Leen Kawas is the co-founder and former president/CEO of Athira Pharma, a Boston-based partner of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Dainippon Sumitomo. Leen Kawas is a medical writer and consultant for international medical companies and has been in healthcare administration for over 30 years.

Leen contributes to Biotech Business Magazine, regularly writing about emerging technologies, business development best practices, and technology’s impact on clinical research. Her work has also appeared in publications such as The Boston Globe and Drug Development Today magazine.

Leen served as a panelist at the Biotech Business Conference, a premier event in the life science industry, held from October 2006 to October 2007 in Boston. In 2008 she was named one of Boston’s 10 Most Influential Women. She has been featured on The Early Show, CNN, and CBS News. She has written for Forbes, Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy Alumni Magazine, and Hospital Pharmacy magazine.

In 2006 Leen founded her firm, the Athira Group LLC (formerly the WMD Group LLC), in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area neighborhood near Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Athira was visited by James T. O’Reilly, a business consultant and adjunct professor at the Harvard Business School, who is an expert in international marketing. O’Reilly says, “…Kawas… understands the complexities of business and marketing in global markets, she understands the political risks of working with certain governments, and she can assist businesses seeking to expand their offerings.”

Leen Kawas has studied at universities in various countries around the world, including Ireland (University College Dublin), England (St Mary’s Hospital Medical School), France (Université de Paris-Sud), and Canada (McGill University). She holds a Master’s in management from Boston University’s College of Communication. Leen was also a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Global Health Technologies at King’s College London.

In 2007 Leen Kawas launched the Athira Group LLC, which she and her husband, Dr. Fakhri Rourke, co-founded to provide consulting services in global healthcare business development and marketing, including: