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I'm a VP-level IT & technology leader in biotech and life sciences, helping organizations…
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Derek Semmler reposted thisDerek Semmler reposted thisWe are excited to share that Pyxis Oncology will be presenting new preclinical data at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026. In an immune-refractory syngeneic HNSCC model, maMICVO demonstrated synergistic anti-tumor activity in combination with anti-PD-1, a compelling finding that directly relates to our ongoing Phase 1 clinical study of MICVO in combination with pembrolizumab for R/M HNSCC. In addition to this finding, there are several other key takeaways from the poster presentation: • Monotherapy with maMICVO produced dose-dependent inhibition of tumor outgrowth • Monotherapy with maMICVO modulated the tumor-immune compartment toward a more favorable immune-permissive environment for immunotherapy • The combination of maMICVO and anti-mouse PD-1 resulted in greater tumor control and tumor growth inhibition than monotherapy with either maMICVO or anti-mouse PD-1 Poster Details April 21 | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT Section 11 | Board Number 14 Read more: https://lnkd.in/e7KmEGYi #PYXS #AACR2026 #Oncology #Biotech #CancerResearch #ADC
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Derek Semmler shared thisGreat to see the community growing! I’d love to see more Life Sciences companies join the fold at NOREX | The IT Peer Community (and I’m happy to chat with anyone that would like to explore the value).Derek Semmler shared thisNOREX welcomes Vogel Bros. Building Co. to our IT Peer Community. We always are looking for new Members and perspectives. Visit norex.net to join.
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Derek Semmler shared thisIf anyone in my network is hiring, I have worked with Michael Keyser for a handful of years and highly recommend him. Please reach out if I can make any introductions.
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Derek Semmler shared thisFor my pharma / biotech folks, if you're looking for someone for a PM role, I highly recommend Jack Sikora, PMP and would be happy to facilitate introductions.Derek Semmler shared thisHi everyone - I am looking for a Project Management role, specializing in early to late stage drug development and would appreciate your support. Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can offer. #OpenToWork
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Derek Semmler shared thisSharing in case anyone may be looking for consulting, program / project mgmt, or strategic planning resource. I have worked with Neil for a number of years and he’s top notch. Happy to make introductions.Derek Semmler shared thisExcited to announce I’m #OpenForBusiness and providing services on LinkedIn. Check out my services page for IT Consulting, Program Management, Project Management and Strategic Planning.
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Derek Semmler shared thisIf anyone in my network is interested, please reach out. I’m happy to share my thoughts about working here at Pyxis Oncology as well as working for Aaron.Derek Semmler shared thisI’m #hiring. Know anyone who might be interested?
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Derek Semmler shared thisProud father moment to see my son recognized by his professors with this award honoring his academic achievements, leadership of the finance club and investment fund, and presenting at national conferences. I am excited to see what the future holds for him, and encourage anyone looking for a rising star in finance to reach out to him.Derek Semmler shared thisI am not one to post my accomplishments on LinkedIn often, but I am extremely grateful to be receiving the Outstanding Major Award in Finance from North Central College and the outstanding professors in the Department of Economics & Finance. More importantly, I would like to thank all of those professors who have provided me with the fundamental building blocks to not only pursue success in my field, but also to be curious and never stop learning. A huge thank you to Professors Brenden Mason, Najrin Khanom, and Doh-Khul Kim for everything you have taught me, and for working alongside myself and our executive board on the North Central Bulls and Bears Finance Club. An additional thank you to Professor Ryan Decker, PhD, CFP® as well for the excellent conversations and career guidance. And to all of the other professors and people I have had the pleasure of learning from over the past four years, thank you.
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Derek Semmler shared thisSharing for the Regulatory folks in my network in case anyone is looking.Derek Semmler shared thisWe are #hiring in #Regulatory Affairs. A great opportunity to join a dynamic, innovative and growing company.
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Derek Semmler shared thisWe are hiring for an Assistant Controller here at Pyxis. For all of my finance people, let me know if you are interested.
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisSince working with SharePoint since its very first version 20+ years ago, I am honored to have been awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) by Microsoft for my contributions in SharePoint.
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisNovartis' CEO just joined Anthropic's board. Read what that signals. Vas Narasimhan - the CEO of Novartis - is now on the board of an AI lab. Not advising. Not investing. Sitting on the board. This is a category of move pharma hasn't seen before. The CEO of a top 5 pharma helping govern a frontier AI company. Here's the contrarian read: This isn't about Novartis getting early access to better models. It's about pharma leadership realizing AI safety and pharmaceutical regulatory logic are converging -and they want a seat at the table while the rules get written. Look at the pattern: -October 2025: Claude for Life Sciences launches. - January 2026: FDA and EMA jointly publish the Good AI Practice principles. - April 2026: Narasimhan joins Anthropic's board. Anthropic buys Coefficient Bio (acquired by Anthropic) for $400M. - May 2026: BMS rolls Claude out to 30,000 employees. That's not a series of unrelated events. That's an industry alignment happening at the governance layer, not the product layer. Most pharma teams are still arguing about which model to license. The real game already moved upstream - to whose definition of 'safe AI' becomes the regulated standard. ➤ Is your AI vendor evaluation including governance posture and regulatory alignment - or still focused on model capability? Honest answer in the comments. P.S ♻️ I built the 12-question checklist pharma teams should run before signing any agentic AI vendor contract. It's the same list I use with my own clients. Six governance domains. Twelve questions. Each one with what to listen for, what should make you walk away, and what to ask next. Free. No upsell. Forward it freely inside your organization. → Get the checklist: https://lnkd.in/gfBTEXt2 #AIGovernance #PharmaStrategy #Anthropic #Novartis #melovai #Claude #WomenAI
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisTwo years ago when I quit my comfortable tech sales job to do content creation full time, everyone was thought I was crazy. When I jumped into Boston real estate last year, everyone told me it was too saturated to only do sales and Instagram wouldn't give me real leads. Today I am my own boss (more importantly own my own time!), bought a condo for myself, and 100% of my real estate business has come through genuine connections on INSTAGRAM... so all this to say, when someone tells you your idea is crazy LEAN IN.
