Cara Wykowski 
Executive Director
The founder of the Proteome Society, Ms. Wykowski began her career as a peptide synthesis specialist in Chicago at IMC Global and then at Sigma Chemical in St. Louis . She relocated to California when she assumed a technical support position with Biosearch, Inc. Ms. Wykowski continued her career as a sales representative for Hoefer Pharmacia, for Beckman Coulter, and for both Pyrosequencing and Sequenom as a sales manager of genotyping products. She is currently an account manager for U.S. Genomics. She established a wide base for new products and applications while building a formidable network of post-genomic research associates and opinion leaders. She envisioned that the field of proteomics would play an enormously valuable role in drug discovery and the understanding of disease; thus she began organizing the Proteome Club by holding meetings open to all who have an interest in proteomics. Ms Wykowski holds a BS in Biology and Chemistry.

Keith Williamson
Business Manager
Mr. Williamson began his career in Biotechnology with Tularik, Inc., where he managed the DNA core facility. This position led him to MWG Biotech, where he was an Applications Specialist for robotics instrumentation. He later joined Pyrosequencing, a leader in genotyping technology, as the West Coast Technical Support Manager. Leveraging his technical experience with his marketing skills, he then served as Oligonucleotide Product Manager for QIAGEN Operon. Mr. Williamson is presently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Polymorphic DNA Technologies, Inc. He holds a BS in Microbiology from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA in Finance from the University of San Francisco.

Susan Powell-Shonfeld
Communications Director
Ms. Powell-Shonfeld started her career in biotechnology as a research scientist in the Cell & Molecular Biology department of IMC Global. She then moved to London, joining Schering-Plough, where she was responsible for advising Oncologists and Hematologists on biological response modifiers and alpha-Interferon.  Later, she served as an independent consultant to media groups. She repatriated the US seven years ago, and worked as a VP for technology-focused PR agencies. She then went into the corporate side, serving as VP of Corporate Communications for a media development company and applied a bioinformatics focus to new business development. Susan is now Analyst--Biotech & Bioinformatics at Science + Technology Licensing, LLC. Susan holds a BS in Microbiology and an MS in Molecular Biology.

Carrie Smith
Membership Coordinator
Carrie Smith has been involved in biotechnology and research for over 17 years. She worked for Beckman Coulter for 8 years representing the Automated Solutions product line where she sold robotics to companies and institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to Beckman Coulter, Carrie worked for QIAGEN selling nucleic acid purification products. Carrie also spent 5 years performing research in the field of neurobiology at the Ernest Gallo Research Center at UCSF. She also performed research and managed a liver physiology laboratory at UC Davis. Her degree is in Nutrition Science from UC Davis.