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Eleonora-Tornatore-Mikesh
President and CEO of CaringKindEleonora Tornatore-Mikesh: A Dynamic Leader Transforming Alzheimer's Care & Senior Living
With nearly two decades of experience in senior living and health care, Eleonora Tornatore- Mikesh has revolutionized long-term care, residential living, and memory care centers throughout her illustrious career. As a former CEO of the Alzheimer's Association's Connecticut Chapter, Mrs. Tornatore-Mikesh achieved remarkable milestones during her 7.5 years at the helm. Under her transformative leadership, she more than doubled the organization's revenue and spearheaded statewide dementia training initiatives that reached over 140 facilities, all in collaboration with the Department of Labor.
Beyond her operational achievements, Eleonora has been a trailblazer in early-stage care. Her tenacious drive led to the creation of a statewide early-stage group while also securing much- needed funding for the state. Fully dedicated to enriching knowledge and improving industry standards, Eleonora held the position of chairperson at the Connecticut Assisted Living Association (CALA), where she developed an Executive Director course with a comprehensive, statewide curriculum.
Demonstrating a relentless pursuit of excellence, Mrs. Tornatore-Mikesh served as a representative for CALA on a Department of Public Health committee for seven years. There, she pursued crucial revisions of regulations for assisted living and contributed to the Institute of Senior Living Education.
Earning well-deserved recognition, Eleonora has been named to the 2022 City & State Health Care Power List 100 for the second consecutive year. This prestigious list honors key public health officials, hospital executives, labor leaders, and activists making a positive impact within the health care sector.
Currently, as President and CEO of CaringKind, Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh continues to break new ground in Alzheimer's caregiving. Her unwavering commitment to championing quality care, advancing education, and driving innovation makes her a true leader and visionary in her field.
Rana Al-Hallaq
Executive Director and Partner at Pfizer Ventures of PfizerRana Al-Hallaq, PhD is Executive Director and Partner at Pfizer Ventures. Rana leverages her preclinical, clinical, and business development experience to assess, invest in, and manage equity investments for Pfizer Ventures. She currently has responsibility for Pfizer’s investments in ReCode Therapeutics (Menlo Park, CA; Dallas, TX), Vivet Therapeutics (Paris, France), Mitokinin (San Francisco, CA), Autifony Therapeutics (Stevenage, UK), Blade Therapeutics (South San Francisco, CA), RefleXion Medical (Hayward, CA), Montis (Leuven, Belgium), Biograph55 (San Francisco, CA), Jnana Therapeutics (Boston, MA), Triplet Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA), Arkuda (Cambridge, MA), and the Dementia Discovery Fund (London, UK). Prior to her current role, Rana was a Transactionalist in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer where she was responsible for negotiating and transacting licenses, acquisitions, and partnerships across therapeutic areas. Rana joined Pfizer in 2015 as an Early Candidate Clinical Lead where she advised early clinical programs in CNS to ensure alignment with business strategies. Prior to joining Pfizer, she held roles at Allergan (formerly Actavis, formerly Forest Laboratories), first in Clinical Development Psychiatry as scientific and operational lead on Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies investigating novel treatments for Major Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia, and later in Business Development where she assessed and executed on a number of acquisitions and licenses across therapeutic areas. She began her training as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Biology from Hamilton College and holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University Medical Center.
Artavazd Arumov
Principal at Qiming Venture Partners USAArtavazd Arumov, PhD joined the Qiming US team in May 2021 and is based in the Cambridge, MA office.
Prior to joining Qiming US, Artavazd held numerous roles across the life sciences. He led business development and therapeutic strategy for early-stage biotech Redesign Science. Prior to Redesign Science, he completed doctorate training at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. He also spent time in clinical research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he was responsible for the end-to-end management and operations of a portfolio of breast cancer sponsored and investigator initiated phase I/II clinical trials.
Artavazd completed his PhD in Cancer Biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research focused on the development and advancement of novel precision therapeutics for use in lymphoma and the study of fundamental drug resistance mechanisms. He currently serves as an entrepreneur in residence for U Innovation’s Coulter Center for Translational Research. He also holds a B.S. in Biology from Brooklyn’s St. Francis College.
Arunabha Bhoumik
Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Arun Bhoumik is Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading biotechnology company in Tarrytown, NY. At Regeneron, Arun oversees all general litigation and government investigations, including investigations and litigation against the Department of Justice and other regulators, commercial disputes, securities and shareholder litigation, antitrust litigation, regulatory litigation, product liability matters, and other disputes.
Prior to joining Regeneron, Arun was the Head of Litigation and Chief Compliance Officer of Time Inc., and a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phelps LLP. Earlier in his career, Arun was a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division, Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington DC. Arun started his career as an associate at Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, and a law clerk to Judge Stephen C. Robinson, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Grant Cale
Senior Director of Strategic Alliances and Issue Advocacy at Bristol Myers Squibb CompanyGrant Cale is the Senior Director of Strategic Alliances and Issue Advocacy at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he leads the State Strategic Alliance Team. In this pivotal role, Grant and his team are dedicated to building and cultivating meaningful relationships with stakeholders and partners to shape public policy that is mutually beneficial. Their efforts support an environment conducive to innovation and ensure access to innovative medicines.
Grant's journey with Bristol Myers Squibb began in 1990, marking the start of a career spanning over three decades. Throughout his tenure, he has held a variety of influential positions within the company, including roles in sales, leadership, sales training, operations, market access, state government affairs and Alliance Development. Each position has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and the intricacies of public policy and advocacy.
In his current capacity, Grant's leadership is instrumental in driving strategic initiatives that align with Bristol Myers Squibb's mission and values. His team works tirelessly to engage with a variety of stakeholders to foster an environment that promotes innovation and patient access to essential medicines. Their collaborative efforts are crucial in navigating the complex landscape of healthcare policy and ensuring that the voices of patients and providers are heard.
