KSA recognizes and values members at all stages of their careers, and believes that engaging Kendall Square’s emerging leaders will ensure the future is bright. With the way we work now–in person, hybrid or remote–it is important to foster connections and to develop and engage our future leaders.
Annalisa Bhatia
Associate Director, MIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations
Annalisa is the Associate Director in MIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations, where she serves as an advocate and liaison for the Institute with the City of Cambridge, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, community organizations and other stakeholders. Her work focuses on public policy issues affecting higher education, research, workforce development, economic competitiveness, sustainability, and MIT’s relationships with local communities.
A lawyer by training, Annalisa has more than a decade of experience in state and local government affairs. Prior to joining MIT, she served as Senior Legislative Advisor and Tribal Liaison for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Director of Government Relations for the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, and Policy Advisor in the Michigan House of Representatives. Throughout her career, she has worked on legislative strategy, stakeholder engagement, regulatory policy, and coalition-building efforts spanning education, environmental policy, workforce development, and economic development.
Annalisa serves on the board of the Community Art Center in Cambridge, the Cambridge Transit Advisory Committee, and on the Stoneham Conservation Commission. Annalisa earned her Juris Doctor from Michigan State University College of Law and bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Michigan.
Jan Botthof
Head of Quality Compliance, BlueRock Therapeutics
Jan is Head of Quality Compliance at BlueRock Therapeutics, where he leads global GMP compliance activities across Technical Operations. He is the architect of BlueRock’s Culture of Quality initiative, focused on embedding a risk‑based, phase‑appropriate quality mindset across the organization.
Jan brings a decade of experience spanning Quality, GMP operations, CMC development, and strategy across biologics, cell therapies, and small molecules, supporting programs from early development through commercialization. Prior to his current role, he held multiple leadership positions at BlueRock Therapeutics and Bayer AG, with experience across both the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Austria.
Jan holds a PhD in Haematology from the University of Cambridge and a first‑class honours degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London.
He is an active mentor and industry contributor, having contributed to the Global Biotech Revolution mentoring program and the BioPhorum Manufacturing Lines of the Future workstream.
Alex Cheung
Director of Venture Cafe, Cambridge, CIC
Alex is the Director of Venture Café Cambridge–he has devoted the last decade in Kendall Square to connecting innovators for the purpose of improving lives. Entrepreneurs from around the world are drawn to Venture Café’s Thursday Gatherings. Alex is passionate about building platforms for communities to thrive, and he hopes to continuously push the bounds of what it means to connect, learn, and share with others.
Alex brings experience in building innovation ecosystems, both physically and conceptually. At CIC, he has managed operations for C3 (CIC’s coworking community) and the 245 Main Street building in Cambridge. Beyond this neighborhood, he has helped with expansion in Rotterdam and Tokyo, as well as with the opening of MIT’s The Engine.
Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, and Society with a minor in Economics from Vassar College.
Alec Dupuis
Associate Director of Campus Experience, AstraZeneca
Alec Dupuis is the Associate Director of Campus Experience at AstraZeneca R&D Kendall Square where he oversees programs and services that enhance the workplace experience across dining, amenities, community engagement, onboarding, communications, and more. With a hospitality-first approach focused on placemaking and connectivity, Alec fosters inclusive and engaging environments that support collaboration, innovation, and expectational day-to-day experiences.
Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Alec served as an Owner’s Project Manager with Black Diamond Real Estate Advisors, supporting operational readiness, facilities planning, and strategy for AstraZeneca. Previously, as Operations Manager at The Engine built by MIT, he oversaw community operations and workplace experience through the expansion and opening of 750 Main to support the growing Tough Tech ecosystem.
Alec holds a Bachelor of Science in Management & Innovation from Champlain College. Outside of work, he enjoys skiing, cycling, rock climbing, and creating laser-cut relief artwork and is passionate about the intersection of workplace experience, technology, operations, and community building.
Alexander Farley
Architect, HOK
Alexander Farley is an architect at HOK in Boston and leads multi-disciplinary teams in the design of science & technology facilities.
After spending a decade as a biochemist in academia, Alexander now works to improve the laboratory and workplace experience for researchers through architectural design as well as improve the engagement of laboratory buildings with the surrounding urban fabric. His architectural experience ranges from academic clients to pharma and large-scale developers. Many of his projects are in Kendall Square.
Alexander was raised in Philadelphia and earned bachelor degrees in Biology and Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a Ph.D. student in Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Caltech before earning a Masters of Architecture degree from MIT.
Alexander is an avid cyclist, painter, and computational designer.
Cayla Franco
Vice President, Property Management, The Bulfinch Companies, Inc.
Cayla is responsible for overseeing the property management of Bulfinch’s state-of-the-art life science campus Osborn Triangle, located in Kendall Square. Osborn Triangle includes three buildings totaling over 677,000 SF and is home to several internationally recognized pharmaceutical companies.
Cayla’s background includes operations management experience for TD Garden, where she collaborated with cross-functional teams to resolve operational inconsistencies, track and monitor operational finances, oversee contractors, and manage capital projects.
Dedicated to giving back, Cayla Co-Chairs Bulfinch’s Engage Committee which serves as a vehicle to encourage and empower the Bulfinch Team to actively participate in all areas of civic engagement. A key highlight includes the launch of Bulfinch’s donor-advised fund (DAF), The Bulfinch Engage Fund. The Fund is a charitable giving vehicle that empowers the company, employees, and stakeholders to contribute to causes they care about most.
