Debbie Hart worked alongside NJ’s biotechnology industry leaders to establish BioNJ in 1994 and has been dedicated to building NJ’s life sciences ecosystem ever since. Debbie was named by Governor Murphy to the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology where she serves as Vice Chair; as co-chair of the New Jersey Higher Education Strategic Plan Research, Innovation and Talent Working Group; and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and Business Partnership. Debbie served as chair of the bipartisan, bicameral New Jersey Biotechnology Task Force which was charged with making recommendations to the Legislature for fostering the growth of the biotechnology industry in New Jersey. Debbie was named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Biotechnology by Scientific American Worldview; to ROI-NJ’s 2021 Influencers Power List for the third year; to RIO-NJ’s 2021 Influencers: Women in Business List; to the 2021 NJBIZ Health Care Power 50 for the four year in a row, to the NJBIZ Manufacturing 50 for the second year in a row in at #8 in 2020, to PharmaVOICE‘s 2019 100 Most Inspiring People list; one of New Jersey’s top CEOs by COMMERCE Magazine and for the ninth time in 2021 to the NJBIZ Power 100, a listing of the 100 most influential people in New Jersey business.

Jennifer 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.

Duane Schulthess is the Managing Director of Vital Transformation, a consultancy focused on quantifying and defining innovation and change in the health-care sector. He regularly works with regulators, multi-national corporations, governments, and stakeholder groups, clarifying the impact of health policy changes and technological innovations.

He has been a speaker at many leading international conferences including BIO, the European Health Forum Gastein, DIA, and The Basel Biozentrum. Mr. Schulthess’ 2019 BMJ publication titled “Are CAR-T therapies living up to their hype?” is considered a ground-breaking analysis in the field of real-world evidence, and has been cited in presentations by the European Medicines Agency and EUnetHTA.

Previously, Duane was the EMEA Head of Corporate Development of The Wall Street Journal, and was the Commercial Director of Science|Business. He has a BA Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Pacific where he was also nominated to the Phi Kappa Phi honour society, and an MBA with Distinction from KU Leuven’s Vlerick Management School. From 1988-91, he was a recipient of a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he won several music performance prizes and competitions while also studying economics on an international exchange programme at Regent’s College. He was recently appointed as a senior associate of the UK’s Royal Society of Medicine.