Haley Gallagher

Role: Analyst II 

Team: Mighty Chondrias

In this month’s #TeamKC Spotlight, we showcase Haley Gallagher, Consultant on the MightyChondrias team at Karchem. Haley talks about her biopharmaceutical background, the power of a strong team, and how she dives deeper with clients and in her personal life.

---

Haley Gallagher’s Karchem journey started in a lab like many of her colleagues, but not as a traditional scientist. She studied mechanical engineering with a biomedical focus. An early career as a quality engineer built up her love of data management and gave her an appreciation for lab work. That took her to a data management opportunity at a small biotech company, and then finally to Karchem Consulting.  If you talk to Haley Gallagher about her job, one thing becomes clear immediately: she’s genuinely passionate about her work and the people behind it. Her journey to Karchem Consulting started with a strong interest in biopharmaceuticals during her undergraduate studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

During a five-year program, Haley took two semesters and worked full-time in R&D process development for gene and cell therapies. She worked at Regeneron and a biotech startup, Jounce Therapeutics, gaining hands-on experience in early-stage research and development while deepening her interest in the biopharmaceutical space. That work was also deeply personal.

“My aunt, at the time, had Triple-negative breast cancer with a BRCA1 mutation,” she said. “Working on breast cancer drugs was a really great way for me to deal with that. It gave me that positivity.” 

Haley then moved to North Carolina to pursue a graduate degree at UNC Chapel Hill and joined another startup, StrideBio. There, she worked in process development focused on adeno-associated virus (AAV) therapies. While she loved the science and thrived in a small, fast-paced team, she found herself increasingly drawn to how projects were organized, how data was managed, and how teams collaborated.

That curiosity ultimately led her toward the informatics side of the industry. With firsthand experience using platforms like Benchling, Haley began looking for a role that allowed her to stay close to the science while supporting teams in a broader, more strategic way. Karchem stood out immediately.

“The Karchem team is tight-knit, high performing and I’m excited to partner with each of them on projects. It really is the people that make it different,” she said. “Our clients can talk about their processes, and we don’t have to spend time researching. We know what they’re talking about and what follow-up questions to ask to ensure success.” 

Haley said a huge part of that success is developing a professional relationship with clients beyond the initial project and being able to see how biotechs can thrive with the proper systems and guidance, noting one of her clients was recently acquired, and another just submitted for an IND filing with the FDA to begin human clinical trials. 

“These are big milestones and it feels good to say we helped with that.” 

When she’s not busy pushing those clients toward success and offering a fresh perspective, Haley takes advantage of the freedom Karchem’s remote team offers her and enjoys being a rescue scuba diver, traveling to the Caribbean and uncovering interesting aquatic life. It’s a hobby Haley says stemmed from a fear. 

“I was always a little scared to dive, but just like the risk of leaving a lab space to join Karchem, I did it once and was hooked.” 

At her core, Haley brings a mix of scientific expertise, adventure, and curiosity to everything she does, making her an invaluable part of the Karchem team and a trusted partner to the clients she serves. 

Learn more about the Karchem Consulting team here.