Cayla also works closely with Building Impact, a non-profit organization that offers corporate volunteering opportunities for Bulfinch tenants and team members that create measurable impact for nonprofits in the community. She is an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and is a member of BOMA’s Emerging Professionals Committee.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a digital marketing and analytics minor, Cayla is an avid Huskies fan.
Alex Jones
Search, Infrastructure, and Crowdsourcing Senior Manager, Johnson & Johnson
Alexander is currently serving as the Search, Infrastructure, and Crowdsourcing Senior Manager within Johnson & Johnson.
He manages a set of tools and executes search landscapes across all therapeutic areas to source external early-stage innovation on a global scale.
Previously, Alexander held multiple positions within Johnson & Johnson in the innovation space, including as a 3D Printing Engineer and a manger providing training to J&J Supply chain on emerging capabilities.
Alex earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He currently serves on the advisory board for the Buckeye Leadership fellows The Ohio State University.
Rohan Kundargi, PhD
K-12 Community Outreach Administrator, MIT
Dr. Rohan Kundargi is a member of MIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations team where he serves as the K-12 Community Outreach Administrator. Through his work at MIT, Rohan leads an effort to deepen the relationship between MIT and Cambridge by building collaborative programs that engager young scholars and learners of all ages.
A first-generation Indian-American and child of immigrants, Rohan was raised in Northern California before earning an undergraduate Earth Science degree from UCLA (2010), a Masters in Earth Science from Boston University (2013), and a PhD in Earth Science from Boston University (2016). As a geoscience researcher he investigated the dynamics of Earth’s internal processes by designing and utilizing 3D numerical simulations to better understand how specific volcanoes erupted. While at BU, Dr. Kundargi was also a National Science Foundation GK-12 Fellow and co-taught a 7th grade science classroom at Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts. After graduate school Rohan ran Science In Action!, Gonzaga University’s largest STEM outreach program to the 2nd largest school district in the state of Washington, before returning to MA to work with MIT OGCR.
He is a proud Board Member of Cambridge non-profit CitySprouts and is an active member of the MIT Museum’s Advisory Board.
Varun Ramdevan
External Innovation and Partnerships, Enterprise Technology, Johnson & Johnson
Varun is responsible for external innovation and partnerships for Enterprise Technology at Johnson & Johnson. He works across J&J and the early-stage technology ecosystem to help shape early incubation, investment and partnerships that shape J&J’s health technology portfolio. He also leads a global technology organization supporting the J&J Lung Cancer Initiative and New Ventures group.
Varun has an MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and has gained rich experiences in areas including Medical Device R&D M&A and economic research. Before his current role, Varun guided strategy and data-driven approaches for J&J’s Medical Devices R&D investment decisions. He also has helped bootstrap digital health initiatives related to post-orthopedic surgical care.
Varun supports a Boston startup ecosystem as a mentor and angel investor in energy tech and health tech.
Megan Keegan Rivera
Associate Director, Operations, LabCentral
Megan Keegan is the associate director of operations at LabCentral. She works on LabCentral’s expansion projects, including the buildout and design of the space as well as managing ongoing construction and operational readiness. She also works with companies looking to join LabCentral to help determine their fit for various sites and runs the Selection Committee process.
Megan joined the LabCentral team in 2014 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Rhode Island and is currently working on her MBA from Boston University.
Rahul Sangodkar
Global Operations Director, Amgen
Rahul is the global operations director at Amgen. He has worked across different stages of clinical and commercial pharmaceutical process development, notably, to develop, characterize, transfer and validate processes that are robust and sustainable, which are enabling to the delivery and supply of drug substance. Rahul has contributed to the advancement of several clinical products and approved products, including, Lumakras®, Corlanor®, Kyprolis®, and Tavneos®. He is passionate about defining and optimizing cross-functional business processes and strategies to enable continuous improvement with focus on technology transfer and risk assessments. In addition to his cross-functional leadership roles at Amgen, Rahul leads collaborative initiatives for new technology development across 15 pharmaceutical and biotechnology member companies through the Enabling Technologies Consortium, and is an advocate and active member of outreach efforts in the community.
Rahul earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Graduate Program in Management Practice from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Namrata Sengupta, PhD
Director, Government Relations & Science Engagement, Broad Institute
Namrata Sengupta is the Director for Government Relations & Science Engagement at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Based in Broad’s offices of communications and government relations, she develops and leads programs and community partnerships to advance Broad’s public engagement efforts and organizes strategic thinking and connectivity on matters concerning government relations and public policy across the institute. Sengupta facilitates Broad’s relationships with neighboring communities; local, state, and federal government; international delegations; and the general public. She is also responsible for overseeing the Broad Discovery Center and related public outreach and educational efforts.
Outside of Broad, Sengupta serves as an adjunct professor of science communication at Clemson University. She is on the board of directors of two Boston-based nonprofits, Asian Women for Health and The Innovation Trail of Greater Boston, and is one of the Kendall Square Association’s Emerging Leaders. She speaks at various career panels and gives invited lectures on STEM careers and science communication in the higher education community.
Sengupta holds a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology from Clemson University, an M.S. in biotechnology from Bangalore University, and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Calcutta.