About Founder & CEO, Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia
Multidisciplinary Background
BS Honors, Biochemistry, BGSU
MPH, Public Health Administration, UTOLEDO
MBA, Healthcare Administration, UCONN
PhD, Medicinal Chemistry, UCONN
Advanced Business Certificate, Healthcare Finance, UCONN
Predoctoral Fellow, Pharmaceutical Science, AFPE
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medical Oncology, YALE
9 peer-reviewed publications PUBMED
10+ publications in influential media outlets
Patent on epigenetic agents (WO2013192554A1)
Professional Summary
Dr. Sophia Nnenna Ononye-Onyia is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur, former Pfizer scientist and Yale-trained molecular oncologist who utilizes her multidisciplinary background (PhD, MPH, MBA) and diverse therapeutic area experience to advise clients in the life science industry.
She is the Founder and CEO of The Sophia Consulting Firm where she leads client counsel in the biotech and health tech space on strategic marketing, social media and corporate communications with the goal of amplifying scientific innovation. Most recently, Dr. Ononye-Onyia was selected to join the inaugural class of the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network (EAN). She is on the Advisory Council of the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and is the President of the New York Chapter Board of Directors for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA).
Dr. Ononye-Onyia is also the host of her firm’s Amplifying Scientific Innovation Podcast where she interviews CEOs and senior executives in biotech and Big Pharma companies on their unique leadership journey, corporate vision and industry outlook. Under her firm's "Amplifying Scientific Innovation" platform, she recently launched her Virtual College Seminars and Virtual Professional Conferences to bolster community engagement.
She serves as a Key Advisor and Board Member for Biotech and HealthTech companies in addition to universities and professional societies. She’s an Editorial Advisory Board Member for Cell & Gene, member of the Entrepreneur Leadership Network and contributor for several leading outlets inclusive of Inc. (Link: https://bit.ly/32OY8SO) and MIT Technology Review (Link: https://bit.ly/2ORT9Zf).
Dr. Ononye-Onyia is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including two consecutive HBA Spark Awards (2019, 2020); a 2020 Dell Women's Entrepreneurial Network (DWEN) Woman of the Week recognition; and a 2019 Congressional Letter of Recognition for the Face2Face Africa 30 Black Stars Transformational Business Leader award. Most recently, Commetric recognized her as the Top Digital Health Influencer on Twitter in the FemTech/Women's Health space.
To learn more, visit sophiaconsultingfirm.com, connect on Twitter (twitter.com/drsophiao) and subscribe to The Sophia Consulting Firm's YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3krHsHm.
Professional Affiliations
Host and Producer, Amplifying Scientific Innovation Podcast
Member, EY Entrepreneurs Access Network (EAN)
President, Healthcare Businesswomen Association (HBA), NY Chapter Board of Directors
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, YALE
Advisory Council, Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN)
Women in Business Advisor, UCONN
Invited Guest Speaker, UCONN
Key Advisor, BioSortia Pharmaceuticals
Expert Advisory Board (EAB) Member, Catalant Technologies
Member, Entrepreneur Leadership Network
Member, Female Founders Collective
Woman of the Week, Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN)
Member, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MASSBIO)
Contributing Writer, Inc. Magazine
Woman of The Week (WoW) Podcast Guest, PharmaVoice
Guest Contributor & Host, Pharmacy Podcast Network
Venture Partner, FundRx
Advisor, Harvard Biomedical Careers Science Program
Editorial Advisory Board Member, Cell & Gene
Panelist, MIT Technology Review
Contributor, Life Science Leader
Contributor, PharmaBoardRoom
Member, NYC Health Business Leaders
HBA Mentor Recognition
Spark Awardee, HBA (2 awards)
Certificate of Congressional Recognition, 30 Black Stars Award
Advisory Team
Ellen Wingard
Loraine Upham, M.B.A.
James Boyle, Ph.D.
LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT
Ms. Ellen Wingard is an early innovator in the field of leadership development and has for 30 years coached and advised CEOs and emerging leaders in health care, financial services, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, technology and higher education. She is co-author of Enlightened Leadership: How Women are Transformin
LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT
Ms. Ellen Wingard is an early innovator in the field of leadership development and has for 30 years coached and advised CEOs and emerging leaders in health care, financial services, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, technology and higher education. She is co-author of Enlightened Leadership: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. She is past Board Chair of World Pulse Media, an media channel linking 50,000 grassroots leaders across 190 countries, and a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School, where she engages with 150 top global corporate leaders on the latest practices in global talent development, gender inclusion and socially responsible business. She is part of the Executive Coaching pool of the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program and has been a commentator on career navigation and intergenerational mentoring to the Committee of 200, the Fletcher School International Business Program, Harvard Kennedy School, and NPR Marketplace. She has also served as a Mentor for the Impact Center a program affiliated with the Federal Leadership Program for distinguished public sector women leaders.
James Boyle, Ph.D.
Loraine Upham, M.B.A.
James Boyle, Ph.D.
ALLIANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIST
Dr. James (Jim) Boyle is a co-founder and the Managing Director of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI), a business/educational unit within Yale University that was formed with the mission of mentoring students with new venture ideas and that has expanded to include the development of faculty ventures. Pr
ALLIANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIST
Dr. James (Jim) Boyle is a co-founder and the Managing Director of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI), a business/educational unit within Yale University that was formed with the mission of mentoring students with new venture ideas and that has expanded to include the development of faculty ventures. Prior to forming YEI, Jim was responsible within the Office of Cooperative Research (OCR) for the licensing and venture startup of a number of engineering-based technologies. Before joining OCR, he developed and actively managed the University’s largest corporate research alliance, managing a large array of both Yale and external scientists in bioimaging-based collaborations. Earlier, Jim co-founded and grew a predictive analytics consulting practice, providing both technical and pricing guidance on new product development to a wide array of Fortune 1000 companies in the scientific equipment industry. Jim began his entrepreneurial career while still a Yale graduate student, developing novel instruments for characterizing trace biomolecules with the support of the National Institutes of Health, and later commercializing these devices through a wide array of OEM partnerships as part of a Yale startup.
Loraine Upham, M.B.A.
Loraine Upham, M.B.A.
Loraine Upham, M.B.A.
BIOTECH COMMERCIAL STRATEGIST
Ms. Loraine Upham's 30-year career in biotechnology and business ranges from basic research in the Molecular Genetics Research Laboratories at Eli Lilly and Company, to design and marketing of nuclear and fluorescence detection instrumentation at Packard BioScience (now Perkin Elmer), to process and business
BIOTECH COMMERCIAL STRATEGIST
Ms. Loraine Upham's 30-year career in biotechnology and business ranges from basic research in the Molecular Genetics Research Laboratories at Eli Lilly and Company, to design and marketing of nuclear and fluorescence detection instrumentation at Packard BioScience (now Perkin Elmer), to process and business development at a proteomic start up, Prolexys. In 2005, she co-founded CureDM, Inc. together with two endocrinologists, to develop a novel diabetes treatment which she co-invented; as founding CEO of CureDM, she successfully obtained over $5M in financing and engineered partnerships to conduct basic research and establish the proof of concept for the diabetes drug which is now Phase II ready. Lori received a B.A. in Biology from University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A from Arizona State University. She is a board member of numerous biotech companies and participates on the Investment Committee of the ABQid/CNM Ingenuity venture fund.
Lead + Influence
Top Digital Health Influencer (2021)
In January 2021, Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia was featured as the Most Influential Digital Health Influencer in FemTech on Twitter by Commetric, a media analytics solution company.
Lead + Influence
Leading with Purpose
Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia joined the the Advisory Council of the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and is the current President of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), New York Chapter Board of Directors.
Transcend + Grow
Transcending and Scaling
Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia was recently selected to join the inaugural class of EY Entrepreneurs Access Network (EAN). The EAN is part of an elite community of Black and Latinx business leaders with tailored programs designed to transcend barriers and scale businesses.
Learn + Amplify
In the News: Inc. (2020)
Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia's story as a Nigerian-American Millennial Female STEM Entrepreneur was featured on Inc.
Engage + Amplify
Engaging with Academia
Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia recently launched Amplifying Scientific Innovation: Virtual College Seminars to engage with students and faculty. She will be sharing her experiences as an African-born Scientist, Entrepreneur, Biotech Advisor and Podcaster.
Connect + Grow
Connecting with Professional Associations
In Fall 2020, Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia launched Amplifying Scientific Innovation: Virtual Professional Conferences to amplify the firm's service offerings while building relationships with key industry leaders and professionals in the life science industry.