Dr Versteegen received her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry from Glasgow University, Scotland. She held Postdoctoral scholarships at Cambridge University, England, and the National Institutes of Health working in areas of disease research. Following several years in NIH sponsored cancer research programs, she joined Life Technologies and held various key roles, both technical and business oriented, including Vice President of the GIBCO Manufacturing Facility, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Vice President of New Business Development and Vice President of Strategic Planning. In 2000, Dr Versteegen became a founding partner of the Lifia Group, a consulting organization focused on helping life science and biotechnology companies grow through clearly enunciated, actionable strategic plans. Since its inception in 2006, Dr Versteegen has been the CEO of the International Serum industry Association, a global life science not-for-profit association. The mission of the Association is to establish, promote and assure compliance with uncompromised standards of excellence and ethics in the business practices of the global animal serum and animal derived products supply industry. The primary focus is on safety and safe use of serum and animal derived products through proper origin traceability, truth in labeling, and appropriate standardization and oversight.