Port City Labs has been in the trenches of the life sciences industry for over 20 years, building relationships that withstand market fluctuations.
At Port City Labs, we believe that the future of biotech is shaped by visionary leaders, bold ideas, groundbreaking science, and relentless innovation. Yet, success is ultimately determined by the leaders who bring these visions to life. In an industry defined by rapid advancements, shifting market forces, and unpredictable funding cycles, securing the right leadership at the right time is more critical than ever.
Our mission is to ensure that companies navigating the complexities of biotech’s evolving landscape are supported by executives who not only lead but inspire, innovate, and drive lasting impact. We recognize that greatest breakthroughs are made possible by the people behind them.
Through our deep industry relationships, decades of experience, and commitment to thought leadership we walk alongside these pioneering organizations to attract elusive talent that drives our industry. Even amid the biotechs ecosystem of inherent cycles of rapid growth, transformation, and challenge…we deliver. Port City Labs is uniquely positioned to help companies navigate the ever-evolving landscape, where resilience, vision, and leadership turn volatility into opportunity.
Shawn Friend is the Founder and Managing Partner of Port City Labs and has been working in Executive Search for 20+ years. Previous to Port City Labs, Shawn was a Senior Partner at Prestige Scientific where he consistently ranked in the top 1% inside the Sanford Rose Associates International Recruiting Network. He is well versed in leading cross functional project teams that include Quality Assurance, Regulatory, Pre/ Non-Clinical, Clinical, Chemistry Manufacturing & Controls, and others.
Shawn has been involved in building numerous leadership teams for both biotech and pharmaceutical organizations. When he took the initial plunge into recruiting, his focus was contingent search. From there, moved to tackling contract and fractional work. 10 years into his journey, he realized that a path to retained executive search paired well with his energy and “Rolodex”. Partnering with Venture, Private Equity, and numerous other industry leading Life Science companies he has made his home.
Shawn has been a key lynchpin in completing search projects for numerous C-Suite roles, Board Members, and other functional heads. Additionally, his work with multiple clinical research non-profits has given him the opportunity to give back and support development throughout the globe.
Tricia Krzywicki is a results-driven executive search professional with over 25 years of experience identifying and placing high-impact leaders in biotechnology. She specializes in Board of Directors (BOD) and C-suite roles, such as Chief Medical Officers, Chief Development Officers, and Vice Presidents of Clinical Development along with other cross functional leaders.
Mary Katherine DeVane brings more than a decade of experience in the life sciences sector, with a proven track record of success leading executive-level searches across biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, she served as Director at Prestige Scientific, where she consistently ranked as a top performer, executing searches spanning C-Suite & BoD, and functional leadership roles. Her expertise extends across the drug development continuum, from discovery through commercialization, with a specialty in cross-functional placements across Discovery & Pre-Clinical, R&D, Clinical Development/Physician, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, Corporate & Business Development, HR, Executive Leadership and more.
Mary Katherine holds a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Pfeiffer University, as well as a B.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Our Advisory Board—comprised of Executive Leadership, Venture Capitalists, Human Resources, and Talent Acquisition experts—play a critical role in:
This team is instrumental in ensuring that the right leaders are in the right roles at the right time—because in biotech, people make the difference.
Rachel Humphrey has over 25 years of experience in clinical drug development, particularly in the field of cancer treatments and immunotherapies. Highlights of her career include leading the development of multiple blockbuster cancer therapies: the CTLA-4 inhibiting immunotherapy Yervoy® (ipilimumab) at BMS, the PD-L1 inhibiting immunotherapy Imfinzi® (durvalumab) at AstraZeneca, and the kinase inhibitor cancer drug Nexavar® (sorafenib) at Bayer. After working at these big pharmaceutical companies, Rachel took her drug development expertise to emerging biotech companies, where she served in the role of Chief Medical Officer at Black Diamond Therapeutics, CytomX Therapeutics and Mirati Therapeutics, respectively. She previously served on the Board of Directors of CytomX Therapeutics and Xilio Therapeutics, respectively, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pyxis Therapeutics and Sporos Bioventures. Rachel started her career as an oncology fellow and staff physician at the National Cancer Institute. She received her training in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, her MD from Case Western Reserve Medical School, and her B.A. from Harvard University.
Derrick is a veteran of the drug development and medical device industries. Over the past 30 years he has made numerous impactful contributions to the development and commercialization of innovative technologies and therapies as an engineer, program and portfolio manager, consultant, and executive leader.
Currently, Derrick provides Operations and HR consulting services to the biotechnology industry. He is also a leadership coach trained in the Co-Active model. From 2022 – 2025 he was a member of executive leadership at Alumis Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies to change the treatment paradigm in autoimmune disease.
Derrick is deeply passionate about building empowered teams, creating workplaces that are diverse, inclusive, and equitable, and maximizing organizational productivity through emotional intelligence. In addition to serving as a mentor and advocate he teaches a graduate-level Program Management course in the San Jose State University department of Biomedical Engineering.
Derrick holds a BS in Product Design Engineering from Stanford University, a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a PMP® Certification from the Project Management Institute.
