The Philly Underdog Series
The Philly Underdog Series is a Life Science Cares Philadelphia convening designed to bring together Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences community around one essential question:
How do we build an industry that creates opportunity as intentionally as it creates innovation?
Rooted in Philadelphia and grounded in our north star to disrupt poverty, this series centers the people, pathways, and structural realities that shape who gets to participate in our region’s biotech and healthcare ecosystem. Each session is intentionally intimate and storytelling-driven, connecting what we talk about in boardrooms to what people need in real life.
Across the series we will spotlight Life Science Cares’ three pillars: Basic Needs, Education, and Opportunity. Because stability is not the finish line, it is the starting point.
Series sponsorship sustains the Underdog Series as a platform for candid, human conversation and helps Life Science Cares Philadelphia expand access to opportunity across Greater Philadelphia.
We are also grateful to B+Labs for their continued support of the Underdog Series and their role in strengthening Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem.
Up Next: Session 3 | Before the Breakthrough
We celebrate breakthroughs in science, but far less attention is paid to what comes before them: education, exposure, access, and the first door into a field many students never get the chance to imagine for themselves.
Session 3 of the Philly Underdog Series focuses on education as a poverty disruption strategy and asks what it really takes for more people in Philadelphia to see a future in the life sciences and find a path into it.
The evening opens with a filmed fireside chat featuring:
Dr. Katherine High
Chief Executive Officer, Stealth Mode Biotech
Co-founder and Head of R&D, Spark Therapeutics
Founding Director, Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. High’s career helped shape what is possible in gene therapy. This conversation will step back from the breakthrough itself to explore the pathway behind it: how early exposure, education, mentorship, and access shape who gets to participate in science in the first place.
For Life Science Cares Philadelphia, this is where education becomes more than a school issue. It becomes part of how we disrupt poverty, strengthen the regional talent pipeline, and connect the life sciences industry to the people and communities shaping Philadelphia’s future.
Following the fireside, guests will join a panel discussion and curated networking with leaders working across education, access, workforce pathways, and the life sciences ecosystem.
Registration
Complimentary registration is part of our commitment to broad industry access and peer-driven dialogue across Greater Philadelphia. Donations are encouraged to help sustain this series and expand access to opportunity throughout our region.
Ticket options include Life Sciences Professional | Complimentary and Service Provider / Supporting Partner | $100. Supporting Partner registrations directly fund Life Science Cares Philadelphia’s work to disrupt poverty through education, access, and workforce pathways such as Project Onramp.
Ticket Options
Life Sciences Professional | Complimentary
Designed for professionals working within life sciences companies, including biotech, pharma, research, and clinical organizations, as well as employees of Life Science Cares Corporate Partners and members of our Boards.
Service Provider / Supporting Partner | $100
Intended for service providers, vendors, advisory firms, and supporting partners. Paid registrations directly support Life Science Cares Philadelphia’s mission and help widen access to opportunity.
Why Education?
Education is where access begins. Before a student can build a career in the life sciences, they need exposure, support, and a pathway into the room. This session explores how the industry can help more Philadelphians find that first door.
At a Glance
- Filmed fireside chat with Dr. Katherine High
- Panel discussion focused on education, access, and opportunity
- Curated networking with life sciences leaders and ecosystem builders
- Hosted at CytoPHL in University City
- Complimentary access for life sciences professionals
Leadership Lunches
Leadership Lunches are a separate, invitation-only convening connected to Underdog Series themes. They occur earlier in the day for a curated group of board and partner leaders.
Session 2 Recap: April 7 | Stability Before Opportunity
Session 2 explored the gaps we are all trying to fill in broken systems and the role Philadelphia’s life sciences community can play in strengthening the pathways that carry people, ideas, and solutions forward.
The evening opened with a filmed fireside conversation featuring David C. Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, Co-Founder and President of Every Cure, Co-Founder and President of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, and author of Chasing My Cure.
Featured Fireside: Stability Before Opportunity
Dr. Fajgenbaum’s work began with a deeply personal challenge. After nearly losing his life to Castleman disease, he identified a repurposed treatment that is now saving his own life and others. His story opened a broader conversation about what happens when individuals and institutions step into gaps that systems have not yet solved.
Panel Conversation
Following the fireside, guests joined a panel discussion and curated networking with leaders across Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem, widening the conversation around resilience, leadership, basic needs, and the role our industry can play in strengthening Philadelphia.
Session 2 connected the Basic Needs pillar to the lived realities that shape whether opportunity is even reachable. The conversation carried forward one of the core ideas of the series: stability is not the finish line, it is the starting point.
Session 1 Recap: February 10 (Sold Out)
Session 1 launched the series with a sold-out room. It paired a filmed founder conversation with a candid panel on how access, talent, and opportunity shape what gets built in Greater Philadelphia and who gets to help build it.
Here’s what you missed.
Featured Fireside: Inside the Build
A live, filmed, podcast-style conversation with Philly founders actively building here, making intentional choices about workforce, culture, and community impact, and opening doors for emerging talent through real pathways into the industry.
Speakers:
Lake N. Paul, PhD, CEO and Founder, BioAnalysis LLC, LSC Philadelphia Corporate Partner
Martin Lehr, Co-Founder and CEO, Context Therapeutics, LSC Philadelphia Board of Advisor and Corporate Partner
Panel Conversation
A cross-section of voices representing investing, education pathways, and early career talent, grounded in a shared question: how do we build a stronger Philly ecosystem by widening access and making opportunity real.
Panelists:
R. Carter Caldwell, Penn Medicine Co-Investment Program
Raymond John, Founder, 12 Plus
Rema Aldaraji, Project Onramp Intern, Penn State
Sharon Willis, PhD, Co-Founder, Integral Molecular
