Lisa V. Sellers, PhD – VectorLabs https://staging.vectorlabs.com From linker design and synthesis, bioconjugated design and manufacturing, biomolecule labeling and functionalization, and detection system and solutions, our team is here to help you move forward, with impact. Mon, 12 May 2025 14:53:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://staging.vectorlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/V-favicon-02-100x100.png Lisa V. Sellers, PhD – VectorLabs https://staging.vectorlabs.com 32 32 2022: A year marked by a big move, traditions old and new, and prevailing teamwork https://staging.vectorlabs.com/blog/2022-a-year-marked-by-a-big-move-traditions-old-and-new-and-prevailing-teamwork/ Mon, 19 Dec 2022 22:53:29 +0000 https://staging.vectorlabs.com/?p=6822 As we reach the end of the year, Vector Laboratories CEO, Lisa Sellers, PhD, reflects on the highlights and major themes that defined the past year as we move forward to the next one.

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2022: A year marked by a big move, traditions old and new, and prevailing teamwork

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I always appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the highlights and major themes that defined the past year as we move forward to the next one. 2022 was a seminal year of change and growth for Vector Laboratories, but above all, it was a period defined by teamwork. I couldn’t be more excited to lead us into 2023, and I thank you all for your hard work and commitment to our organization. 

The Big Move 

As many of you may know, a physical move is a big undertaking.  After occupying one location for more than 45 years, imagine the work required of picking up and moving Vector Laboratories to a new space? Under the leadership of Pam James PhD, VP, Product, we accomplished this task in 2022. Pam’s thoughtful planning and implementation helped me to understand that moving a company is not as simple as deciding what to take, what to toss, and what to donate. Even the process of donating items is not easy in today’s environment. So, if you ever happen to need a referral for a non-profit that’s willing to accept koi fish, we have one for you!

Adding to the past year’s challenges, we contended with completing construction of our new site while navigating ongoing construction supply chain issues. It was a true test of patience, but we persevered. And lastly, against the backdrop of Vector Laboratories’ move into a newly constructed building, we succeeded in divesting from Maravai LifeSciences. In 2022, Vector Laboratories became a stand-alone, independent company. We are so grateful for the ongoing partnership with our investors, Thompson Street Capital Partners, and their support throughout this transition.    

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Traditions, New and Old  

In the month of May, we settled into our new facility where we received a warm welcome from the City of Newark. Today, we feel great pride in showing off our new site to candidates, visiting collaborators, and customers. Our company as a whole has enjoyed the opportunity to explore the local area and become more familiar with Newark’s restaurants and businesses. In 2022 we also partnered with three organizations that are active in the local community: the League of Volunteers, Alameda County Community Food Bank, and the Newark Educational Foundation. As a testament to our commitment to the local community, our employees used company-sponsored community service time to participate in the work of these nonprofits, as well as others, to give back to our new business community. 

Our Newark facility really started to feel like home as we enjoyed several celebrations in our new space. My favorite, so far, was the Halloween decorating contest. Our team members brought cheer to the office, with costumes and decorations honoring Harry Potter, Minecraft, Minions, Pokémon, and Mario. These past several weeks, as we entered the year-end holiday season, we resurrected old company traditions like the Thanksgiving feast served by the leadership team, fried turkey included. This month we launched the inaugural pipetting competition – an innovative event that will hopefully serve as a new tradition. I truly enjoy seeing our colleagues come together to celebrate traditions old and new, support one other, and enjoy the community we’ve created at Vector Laboratories.  

Thankful for our Team 

2022 was a year characterized by tremendous competition for talent – something experienced by all industries.  As I reflect on this particular challenge, I honestly believe that we paced ourselves strategically in hiring new employees and are now well positioned as we enter 2023.  It was the discipline to be patient and, more importantly, understand our value proposition as an employer and our organization’s core values that helped us navigate this past year. While we added many new team members, it was the completion of the executive team that I’m most proud of: Kum Ming Woo, VP of Operations; Vatea Herman, CFO; Kenny Drew, VP of Commercial; Jackie White, Executive Admin; Marina Martinez, HR Leader.  Together with Pam James and myself, I believe we are an executive team that is grounded in humility but driven to succeed.   

