Inspirational Women of Enveda

‍Renee Deming

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it

‍I am the Director of Portfolio Strategy at Enveda. My role allows me to leverage both my R&D and business development expertise to ensure cross-functional and strategic alignment across all dimensions of our portfolio and mission: to deliver hope to every patient. The best part of my role at Enveda is having the opportunity to collaborate with an amazingly talented group of peers. I am motivated and inspired by each of them daily and thrive on the creativity these interactions spark.

‍Why did you decide to join Enveda?

‍I joined Enveda because I am passionate about our mission and am inspired by the culture the team has cultivated. To me, it is not only important to love what I am doing, but also to love who I am doing it with. The drug discovery engine that Enveda has built is truly unique and holds the potential to impact the lives of countless patients, and I couldn’t imagine a better culture and group of peers to execute on this important mission.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

If I could give my younger self one piece of advice on the journey to the role I have today, it would be to ask more questions and not be afraid to speak first.  If I reflect on the times I have learned the most in my career, the common denominator is always from the questions others and I have asked.

Questions often spark creativity and create opportunity – the key is having the confidence to jump into the conversation, the ability to listen, and the drive to take that knowledge and run with it.

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Brook Maag

What’s your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

My role at Enveda is Senior Business Development and Portfolio Strategy Manager. What I like most about my role is the collaboration and learning. I enjoy being able to utilize and apply my pharmacy knowledge and experience in a new way with this strategic-focused role. Having the opportunity to learn and collaborate with the teams from both a portfolio and BD perspective has really broadened my knowledge and exposure and provided immense opportunity for career growth. I work with many talented colleagues on various projects across our portfolio, which has been very rewarding. Knowing that we’re all coming together every day with the goal of developing new medications for patients who need them is extremely motivating.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

When I first spoke to Viswa about the company and opportunity, I was very quickly inspired by his passion and vision for Enveda. I loved the company mission - to deliver hope to every patient - and it really resonated with me. I am trained as a pharmacist, and I chose that profession because I wanted to help others and be a trusted healthcare professional that patients could rely on. It’s important to me to have that continued throughout my career, so when I had the opportunity for a pivot into the biotech industry with Enveda, it felt like the perfect way for me to bring my knowledge of the drug market, healthcare space, and customer experience together with early R&D to help develop new therapies for patients. I also really love the culture here at Enveda. It was something I noticed right away when I joined the company over two years ago and it has continued to be a key focus as we’ve grown. The people here are genuine, energized, talented, and supportive. Having the opportunity to collaborate and learn here at Enveda is truly a blessing.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone to try something new. Continue to be curious, and don’t limit yourself to the current situation. It’s never too late to pivot in your career. Most importantly – listen to others when they see potential in you. You never know where the journey will take you!

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Kendra Hightower

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I head up the Lead Generation, Biology group at Enveda. While our primary focus is early drug discovery from hit identification to lead optimization, we contribute to efforts that span Enveda’s research and development portfolio. In this role, I have an opportunity to collaborate with and learn from amazing people .

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

Bringing the natural world, innovative science, and advanced technology together to address unmet medical needs is an exciting prospect to me.

At Enveda, I have an opportunity to merge my desire to learn and my passion for science while building a strong drug discovery organization and therapeutic pipeline.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

Take the chance to explore new directions and learn as much as possible from each experience. There will be challenges, but with each challenge there will also be opportunities for growth.

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Sarah Haynes

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I'm on the product team, focusing on our drug discovery platform. Getting to work with stellar people on highly cross functional teams is probably my favorite part of the job.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

Enveda's vision for tapping into plant chemistry is very exciting. Getting there also happens to involve a lot of technologies I'm fond of, particularly mass spectrometry!  An additional selling point was the prospect of working alongside motivated, super smart, and friendly people.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

Don't be afraid to ask questions when you don't understand something - the magic happens when everyone is on the same page.

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Kiana West

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I am the product manager for our machine learning team. I love that I get to stay close to the science while focusing on high-level strategy and product development.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

The company's drug hunting platform is disruptive and its culture is employee-centric.

I get to do meaningful work alongside brilliant, supportive colleagues and with empathetic, upstanding leaders.

‍What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

Network! Every step of my career has been facilitated by mentors and connections I've made.

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Swathi Polipilli

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I work as Executive Assistant to the Vice President-India Operations. The thing I like most about my job is multi-tasking at various levels, interacting with various teams, working together and planning new strategies and also coming up with risk management ideas to avoid mistakes in the future.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

I joined Enveda after a long career break of five years. This is the first organization I chose to apply for and I am happy I made the choice. I have liked the principles of Enveda shared on various platforms and I am impressed with their vision for a brighter future and the great line of opportunities they are providing to the future scientists to prove themselves. I am happy now that I am a part of it too.

‍What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

One thing I would tell my younger self is not to be demotivated by all the setbacks you face during your journey. Take them as a learning. It is okay to be sad when things do not work out but always come out of it, be consistent and work your way out with patience. Sooner or later you will reach your place. Never hold back your emotions, always express what you feel, be kind to yourself, be kind to others. Empathy and hard work with patience takes you a long way.

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Tosifa Memon

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I am a scientist and project lead in the Lead Generation team. What I like most about my role is learning about the pathophysiology of diseases and figuring out methods to overcome it.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

To discover safer medicines from nature.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

‍Stay the course and one day you will do what you want with wonderful people at Enveda

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Vaishali Chakravarty

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

I am a Scientist in the Lead Optimization team. I like the constant challenges that come up while decoding the mechanism of action of the drug for the target disease. The most attractive part is the freedom to work on developing the various disease models.

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

Plant-based therapy has always been an exciting avenue for me and the route followed at Enveda makes it even more interesting.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

The road is difficult but the joy of reaching the end of the tunnel surpasses all the difficult times. Stay put and the results will be exciting.

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Alyssa Witeof

What's your role at Enveda and what do you like most about it?

My role at Enveda is as a Project Manager. I love that I am able to work across multiple functional teams with so many smart and talented people. Every day brings new challenges that I love trying to solve!

Why did you decide to join Enveda?

Enveda's mission to bring hope to every patient and to decode the natural world is what inspired me to join. So many patients do not have the lifesaving therapeutics needed and we can develop new treatments for those in need from natural products.

What's one thing you would tell your younger self on your journey to the role you have today?

I would tell myself to enjoy the journey. So often we are so focused on the end goal we lose sight of all of the little things that bring you to that goal.

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