Beyond his professional responsibilities, Grant is deeply committed to supporting the veteran community. He serves as a Region Chapter Lead for the BMS Veterans Community Network (VCN), where he plays a key role in fostering a supportive community for veterans within the organization. Additionally, Grant is a mentor through the American Corporate Partners Program (ACP), providing one-on-one mentorship to veterans transitioning to civilian careers. His dedication to mentoring reflects his broader commitment to service and leadership. Grant also serves as a Board Member of the Missouri Biotechnology Association.
Grant's academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis in Marketing from Illinois State University. His educational foundation, combined with his extensive professional experience, has equipped him with the skills and insights necessary to navigate the dynamic landscape of healthcare policy and advocacy.
Tingting Zhang-Kharas
Head of JLABS US Northeast at Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JLABS)Tingting has responsibility for all aspects of the JLABS in US Northeast (including NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia), as well as supporting the broader ecosystem through external presence and partnerships. She is responsible for sourcing and leading diligence for JLABS applicants and prospective companies in alignment with J&J focus areas to ensure strategic fit. She collaborates with the broader JJI team to enable partnerships between J&J and JLABS companies to strengthen the innovation pipeline.
Tingting joined the JLABS team from IPSEN, where she managed the Oncology External Innovation team as a Senior Director, leading the team to identify and assess global business development opportunities in the oncology field. Prior to IPSEN, Tingting held key roles in the Oncology Search and Evaluation team at Loxo Oncology at Eli Lilly, where she spearheaded the evaluation of a variety of oncology companies and assets for partnering and venture capital investment considerations, and managed academic research collaborations, leading to multiple in-licensing, out-licensing, and acquisition deals. In her earlier career, Tingting had extensive experience in biopharma consulting at Navigant as a Senior Consultant and in technology transfer and business development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as a Licensing Manager.
With an exceptional track record throughout her past roles, Tingting is passionate about identifying and supporting innovations in the life science industry, particularly within the NYC region. She received her Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard University and Bachelor of Medical Sciences from Peking University Health Science Center.
Raj Chopra
CEO of Aethon TherapeuticsRaj Chopra is acting Chief Executive Officer of Aethon Therapeutics. He is also Head of Oncology and a Venture Partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP). Raj brings to Aethon extensive experience leading cancer research and development in academia and industry. At The Institute of Cancer Research in London, as director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, he led one of the largest academic drug discovery groups in the world and focused on targeted protein degradation and complex 3D cell culture models. Raj also worked at Celgene from 2009 to 2016 as corporate vice president of Translational and Early Drug Development, leading an international team of more than 100 scientists. Before joining Celgene, he held leadership positions in AstraZeneca’s Oncology Therapeutics group in the UK and US.
Raj started his academic career as the director of Hematological Oncology at Christie Hospital and was group leader at the Paterson Institute of Cancer Research, both located in Manchester, UK. He was a non-executive director of Artios Pharma, established to develop a next-generation DNA damage response target pipeline of cancer therapeutics, and co-founder of Monté Rosa Therapeutics, a biotech focused on targeted protein degradation.
Raj trained in medicine at University College London, where he earned his Ph.D. in medicine, cell and molecular biology. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Royal College of Pathologists, and the Royal Society of Biology.
John Crowley
President and CEO of BIOJohn F. Crowley is the President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the world’s largest biotechnology advocacy organization. Crowley, a longtime BIO board member, was most recently the Founder and Executive Chairman of Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company focusing on developing treatments for rare genetic diseases. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Amicus from 2005 to 2022.
John’s decades of biotech experience and deep passion for the field have made him a strong supporter of policies that empower innovation, enable entrepreneurship, and put people and patients first. His involvement with biotechnology stems from the 1998 diagnosis of two of his children with Pompe disease—a severe and often fatal neuromuscular disorder.
John and his family have been profiled by The Wall Street Journal and are the subjects of a book by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Geeta Anand, “The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million-And Bucked the Medical Establishment-In a Quest to Save His Children.” The 2010 major motion picture, Extraordinary Measures, starring Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford and Keri Russell, is inspired by the Crowley family journey. John is also the author of a personal memoir: “Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope, and Joy.”
Michelle Drayton
VP for Health Equity at United Way of New York CityMichelle Drayton, RN, MPH is the VP for Health Equity at the United Way of New York City. She is responsible for leading program, strategy and development and implementation of the health equity community impact department. Ms. Drayton is responsible for establishing new programs that improve community-based access to primary health and social services for vulnerable populations, including Connect2Care, the Preventative Access Program, and leading the New York Choose Healthy Life program, a faith-based initiative designed to address the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting access to care. Voted a “ Rising Star” in 2024 by Modern Healthcare, and one of 25 most influential women in business in 2010, Michelle Drayton, was the visionary and co- founder of Today’s Child Communications, a health marketing and communications firm, and has over 25 years of public speaking and program development experience. Mrs. Drayton holds a master’s degree in public health from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Science in nursing. She also holds certificates in executive management and public policy from Columbia University’s School of Business and the Center for Women in Government, respectively, and has studied publishing at New York University. A well-respected, high-profile expert in the maternal/child health field, she has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Good Day New York, Here and Now, Reader’s Digest, Insight Magazine, Healthy Start National News, WBLS and WLIB, and The Medical Herald, and has been published in the book “Helping the Hard-Core Smoker Quit.” The former founding director of Healthy Start/NYC, she spearheaded a campaign that raised over $40 million in support of the organization’s mission to reduce infant mortality. Ms. Drayton has successfully garnered governmental and private sponsorships supporting national health conferences sponsored by her firm. She is a national speaker on issues concerning health and wellness, health equity, program design, and health disparities. Ms. Drayton was named a “Phenomenal Women,” by Emmis Communications.
