Age of Tech x Biopharma Panel & Networking Mixer - The CommonWealth Club SF

Date: Feb 25, 2026 | The CommonWealth Club, SF Embarcadero

Time: 5:30 - 8pm

Event Schedule:

5:30 - 6pm: Cocktail arrivals

6–7pm: Fireside chat

7 - 8pm: Cocktail and open networking

Panelists:

• Gerren Wilson, Pharm.D, Lifecycle Leader, Global Product Strategy, Roche
• Tashica Williams Amirgholizadeh, J.D., Ph.D., Senior Associate General Counsel, IP, Gilead Sciences
• Sanna Gaspard, PhD, CEO & Founder, Rubitection Inc.
• Farron Rucker, CTO & Co-Founder, Syntex [data]

Moderators:

• Michelle Meow, The Commonwealth Club and Host of the Michelle Meow Show

The convergence of technology and biopharma is transforming healthcare, improving patient outcomes, and accelerating the business of science. WeAre and MelanInScience are bringing together leading voices to explore the powerful intersection of Tech and BioPharma.

This gathering will provide a thought-provoking look at the opportunities, challenges, and future of Tech and BioPharma and how you can strengthen your leadership and investments in this rapidly evolving space.

What attendees will gain from attending:

• Insights on the convergence of tech and biopharma
• Breakthrough innovations shaping healthcare, drug discovery, and biotech
• Strategies for positioning yourself at the forefront of this evolving space
• Expanded network of investors, founders, and professionals across science and tech

This conversation will not only spotlight the intersection of technology and biopharma, but also serve as a space to empower and connect Black, Latino, API, Middle Eastern and Indigenous professionals in tech and science while closing the racial wealth gap.

Dress Code (Encouraged): Elevated business attire or cocktail wear. In celebration of Black History Month, attendees are encouraged to wear melanin-inspired tones—skin-tone shades, nudes, browns, tans, and warm neutrals that reflect the beauty and diversity of all complexions.

Sponsorship Opportunities: This event offers select sponsorship opportunities for organizations looking to connect with influential leaders across biopharma and technology through meaningful, high-impact engagement. View sponsor prospectus.

Event Hosts

MelaninScience

MelanInScience is reimagining the future of biotech and life sciences by building pathways for underrepresented talent. We connect academic training to industry opportunity through industry-backed programming, internships, and partnerships with leading biotech and biopharma companies.

Since our founding in 2024, we’ve impacted hundreds of students across 15 states and 20 countries. We’re building a future where Black and Brown scientists are not just represented in STEM — they are at the forefront of innovation, leadership, and discovery.

WeAre

WeAre is the only free members-only professional network alliance connecting and empowering people with African, African diaspora, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander (API), Indigenous, Middle Eastern, and South Asian identities to build wealth in the industries of Technology and Sustainability. Join free.

The Commonwealth Club

With the sound of a gavel striking three times, another Commonwealth Club program begins, bringing together audiences with fascinating, intriguing and entertaining individuals.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Every year, we present hundreds of forums on topics ranging across politics, culture, society, artificial intelligence and the economy.

The Club is headquartered in San Francisco, with regular events in San Francisco as well as in Silicon Valley, the East Bay and the North Bay.

For audiences outside the Bay Area, the Club's weekly radio broadcast—the oldest in the United States, dating back to 1924—is carried across the nation on more than 230 public and commercial radio stations. Our programs are widely podcast and video broadcast. Our website archive features audio and video of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history.

CCWA is the leading nonpartisan national forum and facilitator for citizen education and engagement on domestic and international civic affairs. The primary purpose of CCWA is to contribute to an informed and engaged democratic citizenry, by educating the public about societal issues and creating social networks for good. To accomplish its purposes, CCWA holds public forums and education programs for students; initiates and pursues public policy studies; convenes leaders and stakeholders; disseminates its content through print, electronic and other digital means; provides conduits for engaging its members and the public in addressing societal challenges, and conducts any other activities consistent with its mission.

Since its founding in 1903, Commonwealth Club World Affairs has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt to George W. Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Jerry Brown, political activist Alicia Garza, political commentator George Will and environmental advocate Jane Goodall. Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates have all given landmark speeches at the Club.

Michelle Meow, Radio & TV talk show host

I've always dreamed big. As a little peculiar kid who grew up in Stockton, CA, I had an imagination that was too big for my little brain. I fantasized about a lot of things but as young as I can remember, I fantasized about being loved and accepted. The first time I tried to make friends with kids around my neighborhood, I was told to go "back to my country." Born here in California, I didn't know what they meant until the fights in the neighborhood became violent. The hatred you face from childhood to adulthood is dangerous and damaging. I hope one day we can change this for all of us. Why can't we learn to love and accept one another for our differences and our similarities? That is the journey or quest I am on and the reason behind the "Michelle Meow Show."