Bert Bruce

Regional President, North America, Rare Disease at Pfizer

Mr. Bruce is the Regional President, North America for the Rare Disease Business at Pfizer, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for the Rare Disease portfolio in the US and Canada, including oversight of key brands such as Vyndaqel/Vyndamax and Pfizer Rare Disease’s gene therapy pipeline.

Prior to this, Bert served as the Vice President, Global Commercial Development, Rare Disease, where he led work with teams spanning the breadth of the drug development cycle – from early stage compounds through late-stage commercial development, including business development to acquire new medicines and launch readiness for the pipeline portfolio. With over 30 years of broad pharmaceutical experience, he has held diverse leadership positions across Marketing, Sales, Finance and Market Research, with scopes both Global and regional.

Bert began his career with Johnson & Johnson, where he led brands and teams in the therapeutic areas of neuroscience, mycology, allergy and gastrointestinal disease. He joined Pfizer from Wyeth, where he was accountable for global strategy and performance for the neuroscience portfolio in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Canada.

As the chair of the Pfizer Global Black Community, Bert has played a leading role in helping Pfizer respond to issues of racial inequities and was instrumental in the development of Biopharma’s Equity Commitments. He is on the President’s Leadership Council at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, and is a board member for Bold Hope, Inc.

Bert holds a B.S. from Eastern University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). He lives in Doylestown, PA with his wife, Kathleen and has three children. He is an active member at Keystone Fellowship in Montgomeryville, PA, and in his free time, enjoys spending time outdoors, watching or playing sports of any kind, and listening to live music of various genres.

Rachael Bushey

Partner at Troutman Pepper

Rachael is chair of the firm’s Health Sciences Department and is a member of the firm's Management Team and Policy Committee. She represents public and private life sciences companies in connection with a variety of capital markets transactions (IPOs, follow-on offerings, PIPEs, RDOs and private placements), Securities Exchange Act work, mergers and acquisitions, complex divestitures and carve-out transactions, corporate governance, licensing and collaboration agreements. Rachael also regularly provides counseling to boards of directors and senior management on a wide range of corporate governance and compliance matters. Rachael has significant experience negotiating transactions with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States, Europe and Asia. Previously, Rachael served as vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary for West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. She is a frequent guest speaker on strategic transactions and corporate issues affecting life sciences companies

Jason Butler, PhD

Managing Director, Biotechnology Equity Research at JMP Securities

Jason Butler is a Managing Director and equity research analyst focusing on the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. Additionally, Jason serves as Director of Healthcare Research, overseeing JMP’s research coverage of the broader life sciences industry.

Jason has followed the biotechnology sector as an equity analyst for nearly 15 years. Prior to joining JMP Securities, he served as a senior associate equity analyst at Rodman & Renshaw covering biotechnology companies focused on therapies for metabolic and infectious diseases.

Jason won recognition in the 2020 Refinitiv StarMine Analyst Awards, ranking first in earnings estimation in the Pharmaceuticals category.

Jason holds a PhD in neuroscience and a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Imperial College London.

Barb Carlin

Managing Director, Mid Atlantic at Danforth Advisors

Barb’s 25-year background in finance and accounting management ranges from life science start-ups to commercial-stage companies. Prior to joining Danforth she served as CFO of Enterin, where she established the financial infrastructure to support the company’s progress in its clinical trials and preparing for the company’s capital raise. She previously held finance leadership roles at Egalet Corporation (Zyla Life Sciences), Sobi, Topaz Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Sanofi-Pasteur), Genaera Corporation and Vicuron Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer). Barb served as Director of Client Service at Resources Global Professionals (RGP). She began her career as an auditor at Deloitte.

Barb is a CPA and holds a BS in Accounting and MBA in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing from St. Joseph’s University.

Jon Civitarese

Managing Director, BioPharma at SVB Leerink

Jon Civitarese is a Managing Director in Investment Banking at SVB Leerink.