Amir Golan
Vice President, Radioligand Therapy (RLT) Platform at NovartisAmir Golan is Vice President, Radioligand Therapy (RLT) Platform, Novartis USA, and a part of the US Oncology General Management Team.
In his role, Amir is responsible to maintain short and long term success for the Radioligand Therapy platform enablers. This includes patient and healthcare provider access as well as service and availability. In addition, Amir is responsible for Lutathera and for Locametz and Netspot. Prior to this role Amir led Novartis engagement with regional payers and health systems and served as the head of strategy for the pharmaceuticals US division
Prior to joining Novartis Amir was a consultant at McKinsey and Company and worked at Google. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
He is currently based at Novartis office in East Hanover, NJ.
Johanna Grossman
Healthcare & Life Science Capital Markets at NYSEJohanna Grossman, PhD, is the Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences Capital Markets at NYSE Group, a part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE). Johanna is responsible for attracting new listings from companies within the healthcare and life sciences industry. She advises companies, private equity and venture capital firms, investment bankers and other key stakeholders on the IPO landscape, NYSE initiatives and listing venue selection. Prior to joining the NYSE, Johanna was Head of Healthcare at GLG, where she was responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the firm’s healthcare practice in the U.S. In this role, Johanna led a team of content and client service professionals responsible for organizing live meetings and managing client diligence engagements across all sectors of healthcare. Johanna earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry at Yale University. She also holds a master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from Yale University and a B.S. in Chemistry from Florida International University.
Jennifer Hawks Bland
Chief Executive Officer at NewYorkBIOJennifer Hawks Bland is the Chief Executive Officer of NewYorkBIO. Prior to joining NewYorkBIO, Ms. Bland was an Executive Director in the State Government Affairs & Policy group at Merck. She has also held government affairs positions at GlaxoSmithKline and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the 136-year old trade association representing manufacturers of over-the- counter medicines. Ms. Bland previously was an associate with the Jackson, MS law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens, & Cannada, PLLC where she principally practiced in the area of products liability litigation. Before entering the practice of law, she worked for six years for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (RMiss.). Ms. Bland is a member of both the District of Columbia and Mississippi Bar Associations. She also has extensive volunteer experience and is currently the PTA co-president of her child’s school and sits on the Board of the Pelham Art Center. Ms. Bland currently resides in Pelham, New York with her husband, R. Trabue Bland and their two sons.
Claire Judkins
Patient Advocacy & Industry Relations Senior Liaison at Acadia PharmaceuticalsClaire is has worked in the Biopharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years. Since joining Acadia Pharmaceuticals in 2016, Claire has served in multiple capacities within the commercial organization .
For the past three years she has served in Corporate Affairs as Advocacy & Industry Relations Senior Liaison for the East, partnering with families and organizations to bring education, awareness, and support for the entire Acadia portfolio.
Claire is committed to listening to families and patient organizations to partner and create solutions. “People don’t care how much you know; until they know how much you care.”
Seema Kumar
CEO of Cure by DeerfieldSeema Kumar joined Cure Experience in 2022 as the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Cure, Ms. Kumar spent nearly 20 years at Johnson & Johnson in senior leadership roles, including most recently as the Global Head, Office of Innovation, Global Health and Scientific Engagement, and served on J&J’s Innovation Strategy, Public health leadership and the COVID-19 vaccine steering committee, where she led the company’s external affairs efforts and public education program on COVID and vaccine literacy. Before her tenure at J&J, Ms. Kumar was the Chief of Staff to Dr. Eric Lander and the Chief Communications Officer at the Whitehead Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Genome Research where she played a leadership role in the Human Genome Project. She also has held leadership positions at the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institutes of Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Ms. Kumar holds an M.S. in Science Journalism and Communications from the University of Maryland.
Anne Li
Partner at Crowell & Moring LLPWhen biotech innovations and licenses lead to conflict—or companies need advice avoiding it—
companies trust Anne Li for outside-the-box strategies. She represents clients whose groundbreaking
products and services raise complex legal questions at the nexus of competitors and collaborators,
including those times when one shifts to the other. She has significant experience in the biotech,
pharma, life sciences, and medical device sectors, handling high-stakes litigation in patent, trade secret,
and licensing disputes.
Anne frequently advises biotech, biologics, pharmaceutical, medical device, and technology companies
on all aspects of intellectual property law—patents, trade secrets, unfair competition, trademarks,
contract disputes, and licenses. Her goal is always to reach a good business resolution. But when that is
not possible, she zealously advocates for her clients in district court, at the International Trade
Commission, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or anywhere the case takes her. She has
successfully represented companies in bet-the-company litigations, often scoring key wins long before
trial, resulting in favorable settlements.
Companies rely on Anne to help them navigate the intersection of intellectual property and business
because she provides in-house counsel with patent, unfair competition, and trade secret advice that is
practical and actionable. She takes time to learn a client’s business—from biotech startups to
multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical companies and everything in between—so she can help them develop
bespoke strategies that work for their unique situations.
Clients also appreciate Anne’s ability to match legal strategies with their risk tolerance and business
objectives. Her approach is informed by her commitment to developing long-standing relationships with
in-house counsel and her knowledge of the industry and related technologies.
Anne is co-chair of Crowell’s Life Sciences Practice Group and a member of the Pro Bono Committee.
