By Abigail Wright
NKyTribune staff reporter
Northern Kentucky business leaders discussed innovation, resilience and the region’s growing life science sector this week, during the latest installment of DBL Law’s “Made It Series.”
Hosted at DBL Law’s Covington office, the speaker event featured Christin Godale, Ph.D., executive director of LifeSciKY, and Jim Beach, CEO of Bexion Pharmaceuticals. The conversation was moderated by Loren Wolff, a partner and chair of DBL Law’s economic development practice group.
The “Made It Series,” launched in 2022, highlights the personal and professional journeys of leaders from a variety of industries. Previous speakers have represented businesses and organizations ranging from a catering company and real estate to St. Elizabeth Healthcare and pickleball.
Wolff said the idea for the series came as the firm prepared to move into its new office and was inspired by the television series “Actors on Actors,” which featured actors engaging in intimate discussions about their work.
“We were moving into this office, and we were talking about a speaker series and how it’s interesting to get people to talk,” Wolff said. “So take different leaders and organizations and tell their stories. So often at these panels, they’re talking about the company, the project or a product, and what people find interesting are those stories that we all have, and that’s where you really learn.”
According to Wolff, DBL Law hosts the series three to five times each year, with each event focusing on a different industry or career path.
Wolff said Northern Kentucky’s life sciences sector made it a natural choice for the latest discussion.
“Life sciences right now, especially in Northern Kentucky, is at a very unique time, where we could really be a leader in that space, really, in the Midwest,” Wolff said.
During the conversation, Godale shared how her childhood experience with epilepsy inspired her to pursue neuroscience and eventually advocate for medical research and biotechnology across Kentucky.
“My whole life has been about helping people find opportunities to get cured or get better therapeutics,” Godale said.
As executive director of LifeSciKY, Godale works to strengthen Kentucky’s life sciences ecosystem by connecting researchers, entrepreneurs, companies and investors while promoting growth across the state’s biotechnology and health industries.
Beach reflected on the challenges of leading a biotechnology company, emphasizing the importance of adapting when research points in a different direction than expected.
“As you learn more, you might discover that what you thought was the best pathway forward isn’t the best pathway forward,” Beach said. “So you have to adjust, and you have to have the courage to look at your data, to look at your science, and say, what makes the most sense.”
Bexion Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Covington, is developing treatments for aggressive cancers and other serious diseases, with a focus on therapies designed to target cancer cells while minimizing harm to healthy tissue.
Wolff said attendees of the “Made It Series” often leave the event with more than just business insight.
“Anybody that’s been to more than one will tell you they feel inspired either about their own organization or their own career journeys or they just learn something getting to just come and sit and listen to the story of a company and its journey, is always interesting,” Wolff said.
More about the “Made It Series,” including video and podcast content, can be found here.