Biotech leader Sheila Gujrathi discusses her new book, The Mirror Effect, which she wrote for her younger self, today's peers, and the next generation of female leaders in business

Interviewed by Sisterhood editorial board member Grace Colón, Dr. Gujrathi discusses a three pillar framework for success she has learned during her career in life sciences: know thyself, understand your environment, and set yourself up for success.

Interview Chapters: Sheila’s background - 0:34 | Framework of success - 6:21 | Getting everyone involved - 16:51 | Not sacrificing the good for the perfect - 19:37 | A culture of accepting feedback - 23:03 | Compassion - 28:21 | Daughters - 34:20 | Book tour feedback - 39:35 | Meditation - 42:18

BUY THE BOOK AND JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Amazon - Hardcover: The Mirror Effect

Amazon - Workbook: The Mirror Effect

More about the book: https://sheilagujrathimd.com/book/

Sheila's website: https://www.sheilagujrathimd.com

Join the Mirror Movement (sign up for the newsletter): https://the-mirror-effect.beehiiv.com/

Biographies

SHEILA GUJRATHI, MD, is a biotech entrepreneur, executive, and champion for underrepresented leaders. Over the past 25 years, she’s had the privilege of developing life-changing medicines for patients with serious diseases while building and running private and public biotech companies—including some exciting exits. Today she’s a founder, chairwoman, board director, strategic advisor and consultant to start-up companies and investment funds.

Dr. Gujrathi was the co-founder and former CEO of Gossamer Bio and former Chief Medical Officer of Receptos. Her journey started at Northwestern University, where she earned both her M.D. and biomedical engineering degree in the accelerated honors medical program, and took her from the academic halls of Harvard, UCSF, and Stanford to the corporate offices of companies like McKinsey, Genentech, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Dr. Gujrathi has earned multiple leadership awards, including AIMBE Fellow, BLOC100 Luminary, Healthcare Technology Report Top 25 Women Leaders in Biotechnology, Corporate Directors Forum Director of the Year, and Fiercest Women in Life Sciences.

But what really lights her up? Creating the inclusive environments she wished she’d had throughout her career. That’s why she co-founded the Biotech CEO Sisterhood, a group of trailblazing female CEOs—because we’re all better when we lift each other up.

GRACE COLÓN, PhD, has a 30-year career spanning biopharma, genomics, diagnostics, digital health, synthetic and industrial biotechnology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. She is co-founder of Inaya Therapeutics and was CEO of InCarda Therapeutics, raising $120M and advancing the lead program from pre-clinical stage to Phase 3. Previously she held leadership roles at Gilead Sciences, Intrexon, New Science Ventures, Affymetrix, and McKinsey. She serves on the board of Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR), as board chair of Bloom Science, Aronora and Emm, and on on the Boards of the MIT Corporation and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Previously she served on the boards of CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) and on multiple early-stage biotech boards.

A native of Puerto Rico, she is passionate about advising and mentoring entrepreneurs as well as aspiring board directors, particularly women and underrepresented minorities. She is also an active advocate for women’s health, having experienced the long-term impact of severe endometriosis. She received her Ph.D. from MIT and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania, both in chemical engineering. In 2024 she was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).