Mr. Civitarese was one of the firm’s earliest employees when he joined SVB Leerink in 1995, providing advisory services to high-net-worth individuals in the Private Client Group prior to moving to Investment Banking. Since 1999, his activities have included advising public and private life science companies on strategic initiatives and equity capital financing as part of SVB Leerink’s investment banking team. In addition to his primary banking responsibilities, Mr. Civitarese has also served as a senior member of the Capital Markets team since 2001.

Mr. Civitarese began his career by serving in the U.S. Army as an infantry soldier, and later graduated from the University of Maine.

Matt Fenske

Vice President, New Products & Business Development at Harmony Biosciences

Daniel Fitzpatrick

President, Mid Atlantic Region, Head of National Industry Verticals Banking at Citizens

Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, a commercial banking executive with more than 30 years of experience is President of Citizens Bank Mid-Atlantic Region and Head of National Industry Verticals.

He serves on Citizens Financial Group’s (CFG) Executive Leadership Group, the company’s senior leadership team. CFG is headquartered in Providence, R.I.

Fitzpatrick, a native of Northeast Philadelphia, is a former chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and serves on its executive committee, its Greater Philadelphia Energy Action Team, and its CEO Council for Growth. As chairman of the CEO Council’s Human Capital Working Group, Fitzpatrick has focused on collaborating with public, private and nonprofit partners to provide workforce development solutions and opportunities to disadvantaged populations. Dan is also a member of the Board of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and a member of the Heinz History Museum Board in Pittsburgh.

Dan serves as Vice Chairman of Philadelphia Works, Philadelphia’s workforce development corporation, and is a member of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, The Wistar Institute and The Union League. Dan serves as the conference chair and as a committee member of The Satell Institute. He is also a member of the Executive Board of Elementary Education for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Dan is a former member of the board of trustees of La Salle University and served on the advisory board of Drexel University’s College of Engineering.

As a result of Fitzpatrick’s community efforts, Citizens Bank and Fitzpatrick individually have received numerous community awards from such organizations as the Police Athletic League Award, Philadelphia Academies Inc, the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. In 2016, Dan was named an Emerging Icon in Financial Services by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fitzpatrick earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from La Salle University and an M.B.A. from Drexel University. He is a CPA and a Chartered Financial Analyst. Fitzpatrick lives in Philadelphia, Pa., with his wife Beth and their four children.

Chris Garabedian

Chairman & CEO at Xontogeny

Chris Garabedian founded Xontogeny in June of 2016 to support multiple promising technologies from early development through clinical proof of concept. In 2017, Chris joined Perceptive Advisors to develop their Venture Fund strategy and is Portfolio Manager of the Perceptive Xontogeny Ventures Fund which supports early stage companies with Series A investments across biotech, medtech and healthtech.

Chris has a broad base of experience and a track record of success over his decades long experience in the biopharma industry. Chris served as the President and CEO of Sarepta Therapeutics from 2011 to 2015, overseeing the turnaround of a company that is now a commercial stage leader in the genetic technology space after leading the development of the company’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy program. Prior to Sarepta, Chris led Corporate Strategy for Celgene from 2007 to 2010. Prior to Celgene, Chris served in a number of global commercial and corporate development leadership roles at Gilead from 1997 to 2005.

Chris serves on a number of Boards of life sciences companies and speaks at industry conferences on a wide range of important issues. Chris is also on the Board of Directors of MassBio, serves as a Senior Advisor for the Boston Consulting Group and is a member of the Corporate Relations Board for the Keck Graduate Institute.