Heather Madsen holds a PhD in Evolutionary Genetics and joined the pharmaceutical industry in 2001. During her 22-year career at GSK and ViiV Healthcare, Heather held a variety of leadership roles including Head of R&D for the European Pharma Diagnostics Business Unit, Senior Director of Target Sciences Infectious Disease, and Executive Director of Research for Alternative Discovery & Development. She led a diversity of Pharma projects spanning early R&D to Post-Marketing, is co-author of 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is co-inventor of 3 patents. In her last role at GSK/ViiV as Head of Translational Research, she created a ViiV Bioinformatics function and led the HIV cure research area including a biotech collaboration with UNC Chapel Hill, Qura Therapeutics. Heather joined Hatteras Venture Partners in February 2024 where she is currently an Operating Partner, Board Observer of Huma.ai, Independent Board Member of Inimmune, and President of a stealth-mode precision immunology biotech.
Will has spent the last 10 years as a company builder and seed stage investor in the Seattle ecosystem. Through his previous role at WRF he led the foundation’s biotech investing portfolio and was a close partner with groups such as the Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and UW. Additionally, Will is an instructor at the UW Foster School where he teaches a course on health innovation and is a translational advisor to the Institute for Protein Design. Outside of UW, Will is currently Health and Life Sciences Lead at Pioneer Square Labs where he is building Software-first companies supporting healthcare and life science industries. Will is a trained health economist and received his PhD from UW School of Pharmacy. Prior to that he was an early employee at two Boston area life sciences startups that were acquired.
David Smith is an experienced Talent Acquisition leader with over 20 years of expertise in the pharma, biotech, and life sciences industries. David has a proven track record of leading recruitment for high-growth organizations, including startups and multinational companies. Throughout his career, he has successfully built and executed talent acquisition strategies, managed executive search processes, and developed high-performing teams. Known for his strong relationship-building skills, David has partnered with senior leadership to drive recruitment efforts for senior and executive-level positions. He is passionate about fostering diverse, inclusive workplaces and delivering exceptional candidate experiences. David has consistently demonstrated an ability to deliver results and support business goals through strategic talent acquisition initiatives.
Darren has forty-three years in technical operations and 35 of those in biopharma. A mechanical engineer in his undergrad he went on to achieve his MBA from Duke University and progressed through multiple roles in biopharma field including synthetic molecule, biotech large molecule and now four years in the cell and gene therapy space. Darren did his formative years with great companies like GlaxoSmithKline, MedImmune and AstraZeneca plus numerous years consulting to dozens of companies in the industry both large and small.
A noted relationship manager, Darren has built innovative deals in capacity sharing, biosimilars and contract relationships as well as a general manager in CO facility, rebuilding the plant and building organization from ground up. Darren exited the large company manifest in 2019 to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in cell and gene therapies. Clarus marks his fourth biotech startup, two which have reached successful exits and one he remains a board member.
His cell and gene experience includes CRISPR based deployments, medical device development in cancer ablation and now adjuvant technology. His expertise is in deal and equity development to keep a comfortable fuel of finances under the wings of the team.
Nikki Heron is the Vice President of Finance at VitriVax and a seasoned finance executive with over 25 years of experience in both public and private companies. She has deep knowledge of the biopharmaceutical industry, particularly in preclinical and drug development start-ups. Nikki has a proven track record in corporate finance, equity financing, strategic planning, financial analysis, cash flow optimization, corporate operations, alliance management, and M&A. Throughout her career, Nikki has facilitated significant transactions, including the sale of rPath Inc. to SAS Software in 2012. More recently, she played a critical role in the partnership between Tavros Therapeutics and Vividion Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer, which led to Tavros’s successful acquisition by Vividion in 2024. She also spent more than a decade as a fractional CFO, supporting over two dozen start-ups, primarily in the biotech sector. Nikki is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from James Madison University.
John has advised and assisted individuals, and large and small companies(including start-ups) on a variety of transactions from establishing a business, to seeking funding, acquiring or leasing property, and building a solid vendor and customer base. He focuses on strong negotiations, avoiding bottlenecks, guiding clients in their growth and expansion, and delivering “law at the speed of business™”.
John and his wife live in San Francisco, atop the city’s Nob Hill neighborhood, where they seek to enjoy the city’s many facets from the beaches to the Financial District.
Lucio Iannone is a seasoned healthcare investor with over 15 years of experience across venture capital, board management, and biotechnology. Before joining the T1D Fund, Lucio served as the Head of Health Investments at Leaps by Bayer, where he spearheaded the global investment team, driving strategy and deal execution. In this role, Lucio directed assets under management totaling over $1 billion as he led the global investment team and strategic dealmaking processes. With a keen eye for innovation, he actively engages in the sourcing, screening, and mentoring of pioneering companies that are at the forefront of transformative scientific advancements.
Lucio has served on the boards of innovative organizations like Mozart Therapeutics, eGenesis Biosciences, Souffle Therapeutics, and Immunitas Therapeutics. His extensive biotechnology background encompasses expertise in molecular biology, cell and gene therapy, with applications in oncology, autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular health. He also has a deep history building and mentoring high-performing teams that drive innovation in these therapeutic areas.
Lucio earned his Ph.D. in Medicine from Imperial College London, where he developed his foundational expertise in medical science and translational research. He is passionate about solidifying his foundation in the medical sciences, advancing novel therapeutics, and enhancing his ability to identify and nurture the next generation of healthcare innovations.