Clark Lin
Partner, Patents and Innovations at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & RosatiDr. Clark Y. Lin is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's New York office. He practices intellectual property law, with an emphasis on patent prosecution, general intellectual property counseling, and intellectual property litigation. Clark focuses on developing, managing, and leveraging global patent portfolios for life science companies. His patent expertise includes the fields of immunotherapies, specialty pharmaceuticals, antibody and protein therapeutics, gene therapies, cell therapies, CRISPR gene editing and RNA therapies. With experience in over 20 issuer-side public offerings, Clark also assists life science companies through the IPO process from an intellectual property perspective
Linda Malek
Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP
Jonathan Mandelbaum
Vice President at OrbiMedJonathan joined OrbiMed in 2020 and is currently a Vice President on the Private Equity team. Prior to OrbiMed, Jonathan worked at Accelerator Life Science Partners where he focused on biopharmaceutical company creation. Previously, he worked as a research scientist in the oncology drug discovery unit at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Jonathan received a Bachelor in Science from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Studies from Columbia University.
Sean McClain
Founder and CEO of AbsciSean McClain is the Founder and CEO of Absci, a leading generative AI drug discovery company with a mission to create better biologics for patients, faster. Absci's platform merges cutting-edge generative AI models with proprietary high-throughput wet-lab data to unlock differentiated biology with AI. Sean scaled Absci from a basement lab to 200 employees, raised over $530M in capital, established a growing number of industry-leading partnerships (including with Merck, AstraZeneca and NVIDIA), and developed an internal portfolio of AI discovered drug assets including ABS-101, a potential best-in-class anti-TL1A antibody designed and optimized using generative AI.
Chris McGee
Vice President & Program Management Group Lead for Internal Medicine and Anti-Infectives at PfizerChris has 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He is currently Vice President & Program Management Group Lead for Internal Medicine and Anti-Infectives at Pfizer, spanning development from Preclinical through LOE. In prior roles at Pfizer, Chris led groups in both Decision Analysis and development pipeline Portfolio Management. His background also includes new product planning, market analytics, brand marketing, and sales. Chris has an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
Glennis Mehra
Managing Director of Biolabs-NYULangoneGlennis Mehra, PhD, is an entrepreneur and investor with extensive experience in biotechnology and innovation translation across various sectors. As Director of BioLabs@NYULangone, New York City's largest early-stage life science incubator, she supports the growth of cutting-edge life sciences startups. Among her entrepreneurial experience, which spans creating drug discovery platforms and healthcare, is Pelex, a company focused on noninvasive treatments for pelvic floor disorders. She has utilized her startup background to develop and lead innovative strategies and acquisitions for global companies. Leveraging her boundary-spanning expertise, she bridges industries to drive breakthroughs. She also serves on the NYC Economic Development Council Life Sciences Advisory Council, advocating for diversity and inclusion in biotech.
Ben Mumford
Senior Licensing Manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterBen Mumford is a Senior Licensing Manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he evaluates and develops commercialization strategies for life science technologies focused on oncology. In his current role, he manages partnering efforts of an expansive intellectual property portfolio and the Technology Development Fund, an in-house gap funding program focused on increasing the commercial potential of MSK proprietary technologies.
Previously, Ben engineered next-generation CAR-T therapies for solid and liquid tumors at Cellectis and optimized novel drug target identification platforms at Inzen Therapeutics. He holds an M.S. in Biotechnology from New York University and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas.
Michael Oshinsky
Program Director of NIH/NINDSDr. Oshinsky received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology & Behavior from Cornell University and as an NIH sponsored postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, he trained in neuropharmacology and neuromodulation. He was on the faculty in the Department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) from 2001-2014. At TJU, he was the Director of Preclinical Research at the Jefferson Headache Center and led an NIH funded research program aimed at developing and characterizing animal models of headache. In 2011, Dr. Oshinsky was awarded the Harold G. Wolff Award for headache research.
Since 2014, Dr. Oshinsky has led NIH’s efforts to develop new treatments that have little or no liability for addiction. He is currently the Director of the Office is Preclinical Pain research at NINDS and in his role as co-Chair of NIH HEAL Initiative he manage ~$300M in pain research projects.
Rick Otis
Rett Advocate and Father to BarrettRick is father to 3-year-old Barrett, who was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome just before his first birthday. Rick and his wife, Alyssa, reside in Troy, NY and are parents to four beautiful children, Ricky, William, Annalise and Barrett.
Rick and Alyssa co-founded the International Rett Syndrome Foundation sponsored Barrett Otis Fund for Males with Rett Syndrome, helping underserved males who suffer from Rett. They also co-founded the Upstate NY chapter of Reverse Rett, raising funds for Rett Syndrome Research Trust to research a cure for Rett Syndrome.
Rick has advocated for Rett Syndrome in both the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. He assisted Assemblyman John McDonald and Senator Neil Breslin in their resolution proclaiming October 2023, as Rett Syndrome Awareness Month in the State of New York.
Dr. Marco Pappagallo
Pain Physician and Developer of Pain TherapeuticsMarco Pappagallo earned his medical degree with highest honors in Rome, Italy. After his residency in neurology at SUNY, Stony Brook, he completed a 3yr-clinical & research pain fellowship at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD. Thereafter he became faculty member of the Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology and Medical Director of Chronic Pain at Hopkins. Later he moved to NYC where he was director of Neurology & Pain Medicine at the Hospital for Joint Diseases and Associate Professor of Neurology at New York University NY. In 2006 he became full Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of Pain Medicine Research at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, NYC.
In 2012 Dr Pappagallo founded the Pain and Neurorestoration Medical Center in Manhattan NY. He created a medical home for the management of patients affected by chronic pain and neurodegenerative diseases.
In 2014 he was named Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
Dr. Marco Pappagallo has been the Primary Investigator for a host of NIH and industry grants. Dr Pappagallo has been a scientific advisory board member to several biopharma companies and consultant to the US Department of Defense. He was granted five US / international patents for novel treatment approaches in the field of chronic pain.