Bruce Goldsmith, PhD

President and Chief Executive Officer at Passage Bio

Bruce A. Goldsmith, PhD, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and President and as a member of our board of directors since January 2020. Dr. Goldsmith served as an Advisor and Venture Partner at Deerfield Ventures from January 2019 to January 2020. From April 2019 to January 2020, Dr. Goldsmith also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Civetta Therapeutics. Prior to that, Dr. Goldsmith served initially as Chief Business Officer and then as Chief Operating Officer at Lycera Corp. from April 2013 to January 2019. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Goldsmith served as Vice President and then Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Allos Therapeutics. Prior to Allos, Dr. Goldsmith served in various leadership roles at GPC Biotech in 2007 and Tibotec Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Goldsmith was a research fellow at Novartis Pharma K.K., where he conducted scientific research in a neurodegeneration drug discovery group. Dr. Goldsmith received a BA in Biology from Colgate University, a PhD in Biology with a research thesis in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Columbia University. We believe that Dr. Goldsmith is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his experience in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Abhi Gupta

Senior Director, Global Gene Therapy at Pfizer

Abhi is a Senior Director of Portfolio and Decision Analysis for Rare Diseases & Gene Therapy at Pfizer. He is responsible for developing asset strategies and generating competitive insights to drive R&D investment decisions that maximize pipeline value.

Amany Kandil

Executive Director, Business Development and Licensing at Merck

Amany has been at Merck for over 32 years and has worked in the Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), Merck Manufacturing Division (MMD) and Merck Vaccine Division (MVD) during her tenure. She is currently Head of Discovery transactions in Merck’s corporate Business Development & Licensing (BD&L) group.

Her research career began in the Genetics department at Drexel University, from where she obtained a B.S. in BioScience & BioTechnology. Her pharmaceutical career began in the department of Natural Products & Pharmacology at SmithKline & French Laboratories (now Glaxo SmithKline) and she subsequently worked in the Department of Molecular Genetics supporting HIV Research. Amany was responsible for cloning part of the human T4 (CD4) receptor gene into an expression vector system, helping to demonstrate that a soluble form of CD4 (sCD4) retains the structural and biological properties of CD4 on the cell surface, binds to the envelope glycoprotein (gp110) of HIV and inhibits the binding of virus to CD4+ lymphocytes, resulting in inhibition of virus infectivity. This work led to a publication in Nature.

Amany joined Merck in 1988 as part of the Molecular Biology Department in Merck’s Research Laboratories responsible for cloning the Angiotensin II (AII) receptor, expressing in Xenopus laevis oocytes to study voltage dependent calcium channels in support of AII blocker compounds for treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure. This was followed by a move to the department of Cancer Research first to perform characterization of the c-myc oncogene and oncoprotein product, development and implementation of an assay and identifying the DNA binding site. This work was published in PNAS and Science. She subsequently supported the Farnesyl Protein Transferase (FPTase) inhibitor program to evaluate antiproliferative/antitumor agents in studies of cultured cells and in rodent models of cancer.

Amany then lent her molecular biology support to Merck’s first naked DNA vaccine candidate directed against flu, where she followed the project to MMD to contribute to the submission of a white paper to the FDA for establishment of assay specifications for naked DNA vaccines for publication in the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Amany spent five years in the QC & CMC Regulatory Vaccines Group in MMD where she was responsible for evaluating technical reports for release of products for commercialization and preparing dossiers for FDA and Global Regulatory Agencies for all Merck vaccines to support the newly established Merck Vaccines Division (MVD) at the time.

This led to an international assignment as Regional Manager at MSD Interpharma, La Celle St. Cloud, France, where she had responsibility to MVD and GHH for vaccines and orphan drug registrations in Europe and 14 Middle East & Africa (MEA) markets and subsequently 12 Asia Pacific (AP) markets. Amany returned to MRL providing global strategic support for BLA and IND preparation for Merck's new and in-line vaccines at the company’s HQ for Global Regulatory Affairs for an additional four years where she was a major contributor to successful filings and post-licensure deliverables for many marketed vaccine products, including Gardasil®, Zostavax®, Pneumovax®23, RotaTeq® , VAQTA® PedvaxHIB® and ProQuad®.

