of North Carolina
Mission
To bridge the gap between academia and industry by fostering a community where students, professionals, and industry leaders collaborate to drive operational excellence, innovation, and career development in the life sciences sector.
Vision
To build a sustainable, high-impact ecosystem where operational excellence transforms organizations, empowers professionals, and accelerates life sciences innovation in North Carolina and beyond.
Meet the Team
Meet our team of dedicated professionals, each bringing a wealth of expertise in operational excellence, life sciences, and design. Together, we’re committed to driving innovation, continuous improvement, and delivering impactful results. Our collaborative approach ensures we achieve the highest standards in everything we do.
Board of Directors
Tori Arens
Tori Arens is President, Drug Product at Alcami where she has responsibility for three manufacturing sites and the overall Drug Product business unit. Tori brings over 27 years of technical and manufacturing leadership experience spanning multiple modalities, including biologics, drug product, and gene and cell therapy. Before joining Alcami, Ms. Arens was the Vice President and Site Lead at National Resilience’s gene
therapy site in Research Triangle Park (RTP). She earned her B.A. in Chemistry and M.S. in Pharmaceutics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jorge Marques
Coming soon...
Nitin Das
Accomplished and results-driven leader with over 25 years of experience spanning multiple industries focused on driving operational excellence, strategic initiatives, business operations and program management. Strong track record in leading cross-functional teams and driving strategic initiatives that helped generate over $200M in cost savings and $350M in revenue. Corecompetencies include project and portfolio management, complex problem-solving, technology transfer, risk management, new product introductions, environmental sustainability initiatives, operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Leadership Team
Cristina Maldonado
Founder & Chair
Cristina Maldonado is a leader in operational excellence with a background in business
operations and process optimization in the life sciences industry. She has successfully led
initiatives that streamline workflows and drive measurable impact. Cristina has experience in
Lean methodologies, portfolio management, and implementing site-wide solutions that have
delivered millions in cost savings and operational improvements. She has a Bachelor’s in Molecular Biology and is currently pursuing an MBA at NC State University, further strengthening her expertise in business strategy and organizational development. Passionate about innovation and continuous improvement, Cristina is committed to building a collaborative community that empowers professionals to drive excellence in their organizations.
Kirsten Ritner
Communications
Kirsten Ritner is microbiologist with a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma and nearly a decade of
experience in biotech/biopharma. While working as a quality control analyst in pharmaceutical manufacturing, she has led multiple Kaizen workshops and deviation investigations and strived to continuously improve the efficiency and supportive work culture of the labs where she worked. By doing so, she learned the importance of operational excellence and its impact on the work of her and her colleagues to ensure the quality of the medicine being manufactured. Since receiving her B.S. of Science in Marine and Freshwater Biology, she has worked as a field ecologist collecting snails in the pouring rain on the New Hampshire coast to training her colleagues on aseptic gowning for pharmaceutical manufacturing clean rooms. She is excited for this opportunity to share her knowledge and experience as one of the team at OEN.
Christine Cousineau
Logistics & Operations
Christine Cousineau has a Bachelor's of Science in Forensic Science from Madonna University and 5 years of experience in Biotech-Biopharma Research and Manufacturing. She began her career in Ann Arbor, Michigan developing and manufacturing Covid-19 PCR test kits. In late 2021 she moved to Durham, North Carolina to expand her resume and explore possible career paths in the Life Sciences. During her transition into Gene and Cell Therapy research, development, and production she learned about Operational Excellence (OE). She saw the impact and benefit first-hand and recognized the current knowledge gap that exists in the industry around OE. Christine's passion for creative problem solving and drive to streamline
everything that crosses her path, is exactly what Operational Excellence demands!
Mitra Abab
Mitra is an innovator in the industry with experience in driving excellence across teams. With a background in life sciences and graphic design, she combines lean systems and visual management to enhance performance and decision-making. Mitra is recognized for her expertise in continuous improvement, collaboration, and delivering impactful results.
Creative . Digital