From 2010-2012, Dr Pappagallo acted as Chief Medical Officer for Novapharm Therapeutics, a US based startup biotech company with a patient centric drug discovery and repurposing portfolio that focused on CNS disorders. He was instrumental in securing an ex-US pharmaceutical compound for the US market and subsequently the compound’s orphan drug designation for the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).
From 2012 – 2017, Dr Marco Pappagallo provided medical and scientific expertise to Grünenthal – USA, a privately held German pharma company. He supported early clinical development programs in CNS and Rare Diseases. He was a key-member of the think- tank task force (“DRIVE” ) to create IP for business opportunities and conceived a novel medical device for the treatment of pain due to a neglected pain condition in women. He was also instrumental in creating the Grünenthal US and global network with patients advocacy groups. He led annual advisory boards and patient centric symposia with patients and professional KOLs
From 2018 – 2020 Dr Pappagallo was Chief Medical Officer of CerSci Therapeutics, a start-up company based in Dallas, TX; he directed the phase 1 studies of CT-044, a peripherally acting analgesic. Dr Pappagallo supported CerSci during the company successful sale process that led to its acquisition by Acadia Pharmaceuticals.
From Jan 2021 – to Jan 2023 he was Chief Medical Officer at Relmada Therapeutics, a late-stage pharma company with focus on CNS diseases therapies. The lead candidate is esmethadone (REL- 1017), an NMDA receptor antagonist that preferentially targets pathologically hyperactive NMDA receptors associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Dr. Pappagallo was instrumental in leading and conducting to completion of twelve REL-1017 clinical trials, including two successful human-abuse-potential pivotal studies. As CMO at Relmada, Dr Pappagallo supported the R&D of psylocibin and its derivatives and contributed to design of clinical trial protocols for novel therapeutic indications.
Amy Paulin
Assemblywoman at New York State AssemblyAssembly Member Amy Paulin has served the 88th New York State Assembly District (Scarsdale, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Pelham Manor, and parts of New Rochelle and White Plains) since 2001.
A full-time legislator, Assembly Member Paulin annually ranks among the state’s most productive and successful lawmakers. Over 350 of her bills have been signed into law to date. Her diverse legislative agenda includes health care, education, reproductive rights, child welfare, support for families, domestic violence prevention, sex trafficking elimination, government reform, sustainability, animal welfare, and gun control. She served as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Energy from 2013-2017, working to encourage renewable energy and ensure our electricity grid is reliable, and as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions from 2018-2022, where she championed expanded broadband access, public transportation, and utility resiliency. She currently chairs the Assembly Committee on Health.
Assembly Member Paulin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, holds a Master’s degree, and has completed doctoral course work in Criminal Justice from SUNY-Albany. For over forty years she and her husband, Ira Schuman, have lived in Scarsdale, where they raised their children, Beth, Sarah, and Joey.
Dr. Robert Popovian
Founder of Conquest AdvisorsDr. Robert Popovian is the Founder of the strategic consulting firm Conquest Advisors. He also serves as
Chief Science Policy Officer at the Global Healthy Living Foundation, Senior Healthy Policy Fellow at the
Progressive Policy Institute, and Visiting Health Policy Fellow at the Pioneer Institute. He previously
served as Vice President, U.S. Government Relations at Pfizer.
One of the country’s foremost experts on every significant facet of biopharmaceuticals and the
healthcare industry, he is a recognized authority on health economics, policy, government relations,
medical affairs, and strategic planning.
Dr. Popovian has published extensively and referenced on the impact of biopharmaceuticals and health
policies on costs and clinical outcomes in the most prominent medical sources and media publications,
including the Clinical Economics and Outcomes Research, The Oncologist, Journal of Vaccines and
Vaccinations, Journal of American Pharmacists Association, Health Science Journal, USA Today,
Washington Examiner, Managed Healthcare Executive, and The Hill. He is also a sought-after speaker
and has been invited to provide detailed presentations, briefings, and expert reviews for the U.S.
Congress and dozens of state legislatures, as well as at conferences and medical symposiums
throughout the country and worldwide.
Dr. Popovian is one of the select few researchers to study and publish clinical and policy-related
economic analysis and empirical data regarding emerging payment models in the U.S. healthcare system
and for biopharmaceutical reimbursement. His insight and analysis also led to one of the first inclusions
of health outcomes data in a labeled indication of a biopharmaceutical.
Dr. Popovian serves on the Board of Councilors of the University of Southern California School of
Pharmacy, is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Pharmacy at Rutgers, and is an
advisor to the Value of Life Sciences Innovation program at the Schaeffer Institute.
Dr. Popovian completed his Doctorate in Pharmacy and Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Economics
and Policy degrees with honors at the University of Southern California. He has also completed a
residency in Pharmacy Practice/Adult Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Los Angeles
County-USC Hospital and a fellowship in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy at USC.
Robert and his family reside in Los Angeles, CA, and Alexandria, VA.
Chris Potts
CEO of Monarch TherapeuticsChris Potts is a leader in developing and commercializing advanced therapies. With well over a decade of experience at the forefront of innovation strategy and monetization of intellectual property assets, Chris has built and led intellectual property departments at publicly traded, multinational companies and at small biotech. Currently, Chris is the CEO of Monarch Therapeutics, Inc. a startup adoptive therapy company spinning out of the University of Pittsburgh that is focused on developing therapies for solid tumors. Monarch’s lead candidate is directed to ovarian cancer and is in pre-clinical development. Additionally, Chris is Principal at Reservoir Studios LLP, a company formation studio that is focused on bringing life-saving innovation to patients.
