Leen Kawas

Dr. Leen Kawas has established herself not just as one of the leading women in pharmaceutical biotech, but as one of the industry’s most notable leaders regardless of gender. She’s successfully developed a therapeutic candidate for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which is currently undergoing clinical trials, and successfully taken the company that’s running these trials public. Dr. Kawas earned a Pharmacy degree in 2008 from the University of Jordan, one of the most respected academic institutions in her home country. She then came to Washington State, where she pursued a Doctorate in Molecular Pharmacology (Ph.D.) at the University of Washington. She’s earned her Ph.D. in 2011 and completed the Foster School of Business’s Executive Training Program in 2015. While studying at the University of Washington, Dr. Kawas began her translational research She then went on to invent Athira Parma’s lead drug candidate, ATH-1017, and filed patents for it through the company. ATH-1017 is currently undergoing clinical trials. Dr. Kawas also invented several other drugs in the company’s pipeline. Dr. Kawas co-founded Athira and was named President and Chief Executive Officer in 2014. She remained President/CEO throughout the company’s first two rounds of fundraising, and she sat on the Board of Directors until 2021. Under Dr. Kawas’ leadership, Athira successfully completed an initial public offering. Dr. Kawas is the first female CEO to take a technology and biotech company public in Washington State, and, as of February 2021, was one of only 22 female founders and CEOs to take their company public through an IPO. In addition to her work with the company, Dr. Kawas has and currently sits on multiple boards of organizations in her sector. She’s been a board member of the Alzheimer Association’s Washington Chapter, Life Science Washington Board and the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation’s Scientific Review Board. She’s also been a co-chair for the Alzheimer's Association’s Annual Business Consortium. Dr. Kawas has received numerous accolades for her efforts and achievements, including (among others): - 2021 Endpoints 20(+1) Under 40 - 2019 French-American Foundation Leader - 2019 BioSpace 7 Millennial Influencers in the Biotech Industry - 2019 GeekWire Startup CEO of the Year. In addition, under her leadership, Athira was named, by GeekWire, one of Seattle’s 10 Hottest Startups in 2016 and a Health Innovation of the Year Finalist in 2019. Dr. Kawas lives in Washington with her family and continues to invest in other female leaders who show promise in biotech.