In 2002, Amany sought to expand her experience to the broader business via a move to External Scientific Affairs, now Business Development & Licensing, where she has been responsible for negotiating Discovery Transactions with companies, universities, government institutions and agencies worldwide. Amany has been involved in a number of important projects that support Merck’s current pipeline including licenses and collaborations to support Ebola Vaccine, and the Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programs as well as ongoing support for Gardasil® and Varivax®.

Throughout her career at Merck, Amany has provided strategic direction and leadership to a number of reports and scientists. Amany is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) and actively represents the Merck Discovery Transactions team to raise Merck’s profile with partners at AUTM, UIDP, and LES. She joined the LES Standards Committee for Patent Licensing in 2016 and has a Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC).

Outside of her professional career, her interests include gardening, horseback riding, photography, travel and music. She recently completed yoga teacher certification training and is the mother of three children who are currently pursuing graduate studies in the science and healthcare fields. She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband, a practicing physician, and two German Shepherds.

David Kellman

Managing Director, Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at JMP Securities

David Kellman is a Managing Director and is head of healthcare investment banking at JMP Securities. He serves on the firm’s investment banking management committee.

Prior to joining JMP, David was a Vice President at Paramount BioSciences, a life sciences investment firm. Previously, he was a hedge fund analyst at S.A.C. Capital Advisors focused on healthcare investing and a member of the healthcare investment banking group at Piper Jaffray. David began his career in the healthcare group of Investor Growth Capital, the venture capital arm of Investor AB.

David holds a BS in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a BSE in bioengineering from its School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Arvind Kush

Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking at Bank of America

Arvind Kush is a Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking team at Bank of America Securities, and is based in New York, and specializes in the biotech sector. Arvind has advised companies on over $100 billion in M&A transactions and over $10 billion in equity financings.

Rob Lin, PhD, CFA

Vice President of Translational Programs at UPMC Enterprises

Rob Lin, PhD, CFA, is Vice President of Translational Programs at UPMC Enterprises. Dr. Lin joined the ITTC team in October 2017 to help commercialize UPMC’s immunotherapy research. Before UPMC, Dr. Lin worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading the finance and strategy activities for the Global Health Program. Dr. Lin earned a PhD in Genetics at Harvard University and then transitioned into business and corporate development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology).

Marcia O'Connor

CEO & Founder at The O'Connor Group

Marcia Zaruba O’Connor is CEO and Founder of The O’Connor Group, a leading provider of Human Resources and Talent Acquisition Solutions for the life sciences, professional services, and manufacturing. The O’Connor Group was founded in 2007 and is based in King of Prussia, PA. The O’Connor Group is a certified as a National Women’s Business Enterprise. In 2020, the O’Connor Group was the recipient of Inc. 5000, the Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) Soaring 76, Entrepreneurs Forum Philly 100 and the PBJ Best Places and Healthiest Places to work.

Currently, Marcia is President-elect for the Philadelphia chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO). EO is an international organization with over 14,000 CEOs. She also has created and manages several peer networking groups supporting entrepreneurs and senior level executives.

Marcia earned her MS degree in Human Organization Development from Villanova and her BS degree in Accounting from Widener University. Marcia is also a graduate of the Goldman Sach’s 10K Small Business Program. She and her husband live in King of Prussia and her son is attending Penn State University.

Chris Raymond

Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Piper Sandler

Chris Raymond is a managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Sandler covering the biotechnology sector. Prior to joining Piper, he spent the previous 17 years covering biotechnology at Raymond James, Robert W. Baird and Prudential Vector Healthcare Group. Before that, he spent 10 years with Baxter Healthcare and G. D. Searle in various marketing, business development and strategy roles. Raymond has been recognized twice by StarMine as a top earnings estimator in biotechnology and in 2004 was recognized by The Wall Street Journal "Best on the Street" survey. Raymond received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He currently serves on the board of the Financial Markets Institute at Michigan State's Broad College of Business.