Liz Pujolas
Director of State Government Affairs at AmgenMs. Pujolas is Director of State Government Affairs for Amgen. Amgen is a worldwide pioneer in biotechnology. Amgen’s mission is to serve patients through the discovery, development and delivery of transformative medicines that address the leading causes of death and disability.
Across her twenty plus career with bio pharma Ms. Pujolas secured patient access to care, increased state policy leaders’ awareness of the value of innovative therapies and launched first in class disease modifying interventions.
Liz started with MedImmune advocating for pediatric patients, establishing parent advocacy networks and school-based influenza vaccination programs. After MedImmune-AstraZeneca Liz joined Biogen building their headquarter presence across Massachusetts and patient access to several new products including the first intervention for spinal muscular atrophy.
Originally from Buffalo, NY Ms. Pujolas honed her political and legislative skills as a staffer in the New York State Senate. Ms. Pujolas has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University College at Cortland and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Public Policy from SUNY Binghamton. She lives in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
Dr. Elena Rios
President at National Hispanic Health FoundationDr. Rios, a distinguished Medical Doctor with a Master’s of Science in Public Health, Master of the American College of Physicians, has received multiple national and international awards for her outstanding contributions to health equity. Dr. Rios started her career in 1992 as a policy advisor for the State of California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development; in 1993 for the White House Health Care Reform Team, where she met physicians to establish the NHMA and NHHF; and in 1994 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. After 30 years of dedicated service part-time at NHMA and NHHF, shaping their mission and impact, Dr. Rios is now focusing all her efforts on leading NHHF's initiatives. She started the Hispanic Physician Leadership Fellowship that has resulted in hundreds of Hispanic physician leaders serving in the public and private sectors. Rios earned her BA from Stanford University, MSPH and MD from UCLA School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency from Santa Clara and White Memorial Hospitals, and her NIH NRSA Primary Care Research Fellowship from UCLA Department of Medicine.
Jonathan Schulhof
Executive Vice President, Innovation Industries at NYCEDCJon has 20 years of investment experience in venture capital and private equity serving as co-founder and CEO of FootPrint Coalition Ventures, a VC firm with 26 investments in sustainable technology companies; and GTI Capital Group, an India focused private equity firm.
He previously started and monetized several VC backed sustainable tech companies including ColdWatt (sold to Flex), Glori Energy (IPO on Nasdaq), and Motivate, operator of Citibike (sold to Lyft).
In addition to his cleantech work, Jon is a technology angel investor. He serves on the Board of Saturn Technologies, FootPrint Coalition Ventures, and GTI Capital Group, as well as the Urban Resiliency Board for the New York City Partnership. Jon holds a law degree from Stanford and attended Dartmouth College.
Marc Sedam
Vice President, Technology Opportunities & Ventures at New York UniversityMarc Sedam serves as Vice President, Technology Opportunities and Ventures (TOV) for NYU Langone Health and New York University, joining in 2021. Marc has over 30 years’ experience as an inventor, biotech COO, and university technology commercialization leader. Sedam is internationally recognized as an expert in the fields of innovation commercialization, early-stage startup support, regional ecosystem development, technology transfer, and innovation policy, and has testified before Congress on the importance of strong and reliable IP laws.
As Vice President, Marc leads the innovation and commercialization enterprise for NYU’s $1.3bn in annual research expenditures. TOV has a staff of 40 professionals covering search and evaluation, intellectual property protection, licensing, and startup creation. NYU has over 1,500 patents under management, has created over 250 startup companies since the TTO was launched. Marc also manages over $4M in translational research funding, as well as a captive $25M venture fund on behalf of NYU Langone Health; the fund invests in startup opportunities that have the potential to positively impact human health.
Prior to NYU, he was Vice Provost for Innovation and New Ventures and Managing Director of UNHInnovation. At UNH Marc led the creation and execution (in under 100 days) of a nationally-leading COVID screening lab which processed 100,000 tests each month and was critical to continuing in‐person education and on‐campus operations for the university during the pandemic.
In addition to his position with NYU, Marc is a Past Chair of AUTM, the global nonprofit leader in efforts to educate, promote and inspire professionals to support the development of academic research; was the founding director of the Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center at UNH; and was the Principal Investigator of UNH’s NSF I‐Corps Site. Sedam also served as Chief Operating Officer of Qualyst, Inc., the scientific leader in the study of pharmaceutically relevant drug transport interactions (acquired in 2017 by BioIVT). He previously served as Associate Director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s TTO and as a research scientist for National Starch and Chemical Company (now Ingredion).
Sedam holds a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School with a focus on entrepreneurship and new ventures.
Squire Servance
Founder and Managing Partner of Syridex BioSquire is the Founder & Managing Partner of Syridex Bio. Prior to founding Syridex Bio, he served as SVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Repligen Corporation, a bioprocessing-focused life sciences company. At Repligen, Squire led the legal, corporate secretary, compliance and enterprise risk functions as well as counseled the company’s Board of Directors and senior management. He also served on Repligen’s environmental, social, and corporate governance committee. Squire joined Repligen from Baxter International, Inc. where he led the global legal team supporting their multi-billion-dollar global pharmaceuticals business. Prior to joining Baxter, Squire worked in a variety of settings including as a Director providing legal support to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories business development team and as a life sciences attorney with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
Squire received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and M.B.A. with a concentration in corporate finance and a Certificate in Health Sector Management from Duke University, Fuqua School of Business. He received his B.S., with honors, with a double major in biomedical engineering and cell biology and neuroscience from Rutgers University, School of Engineering.
Adi Shah
Partner at PwCAdi Shah is a Partner in PwC's Clinical R&D practice, specializing in driving operational performance and innovation across Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences R&D. With over 15 years of experience, Adi advises senior executives on shaping emerging capabilities, architecting strategic operating models, and deploying accelerators to deliver impactful outcomes in R&D. His focus on operational excellence helps organizations optimize their R&D functions, enhance efficiency, and leverage digital technologies for transformative growth.