With so many major initiatives requiring much of my energy in 2022, I’m extremely grateful for our employees. Throughout this change, they have continued to stay focused on what we do well: delivering quality products to our customers day in and day out. As we look to 2023, I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year! 

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]]> Embracing change. Evolving direction. Emboldened new look. https://staging.vectorlabs.com/blog/embracing-change-evolving-direction-emboldened-new-look/ Wed, 16 Mar 2022 18:31:00 +0000 https://staging.vectorlabs.com/?p=3832 Like many other companies around the world, Vector Laboratories has looked inward during the last 2 years and spent time reflecting on its future and place in the scientific community. Change brings opportunity, and we embraced this. Today, we are excited to introduce our new look to you. Learn more about our new look from CEO, Lisa V Sellers, PhD.

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Embracing change. Evolving direction. Emboldened new look.

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Like many other companies around the world, Vector Laboratories has looked inward during the last 2 years and spent time reflecting on its future and place in the scientific community. Our story accelerated last September when I transitioned from COO to CEO of the company. In stepping into this new leadership role, I guided Vector Laboratories from its position working under a parent company to a stand-alone company. One of the key responsibilities I faced as CEO was to develop Vector Laboratories’ long-term plan to meet our business goals while supporting our customers. As a newly independent player in the bioscience sector, it was critical that I worked with our leadership team to both imagine and define where our company would fit moving forward. Our ultimate goal remains to support the scientific community in their need for high quality and reliable proteomic and glycomic products.  

As I wrote in my year-end blog last December, despite all the changes—and there have been many—much about our company has stayed the same. The fundamental strengths of Vector Laboratories that have driven us to be successful—our customers, our commitment to quality products, our dedication to supporting scientists to ultimately improve human health—have not and will not change. 

Change brings opportunity, and at Vector Laboratories we embraced this strategic direction as a way to reconnect with the scientific community. Today, we are excited to introduce our new look to you. We want to celebrate and establish Vector Laboratories as a new stand-alone company. A new brand look serves to call out this transition and invites the scientific community we so proudly serve to take notice.

We began our rebranding process by taking a careful look at our established Vector Laboratories logo and asking ourselves the question: how do we wish to connect with our customers? We recognized this as an opportunity to evolve the logo to reflect not only our personality, but also our plans for growth and future direction. Who knew that so much meaning could be suggested through the shape, size, and colors of the letters in our company name?

Next, we thought about our company mission, which was also recently updated. If you haven’t had a chance to review our mission statement, I’ll state it again here:

The mission of Vector Laboratories is to enable scientific progress, standing shoulder to shoulder with the scientific community with our trusted products and unmatched technical expertise, delivered with a can-do attitude and a culture of service.

 

Foundational to our new brand is our new company mission and our core values— the values that we instill in our work and act on every day. Our five core values are the basis for our decision-making, leadership, and culture. Most importantly, they reflect the weight we put on our relationships. People are fundamental to a thriving organization, and we are focused on cultivating strong and meaningful connections in the work we do every day.

Today I’m excited to reveal more about the look and feel of our new brand! This is an opportunity to celebrate with our community and our customers around the globe.

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Our new logo incorporates some core elements of our past. For example, it reflects the “V” that has been part of our 45+ years-long legacy of innovating proteomics and glycomics. As a means of emphasizing our passion and determination to deliver for our customers, we’ve introduced a vibrant purple, which also symbolizes our can-do attitude. Overall, the look and feel of our new logo is intended to invoke the big breakthroughs we’ve experienced and the barriers we’ve overcome to advance science.