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisLilly just handed NVIDIA $1 billion. Here’s the one number that matters. Eli Lilly and NVIDIA announced a 5-year, $1 billion partnership to build a co-innovation lab in South San Francisco. AI-driven drug discovery. NVIDIA’s compute. Lilly’s R&D. The press release reads like every other Big Pharma + Big Tech announcement: “accelerating innovation,” “transforming discovery,” “unlocking potential.” But there’s one detail buried in the context that changes the story. This deal creates new scientific and technical roles. Not cuts them. While the tech industry has shed 150,000+ jobs in 2026- many explicitly because of AI- pharma is hiring. Lilly is building new positions specifically because AI requires human expertise to deploy in a regulated environment. A Deloitte survey found only 9% of executives have seen a return on their AI investments so far. But Lilly isn’t waiting for ROI proof. They’re buying the infrastructure to make ROI inevitable. Here’s the divergence I keep seeing: → Tech companies are using AI to replace people. → Pharma companies are using AI to redeploy people. The difference? Regulation. You can’t automate a clinical judgment and call it done. You can’t let an AI agent run a manufacturing process without human oversight- regulators made that very clear last month. The companies that treat AI as a replacement strategy will move fast and break things. The companies that treat AI as an augmentation strategy- with governance, training, and new roles- will move fast and keep their regulatory standing. $1 billion is a big number. But the real signal is what Lilly is building with it: not a replacement engine. A human-AI collaboration lab. Is your org treating AI as a replacement tool or an augmentation tool? And is there a gap between what leadership says and what’s actually happening on the ground? I’d love to hear the real answer, not the press release version. ♻️AI Governance in Practice for Leaders - Early Access Waitlist https://lnkd.in/gqUax7ei #Lilly , #AI , #Nvidia , #AIGovernance #WomenAI #pharma #biotech
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisAs Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, we recognize that for patients and families, awareness is lived every day. Head and neck cancers can affect the most basic parts of daily life: the ability to speak, eat, swallow, and breathe. That reality reinforces the need for continued progress, better treatment options, and focused innovation. At Pyxis Oncology, that sense of urgency drives our work on MICVO, our lead antibody-drug conjugate program in clinical development for patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma—an area where meaningful unmet need remains. We are grateful to the clinicians, researchers, advocates, caregivers, and most importantly, the patients whose resilience and determination continue to move the development of new therapies forward. Awareness months create visibility. What matters most is what comes next. #PYXS #HeadAndNeckCancerAwarenessMonth #HNSCC #Oncology #CancerResearch #Biotech #PatientsFirst
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Derek Semmler liked thisAn exciting day for Parexel! Today's acquisition allows us to provide our customers with a comprehensive AI driven technology platform combined with proven safety experience. This integrated solution will further optimize end to end operations across all Safety Databases. Excited to partner and work with our new colleagues at Vitrana!Derek Semmler liked this📢 Breaking News: Today Parexel announced it has acquired Vitrana, a provider of an AI-enabled, end-to-end pharmacovigilance (PV) technology platform. The acquisition further expands Parexel's technology capabilities to better serve customers. "With Vitrana, we can now offer customers a single partner for both PV technology and services – and that changes what we can deliver for them. Our customers will benefit from best-in-class, technology-enabled PV services that handle growing regulatory volume and complexity, enhance compliance, streamline workflows, and free experts to focus on what matters most: product and patient safety," said Sanjay Vyas, President of Patient Safety Services & Clinical Logistics and Managing Director of India, Parexel. Read more in the press release: https://brnw.ch/21x23q7
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Derek Semmler liked thisDerek Semmler liked thisThank you to everyone who stopped by our poster at AACR 2026! We were pleased to present new preclinical data highlighting the anti-tumor activity of maMICVO, both as a monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1, in a difficult-to-treat, immunotherapy-resistant mouse model of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). These findings further support the continued development of MICVO for patients with R/M HNSCC. Great work by Anthony B. Rodriguez, PhD and Nicolas Sévère, PhD for representing #PYXS and sharing this important research. If you missed the session, the poster is now available on our website under Scientific Publications. Publications: https://lnkd.in/ePeqD2fH #PYXS #AACR2026 #Oncology #Biotech #CancerResearch #ADC
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Education
Volunteer Experience
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Presenter
Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE)
- Present 5 years
Economic Empowerment
Deliver financial literacy presentations to Chicago-area schools covering credit, budgeting, student loans, and long-term financial planning.
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Senior Technology Advisor & Event Volunteer
Save Our Smokies
- Present 5 years
Environment
Advise on technology tools and digital operations; support fundraising and community events.
Organizations
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Drug Information Association (DIA)
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IRISS
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MassBio
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