Adi’s expertise spans multiple functional areas, including strategy and business planning, project and portfolio management, R&D governance, organization redesign, resource management, finance, clinical operations, and data analytics. He is particularly passionate about the integration of AI and analytics to predict operational outcomes, allowing organizations to make data-driven decisions that enhance productivity and innovation in R&D.
Jim Sliney Jr
Director of Patient Outreach at Patients RisingJim Sliney Jr is a registered medical assistant, a board certified patient advocate, and a writer. He is the chief patient officer at Patients Rising and the Patient Helpline Foundation, where he and other complex chronically ill patients provide direct support to patients regardless of location (within the US) or diagnosis. Jim is also an instructor in the Patient Learning Center where he helps patients tell their stories, advance their health literacy, and foster good advocacy skills. His guiding philosophy is that patients are people first, and should be treated with dignity, and pursue their dreams first, as they also care for their health challenges. Jim is a native New Yorker, raised in the Bronx
Cindy Steinberg
National Director of Policy and Advocacy at U.S. Pain FoundationCindy Steinberg is the National Director of Policy and Advocacy for the U.S. Pain Foundation and Policy Council Chair for the Massachusetts Pain Initiative. She is a nationally prominent and articulate spokesperson for the needs of people living with pain. She has been interviewed in print, radio, television, podcasts, websites and social media including NPR’s All Things Considered and Marketplace, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, WCVB’s News Center 5, WHDH’s Channel 7 Urban Update, Boston’s NBC affiliate, WBZ News Radio, WBUR Boston, the Boston local CBS affiliate, I am BIO and ABCNews.com. She has authored Op-Ed’s that have appeared in the Huffington Post, the Boston Sunday Globe and WBUR’s CommonHealth Blog. Her dedication to pain advocacy was sparked when she sustained a severe crush injury, more than 20 years ago, that left her with daily back pain.
Ms. Steinberg has won numerous awards for her pain policy and advocacy accomplishments. She was awarded the 2024 American Academy of Pain Medicine Patient Advocacy Award for her commitment, contribution and leadership in the field of Pain Medicine, the 2021 American Massage Therapy Association President’s Award for her advocacy for access to therapeutic massage and other integrative modalities for individuals with chronic pain, the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 2017 Presidential Commendation Award for leadership on behalf of individuals living with pain, the Grunenthal Unsung Hero Award for significant contributions to advance public policy in pain management as well as the social awareness of pain and suffering, the American Pain Foundation's Presidential Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of pain management and the State Pain Initiative Champion Award from the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives for her pain policy accomplishments. Ms. Steinberg was selected as one of six leaders in the field of pain management to receive the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship for 2013-2014.
In 2015, she was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to serve on his Opioid Working Group and subsequently Governor Baker appointed her to be a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Drug Formulary Commission. At the federal level, she has served on the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC), a high-ranking pain policy oversight committee chaired by the NIH. In 2018, Ms. Steinberg was appointed by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, to serve on the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force created by Congress and was the only patient and pain advocate appointed to the panel. In February of 2019, Ms. Steinberg was invited to testify before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee at a hearing on “Managing Pain During the Opioid Crisis”.
In 2000, she founded the Boston-area/Arlington, Massachusetts Chronic Pain Support Group which she has led monthly, continuously all year around for 24 years. The group has introduced more than 600 chronic pain sufferers to positive ways to manage their lives despite their pain. Ms. Steinberg is a Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in education.
David Stockel
Senior Vice President at CBRE, Inc.David Stockel joined CBRE in February 2018 as a Senior Vice President in the Midtown Manhattan office. He is responsible for advising and representing tenants and owners in the office and life science sectors. David joined CBRE after working at Transwestern, where he was recognized as a top producing broker and invited to the National Recognition Conference each year he was there.
Prior to his time at Transwestern, David worked at Cushman & Wakefield, where he advised a variety of national and international tenants and owners. He received a variety of awards including the Vincent J. Peters Award for Excellence. Earlier in his career, he was awarded S.L. Green’s “Rookie of the Year” award.
Lauren Stopfer
Executive Director of Proteomics & Innovation at Aethon TherapeuticsLauren Stopfer is Executive Director of Proteomics & Innovation at Aethon Therapeutics, focused on building and applying advanced, mass spectrometry-based workflows to support the identification and validation of novel MHC-I antigens within the HapImmune™ platform. Prior to joining Aethon, Lauren worked at BioNTech as a member of the Proteomics team, establishing specialized immunopeptidomics workflows to identify and quantify MHC-I targets for oncology and infectious disease programs.
Lauren received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was named a Siebel Scholar. Her thesis work focused on developing mass spectrometry-based platforms to enable relative and absolute quantitative measurements of the MHC peptidome, helping establish “quantitative immunopeptidomics” as an emerging field of research.
Jenny Tesler
ProducerJenny Tesler (Producer) previously worked in Family Support at Girl Power 2 Cure, a non-profit organization supporting families dealing with Rett Syndrome. While at Girl Power 2 Cure, Jenny was tasked with encouraging and supporting families by creating and curating online content, such as blogs, social media posts and writing and editing articles for the organization’s quarterly magazine. Prior to Girl Power 2 Cure, Jenny has written about their experience with Rett Syndrome for a variety of online publications such as Kveller, Today.com and Yahoo!, as well as the family's own online journal (magnoliashope.com). Additionally, she has served as the festival director for the world's longest running independent tv festival (Catalyst Content Festival).