David Rubin, MD, MSCE

Attending Physician, Director of PolicyLab, Director of Population Health Innovation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. David Rubin is the Director of PolicyLab and the Director of Population Health at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

As Director of Population Health, Dr. Rubin developed a population health management program designed to align delivery system reforms to improve the value and quality of care patients receive.
As Director of PolicyLab, Dr. Rubin leads a team of more than 35 faculty members and 60 staff conducting research in the areas of population health, implementation science, and community-partnered research. He is currently one of the lead investigators on PolicyLab’s COVID-19 forecasting model, known as “COVID-Lab,” which has been used to advise the White House Coronavirus Task Force, governors, state public health officials, and Philadelphia leaders throughout the pandemic.

Dr. Rubin is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and a practicing primary care pediatrician at CHOP, where he completed his pediatric residency and a fellowship in child maltreatment.

Kate Shay

Partner at Duane Morris

Kathleen M. Shay, a partner at the law firm of Duane Morris LLP, is a corporate and securities lawyer who focuses her practice on the life science industry, representing public and private biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic companies, healthcare information technology and services companies, venture capital funds and other investors in the life science and healthcare industries, academic and research institutions, and life science industry collaborators and service providers. Ms. Shay represents both established and emerging businesses in a wide range of legal transactions and issues, including debt and equity financings, structuring transactions, licenses and strategic relationships, mergers and acquisitions, governance matters, and employment and compensation issues.

Ms. Shay serves on the Boards of Directors and Executive Committees of Life Sciences PA and University City Science Center and the Board of Consultors of Villanova Law School, and she is a Director Emeritus of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) and a Trustee Emeritus of the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur. Ms. Shay previously served as a director of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, and she is a past-Chair of the Securities Regulation Committee. She is an Advisory Board member and former director of the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and has served as AWE’s counsel since its inception.

Ms. Shay received her B.A. from Villanova University and her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of The Villanova Law Review.

Duane Morris LLP, among the one hundred largest law firms in the nation, is a full service firm of approximately 750 lawyers. The firm represents clients across the United States and around the world through its offices in the United States, London and Asia, and relationships with two international networks of independent law firms. For more information, visit the firm’s website at www.duanemorris.com.

Belinda Stubblefield

Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Belinda Stubblefield is the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Belinda comes to CZI from Year Up, a national nonprofit focused on closing the opportunity divide for young adults, where she held senior leadership roles—most recently as Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships and previously as Chief Diversity Officer. She also led diversity initiatives at Nestlé and was Delta Air Lines’ first VP of Global Diversity.

Lamont Terrell

Inclusion and Diversity Lead, R&D at GlaxoSmithKline
Norristown
USA

Lamont Terrell graduated salutatorian from Texas Southern University as a Fredrick Douglas honor scholar earning a B.S degree in chemistry in 1995. He earned his Ph.D. in 2001 in organic chemistry from Michigan State. His graduate studies consisted of the total synthesis of natural products and the development of catalytic tin hydride reactions. He continued his synthetic training with a two-year postdoctoral stint at Stanford University focusing on the development of a catalytic dinuclear zinc asymmetric Mannich reaction. He began his career in drug discovery as a medicinal chemist at GlaxoSmithKline in 2003. He spent 14 years doing small molecule lead optimization primarily focusing on cardiovascular and oncology disease targets. Outside of leading science, Lamont is passionately involved with community and outreach efforts. He led the GSK chemistry recruitment team for minority conferences and served as the lead for the African American Alliance employee resource group. This passion led to a career pivot and eventually to his role as the Inclusion and Diversity Lead for Pharma R&D. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Inclusion & Diversity strategy for the global business.

Nikhil Thatte

Principal at Lumira Ventures

Nikhil joined Lumira Ventures in March 2019. Having spent his entire career in the healthcare industry, Nikhil is passionate about using his broad expertise to help inventors and entrepreneurs bring clinically meaningful treatments to patients in need. As Principal, Nikhil’s day-to-day tasks include new deal sourcing, investment due diligence and supporting Lumira’s portfolio companies. Nikhil is primarily focused on next generation modalities including cell and gene therapy, gene editing, and protein degradation. Nikhil currently serves as a board observer at XyloCor Therapeutics based in Philadelphia.

