s next phase of growth with my expertise in talent and leadership in the healthcare and life sciences industry, as well as my career journey experience as an entrepreneur,” said Young.

“Being part of the world’s leading biotech ecosystem in Boston, I look forward to representing KGI and connecting leading biotech companies with KGI’s top students and alumni.”

Prior to leading CIRM, Millan worked at StemCells, Inc., where she directed a translational development team for a liver cell transplant candidate, and served as the Chief Medical Officer for the first-in-human cell therapy clinical trial for Batten’s Disease, a neurodegenerative disease afflicting babies and young children. Millan also previously served as an Assocaite Professor and Director of the Pediatric Organ Transplant Program at Stanford University School of Medicine. Millan earned an M.D. from Rutgers Medical School and a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University.

“It is an honor to be elected to KGI’s board at such a defining moment in biotechnology and medicine — the institute was founded in 1997, when the translational potential of genomics, precision medicine and AI/Machine Learning was a hope and a dream,” said Millan. “With the monumental progress in these fields, we are now witnessing a paradigm shift in the life sciences and healthcare. KGI is uniquely positioned to educate leaders and practitioners to deliver these advancements to our communities.”