Keisha Thomas
Senior Director of Early Innovation Partnering at Johnson & Johnson InnovationKeisha is a Senior Director of Early Innovation Partnering and Johnson & Johnson Innovation. She joined Johnson & Johnson in January 2022 where she supports transactions in Immunology and Oncology. She works closely with partners in the therapeutic areas, external innovation and JJDC to identify, nurture and transact on promising technologies and innovations.
Before joining Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Keisha was Director of Business Development focusing on Oncology at Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals. In this role, she led partnering discussions and negotiations across all stages of development from pre-proof of concept through to marketed products. Prior to this role, Keisha was part of the Corporate Development team at Syros Pharmaceuticals and at the radiopharmaceutical company, Actinium Pharmaceuticals. Keisha earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Dr. Shankar Vallabhajosula
VP of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences at Convergent TherapeuticsDr. Shankar Vallabhajosula is the VP of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences of Convergent Therapeutics, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that was founded in 2021 and based on Ac-225-DOTA-J591 mAb technology developed at Weill Cornell Medicine. Prior to Convergent Therapeutics, Dr. Vallabhajosula was a Professor of Radiochemistry and Radiopharmacy at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) of Cornell University, New York, NY. He was also the Director of Research in Nuclear Medicne and Chief of Radiochemistry at the Citigroup Biomedical Imaging Center of WCMC and published the single author textbook on “Molecular Imaging: Radiopharmaceuticals for PET and SPECT.” In 1980, he received his PhD in Biomedicinal Chemistry (with specialization in Radiopharmacy) from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California. After working for 17 years at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, he moved to Weill Cornell Medical College in 1997.
Kirke Weaver
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at OrganonKirke serves as the senior legal adviser and is responsible for Organon’s worldwide legal affairs, compliance and global ESG and corporate responsibility functions. He is focused on ensuring the company maintains the highest ethical standards and responsible business practices, which will help drive Organon to achieve its goal to be the leading women’s healthcare company.
Prior to his appointment as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Kirke served as Senior Vice President, Commercial, Regulatory, Securities, Employment and Deputy Corporate Secretary at Organon. He was critical to launching Organon as a standalone company in June 2021, acting as a senior member of the legal leadership team.
Before joining Organon, Kirke was the Vice President for Regulatory Legal at Merck, known as MSD outside the U.S. Over his 18-year career there, he developed a deep expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and held positions of increasing responsibility counseling the business in areas such as litigation, regulatory, commercial, and compliance. He also led the Customer Alliances & Innovation group to develop and commercialize new software tools to support medication adherence.
Kirke has a J.D. from the Yale Law School and a B.A. in history and government from the College of William and Mary.
Axel Weist
VP, Portfolio & Program Management at Moderna TherapeuticsAxel serves as VP, Portfolio & Program Management at Moderna Therapeutics. His global responsibilities include Portfolio & Program Management and Development Systems & Data Strategy. His prior roles and responsibilities include VP, R&D Strategy & Planning at Bristol Myers Squibb (2020-2023), SVP, Strategy and Business Operations at Merck Healthcare KGaA/EMD Serono (2014-2019), VP, Strategy and Project Management at Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals (2009-2013), and EVP/COO at Fresenius Biotech GmbH and President of Fresenius Biotech North America Inc. (2002-2009). Prior he served as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney and as a resident physician in Germany and Colombia. He holds an MD/PhD from the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center as well as a Master of Public Health from the John Hopkins School of Public Health.
Cambridge, September 2024
Josh Wolfe
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Lux CapitalJosh co-founded Lux Capital to support scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time in order to lead us into a brighter future. The more ambitious the project, the better—like, say, creating matter from light.
Josh is a Director at Aera Therapeutics, Cajal Neuroscience, Eikon Therapeutics, Impulse Labs, Kallyope, Osmo, Variant Bio, and helped lead the firm’s investments in Anduril, Echodyne, Planet, Hadrian, Osmo and Resilience. He is a founding investor and board member with Bill Gates in Kymeta, making cutting-edge antennas for high-speed global satellite and space communications. Josh is a Westinghouse semi-finalist and published scientist. He previously worked in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney and in capital markets at Merrill Lynch. In 2008 Josh co-founded and funded Kurion, a contrarian bet in the unlikely business of using advanced robotics and state-of-the-art engineering and chemistry to clean up nuclear waste. It was an unmet, inevitable need with no solution in sight. The company was among the first responders to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In February 2016, Veolia acquired Kurion for nearly $400 million—34 times Lux’s total investment.
Avoid boring people. –Jim Watson
Josh is a columnist with Forbes and Editor for the Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report. He has been invited to The White House and Capitol Hill to advise on nanotechnology and emerging technologies, and a lecturer at MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia and NYU. He is a term member at The Council on Foreign Relations, a Trustee at the Santa Fe Institute, and Chairman of Coney Island Prep charter school, where he grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Economics and Finance.
Dr. Carlo Yuvienco
Director, Ford Biotechnology Incubator of The Rockefeller UniversityDr. Carlo Yuvienco is the inaugural Director for the Ford Center Incubator at The Rockefeller University, which was established in late 2023 and serves as a new site of convergence for biomedical scientific talent and early-stage life science companies in New York City. Before his time at the Rockefeller, Dr. Yuvienco was the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Envisagenics, a venture-backed drug discovery company based on RNA splicing science from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He also previously served as the Deputy Director for Life Sciences at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, playing a critical role in the creation of New York’s $500M LifeSci NYC Initiative launched in 2016. He would go on to oversee much of that initiative’s rollout, including various programs supporting entrepreneurship, the awarding of capital to local research institutions, land use policy matters, and the city’s partnerships with private and academic biotech partners. Dr. Yuvienco began his career as a chemical engineer working on blood filtration technology for Pall Corporation, after which he obtained advanced degrees in biomedical engineering from NYU, leveraging protein engineering techniques to develop drug delivery technology.