I think it’s important to point out that Vector Laboratories’ new brand goes much deeper than appearance. I hope we all agree that it’s really about standing by our guiding principles and values as we help propel researchers and organizations around the world towards scientific advancement. Through a culture of service, reliable products, and unmatched technical expertise, we at Vector Laboratories are determined to deliver for the scientific community—so that they in turn, deliver positive change for our world.

On behalf of the whole company, we’re excited to continue this journey with you and to evolve our partnership.

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]]> Vector Laboratories: A look back at 2021 https://staging.vectorlabs.com/blog/vector-laboratories-a-look-back-at-2021/ Wed, 22 Dec 2021 18:38:00 +0000 https://staging.vectorlabs.com/?p=3843 Lisa V. Sellers, PhD, CEO of Vector Laboratories, reflects on the challenges of 2021 and the true north that is guiding us towards 2022 with enthusiasm.

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Vector Laboratories: A look back at 2021

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The true north that kept us steady

For so many companies around the world, 2021 proved to be a challenging year, and Vector Laboratories was no exception. Against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we rode the waves of change, learning a lot about ourselves on the journey. Through these stormy times, we found a “true north” that helped us stay the course and forge ahead. As we close out this year, we can be thankful for critical strengths inherent in our company that not only held us steady but should also propel us forward in 2022.

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Last year Vector Laboratories experienced the most significant changes ever in its 45-year history. When the year first began, our organization was rallying as a newly public company under Maravai LifeSciences. Having gone public only eight weeks prior, we were working to refine our strategic direction and focus on accelerating growth. Our new leadership team, while high performing, was still adjusting and evolving, and as the new Chief Operating Officer I felt honored to be at the helm of this amazing legacy called Vector Laboratories.

Heading into mid-year a remarkable opportunity arose, and I was invited to work on the eventual carve-out of Vector Laboratories from Maravai LifeSciences. Through deep diligence we gained insight into the incredible value this offered our organization and the potential we had to impact our customers. By fall we announced the pending sale, closed the transaction, and embarked on the process of transitioning Vector Laboratories back to a standalone company. The capital support of our new investors, Thompson Street Capital Partners, was pivotal in this opportunity. Throughout all the change we not only had to set the strategic vision for our new independent company, but also maintain the systems and processes necessary to keep us operating.

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These systems have been critical to the business in helping us run efficiently and effectively – they include industry standard tools such as Office 365, our customer relationship management software, and the financial system we use to operate the company.

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Another beacon of light this past year was our unwavering support for one another. As in any normal year we enjoyed the highs and employee celebrations with food trucks, outdoor BBQs and our usual donuts, bagels, and birthday treats. While we still implemented the necessary socially distant adjustments, we didn’t let that stop us from having fun. Yet we also continued to need each other because of the growing impact of COVID in our communities and on our families and friends. We supported each other emotionally as in some cases COVID took the lives of loved ones and created the kind of hardships many of us had never before experienced.

As we head into 2022 I’m committed to incorporating the lessons we learned about employee support as we shape our company’s mission and values.

In title, 2021 was a year of change for me personally. I started in January as Chief Operating Officer of Vector Laboratories, and I am ending the year as the Chief Executive Officer. I continue to learn every day in my new role and am excited to apply my knowledge as we move forward together. Yet, so much about our company has remained the same: our customers, our commitment to delivering quality products backed by personal care, and our drive to help partners bring their products to market through our expertise in bioconjugation, formulation and tissue analysis. We remain the same trusted company in ensuring that our partners’ tools are used to enhance scientific discovery and to ultimately improve human health.

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I hope that like me, you’re feeling enthusiastic to tackle 2022. Our leadership is excited to move forward faster than we ever have in realizing our strategic direction and accelerating our growth. I know I speak on behalf of all of us that we’re eager to move into our new headquarters next year. There’s something magical about moving into a fresh, new space and the way it can energize a team. Starting together in our own new headquarters makes us appreciate even more where we have been and where we are going. As we look to the year ahead we’re counting on calmer waters, a sense of rejuvenation, and ongoing recognition of the true north that helped Vector Laboratories thrive, despite the challenges of 2021.

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