Prior to Lumira Capital, Nikhil worked as a Director with DRI Capital, a pioneer in royalty monetization solutions, where he managed relationships with inventors, academics and companies, and supported in the investment due diligence process. Prior to DRI Capital, Nikhil was a Consultant with ZS Associates, a global marketing and sales consulting firm where he provided expertise to over 20 pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients across a broad range of projects and therapeutic areas. He also served as an Analyst with Bayer AG and Health Canada.

Nikhil holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from McGill University

Philip Wagenheim

Managing Partner at Broadband Capital

Mr. Wagenheim has more than 28 years of experience in the financial industry and is the Managing Partner of Broadband Capital Partners, LLC, a middle-market private equity sponsor focused on growth companies and industry consolidations. Prior to Broadband Capital Partners, he was the vice-chairman of Broadband Capital Management LLC, an investment and merchant bank he co-founded in 2000. Mr. Wagenheim has extensive experience with public and private growth equity investments, including Immunome Inc (NASDAQ: IMNM), Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ZYNE), ExamWorks, Vroom.com (Nasdaq: VRM), Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE: MEG), Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ: HYFM). Mr. Wagenheim has served as a member of the board of directors of Immunome Inc. since December 2017 and served as its Interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2017 to March 2017. In connection with Zynerba’s recapitalization, Mr. Wagenheim was named President and a Director of the company, serving as a director until the company’s initial public offering in August 2015 led by Jefferies and Piper Jaffray. Mr. Wagenheim received his degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami.

Travis Whitfill

Partner at Bios Partners
Fort Worth

Travis is a serial biotech entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He has co-founded several biotech and healthcare startups companies, including Azitra Inc., which is a mid-clinical stage medical dermatology company. Travis is also a venture capitalist and is a Partner at Bios Partners, which is a life science-focused venture capital firm in Texas with $300 million assets under management. He sits on the board of five portfolio companies, including IN8bio (NASDAQ: INAB), Azitra Inc., SIRPant Immunotherapeutics, Immusoft Corporation (observer), and 410 Medical, Inc. (observer). His background began in molecular biology and biochemistry after receiving scientific training at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Duke University. He brings strong background in entrepreneurship and business and was recently acknowledged as Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2018. He’s also the Senior Analyst at Bios Research, which brings experience in public markets, and drug development to support venture capital investments. He also is an Associate Research Scientist in the Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Yale University. Mr. Whitfill has led numerous grant-funded projects, holds nearly a dozen patents, and has co-authored over 50 publications. Mr. Whitfill received degrees from Yale University (MPH), University College London (MPhil), Dallas Baptist University (BS), and is working on a PhD in innovation and economics from UCL.

Jim Wilson, MD, PhD

Founder, iECURE, Director, Gene Therapy Program, Rose H. Weiss Professor and Director, Orphan Disease Center, Professor of medicine and Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania

James M. Wilson, MD, PhD
Rose H. Weiss Professor and Director, Orphan Disease Center
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Director, Gene Therapy Program
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor, Scout Bio
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, Passage Bio
Co-Founder, G2 Bio
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and Board Member of Institute for Life-Changing Medicine (ILCM)
Co-Founder, iECURE

James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, is a Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he has led an effort to develop the field of gene therapy. His research career spanning over 40 years has focused on rare diseases and ways to treat them by gene therapy. Dr. Wilson has published over 600 papers and is named on over 200 patents worldwide. The Wilson lab identified a new type of vector based on novel isolates of adeno-associated viruses which have become best in class for gene therapy. There are currently more than 80 preclinical and over 40 clinical programs that use Dr. Wilson’s AAV vectors. More recently Dr. Wilson’s laboratory has focused on improved vectors for gene therapy and clinical applications of genome editing and mRNA therapy.

