Professionally, Karen began her career as an engineer after getting a computer science degree from Georgia Tech and a Master’s in electrical engineering at Cornell and an MBA at NYU. She spent 28 years developing technology and then went back for a third masters for a degree in Regulatory Affairs from the USC school of Pharmacy. Karen currently serves as the VP of Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Affairs, and Quality Assurance at Spinal Elements, Inc. where she brings a very unique background that brings more than 30 years of technology project management and regulatory operations and strategy experience with pharmaceutical and medical device development and combination products. She is currently in the middle of a degree in Health Law.
From a personal perspective, Karen was born in Montreal and currently resides in Southern California (Irvine) with her husband, Steve, and goldendoodle, Simba. They have three children – Eitan (28), Rachael (26) and Maya (24). They have been members of Congregation B’nai Israel for 28 years. Eitan’s wife, Rebecca, is from Corona del Mar where her Mom, Eve still resides. They belong to Shir Ha’Maalot. Karen and Steve were initial contributors to the JCC and Karen co-chaired the topping off ceremony for the new JCC facility. They have been an active part of the Orange County Jewish community since they arrived in 1997.