Yves Wyckmans

Senior Director of Business Development at Janssen
Switzerland

Yves Wyckmans is Senior Director Business Development, part of the corporate business development team of Janssen, which is the pharmaceutical business of Johnson and Johnson.

He leads the transaction and negotiation teams for business development opportunities including licenses and M&A for the last 6 years. Over the years, he sat on numerous steering committees with a broad array of companies with whom Janssen has major co-developments, partnerships and alliances across Janssen’s entire portfolio.

He has over 20 years of broad pharma experience and lived and worked in both US and Europe. He led full development projects until approvals worldwide and as a regional strategic marking leader, he also led the launch and commercial strategy teams in the EMEA region.

Yves’ focus area is currently on the cardio/pulmonary field supporting that therapeutic area within Janssen. Yves lives and works out of Basel, Switzerland.

Stephen Yoder

Vice President, Business Development at Taiho Oncology
Princeton
USA

Steve joined Taiho Oncology Inc. as Vice President, Business Development in June 2020. In this newly created role, he is leading the company’s efforts to in-license and acquire additional oncology marketed products and late-stage development therapeutic candidates for treating solid tumors and hematological malignancies. These partnered assets will be added to Taiho Oncology’s expanding portfolio of internally-discovered candidates and approved products addressing the needs of cancer patients in North America and Europe. Dr. Yoder received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Virginia and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He subsequently received a Masters of Business Administration in Health Care Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Steve has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including work in a variety of roles in Strategic Planning, New Product Development, and Marketing at Pfizer. More recently, he served in leadership roles in Search & Evaluation at both Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene Business Development, and has been involved in completing many transactions involving therapeutic candidates and collaborations. Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Life Sciences Pennsylvania.

USA

Switzerland

Stephen Yoder

Vice President, Business Development

Taiho Oncology

USA

Person Name	Job Title	Organization
Bert Bruce	Regional President, North America, Rare Disease	Pfizer
Rachael Bushey	Partner	Troutman Pepper
Jason Butler, PhD	Managing Director, Biotechnology Equity Research	JMP Securities
Barb Carlin	Managing Director, Mid Atlantic	Danforth Advisors
Jon Civitarese	Managing Director, BioPharma	SVB Leerink
Matt Fenske	Vice President, New Products & Business Development	Harmony Biosciences
Daniel Fitzpatrick	President, Mid Atlantic Region, Head of National Industry Verticals Banking	Citizens
Chris Garabedian	Chairman & CEO	Xontogeny
Bruce Goldsmith, PhD	President and Chief Executive Officer	Passage Bio
Abhi Gupta	Senior Director, Global Gene Therapy	Pfizer
Amany Kandil	Executive Director, Business Development and Licensing	Merck
David Kellman	Managing Director, Head of Healthcare Investment Banking	JMP Securities
Arvind Kush	Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking	Bank of America
Rob Lin, PhD, CFA	Vice President of Translational Programs	UPMC Enterprises
Marcia O'Connor	CEO & Founder	The O'Connor Group
Chris Raymond	Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst	Piper Sandler
David Rubin, MD, MSCE	Attending Physician, Director of PolicyLab, Director of Population Health Innovation	Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Kate Shay	Partner	Duane Morris
Belinda Stubblefield	Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion	Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Lamont Terrell	Inclusion and Diversity Lead, R&D	GlaxoSmithKline
Nikhil Thatte	Principal	Lumira Ventures
Philip Wagenheim	Managing Partner	Broadband Capital
Travis Whitfill	Partner	Bios Partners
Jim Wilson, MD, PhD	Founder, iECURE, Director, Gene Therapy Program, Rose H. Weiss Professor and Director, Orphan Disease Center, Professor of medicine and Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine	University of Pennsylvania
Yves Wyckmans	Senior Director of Business Development	Janssen
Stephen Yoder	Vice President, Business Development	Taiho Oncology