Jonathan A. Epstein, MD

Interim Executive Vice President, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System & Dean, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania

Jonathan Epstein, MD, serves as Interim Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine. Together these two entities make up Penn Medicine, an $11.9B enterprise dedicated to excellence in the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and patient care.

As the William Wikoff Smith Professor and, most recently, as the Executive Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Epstein has played a pivotal role in shaping the Penn Medicine’s trajectory as a national and international leader in discovery science and clinical research. He has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for the health system since February 2021. From 2006 to 2015, he served as chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Scientific Director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute. He played an instrumental role as a founding co-director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine in 2007.

Dr. Epstein has served as a respected member of distinguished organizations, including the Philadelphia College of Physicians, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association of Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. He also served as President of both the Interurban Clinical Club and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Epstein has directed a highly impactful research program throughout his 27-year tenure at Penn and he is widely recognized for contributions to the understanding of congenital heart disease, heart failure, stem cell biology and epigenetics. His most recent advances involve utilizing modified mRNA delivered with targeted lipid nanoparticles to engineer immune cells within the body to fight heart disease, cancer and other disorders.

Laurie Actman

Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer at Penn Center for Innovation

Laurie Actman serves as the Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer at PCI. Laurie as part of the Executive Team oversees the strategic implementation of PCI’s programs and partnerships, marketing, and communications and helped to plan and launch the Pennovation Center, Penn’s startup incubator where she actively managed programs and partnerships. Previously she served as PCI’s Chief Operating Officer from launch in 2014 to December 2016. Before PCI she has worked for notable organizations in the private, non-profit and public sectors in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. including as Chief Policy Officer for the CEO Council for Growth, Consultant to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on his Administration’s sustainability and ARRA initiatives, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Viridity Energy, and Deputy and Interim Director for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation, a $150 million public private project capitalized by the US Department of Energy and based at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning and Real Estate from UNC-Chapel Hill. Actman lives in Bala Cynwyd with her husband and three children and spends a lot of time when not working on the soccer sidelines, playing tennis and walking her dog.

David Apfel

Head, External Innovation, R&D Data Science & Digital Health at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

David Banko

Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research at B. Braun Medical
Bethlehem
USA

Mr. Banko is Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research at B. Braun Medical Inc. located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is responsible for identifying strategies to leverage health economics and outcomes studies across the breadth of B. Braun’s portfolio resulting in the differentiation of their products in a highly competitive market. Mr. Banko partners with all levels of the Organization to develop an optimized evidence generation plan ensuring widespread adoption of their innovative products upon commercialization. Mr. Banko is leading B. Braun Medical Inc in preparing for the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition to a value oriented healthcare system in the United States. Mr. Banko has been with B. Braun Medical for the past eight years and now has over 25-years of combined experience with pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics and hospital finance experience. Prior to joining B. Braun, he previously spent 12 years working with two operating companies that were part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. During his time with J&J, he successfully leveraged outcomes evidence to shape Medicare’s National medical coverage and reimbursement policies and developed programs to assist hospitals and physicians in securing market access from Medicare and other third-party payors for FDA approved emerging medical device technologies. He has lead efforts in developing responses to payer’s Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) and in educating internal business partners on the implications of major policy shifts such as Medicare’s bundled payment initiatives, comparative (cost) effectiveness and gainsharing. Mr. Banko gained extensive experience in health care finance and reimbursement working with healthcare systems in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He received a B.S. degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Scranton and a M.S. degree in Finance from King’s College. Mr. Banko is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of Pennsylvania.

Gaeton Biscardi

Managing Director at Stout

Gaeton Biscardi is the Philadelphia Office Leader. He has over 15 years of experience assisting domestic and international publicly traded and privately held companies with complex accounting and financial reporting issues such as debt and equity issuances, share-based payment arrangements, purchase accounting, revenue recognition, earnings per share, and the adoption of new accounting standards.

Prior to joining Stout, Gaeton founded Genova Group in January 2016 and was the Managing Partner for its Accounting Advisory practice, building the IPO readiness and SEC reporting service platforms. Additionally, he was his firm’s technical leader for complex debt and equity transactions.

Gaeton has led and participated in more than 30 IPO readiness engagements within the life sciences, technology, and real estate industries and has served as an advisory expert panelist in several IPO boot camp and continuing education programs.

Erica Bozeman, PhD

Associate Director, Oncology Scientific Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Ted Clineff

Director, SBM Strategy & Business Development at DSM-FIRMENICH
Exton
USA

Ted started his professional career at Orthovita and reaped on-job-training benefits of a start-up. Ted led the product development collaboration with Kensey Nash Corporation (now DSM Biomedical) who partnered with Orthovita to develop and commercialize Vitoss Foam bone graft substitute with additional handling benefits with bovine collagen. Stryker acquired Orthovita and Ted led the Stryker Orthobiologics Research & Product development team until switching careers at DSM Biomedical in a Commercial role. At DSM, Ted managed commercial relationships and grew his sales for past 5 years. Recently, Ted moved into Strategy and Business Development role and is responsible for capitalizing and executing Specialized Biomaterials Manufacturing opportunities and for extending the DSM Biomedical Innovation team with external partnerships.

Benjamin Dibling, PhD

Associate Vice Provost for Research, Managing Director, Penn Center for Innovation at University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
USA

Ben Dibling is Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania. Ben leads the PCI team in advancing discoveries and ideas resulting from Penn’s research towards new products, services, and/or businesses to provide benefits back to Penn, its inventors, and society. The PCI team actively facilitates a broad range of technology development connections between Penn and the commercial sector, including technology licenses, R&D alliances, sponsored research, and the formation of new ventures. Prior to joining PCI and Penn in 2016, Ben was Senior Associate Director of Licensing at UCLA. Ben started his career in technology transfer in 2004 at UChicagoTech, the office of technology and intellectual property at the University of Chicago, and was Program Manager in Oncology at the time he moved to UCLA in 2011. Ben holds a PhD in Clinical Medicine from the University of Leeds and a B.Med.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Birmingham. He is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). Ben is a member of AUTM, LES and prior chair of the Board of Governors for CLP.

Robert Drakas, PhD

President at ShangPharma Innovation

Dr. Robert Drakas is President of ShangPharma Innovation, a healthcare investment firm that specializes identifying early-stage gems that can advance quickly with the right combination of funding, scientific expertise, and operational support. Dr. Drakas brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations. Prior to joining ShangPharma Innovation, Dr. Drakas was executive director business development ChemPartner Inc., a leading contract research organization providing services for the biopharmaceutical industry. Earlier in his career, Dr. Drakas held increasing levels of responsibility at Merck Inc. as part of Cancer Research Department and later in operations as part of External Basic Research Department. He received a B.S. degree in biology from the University of Scranton, an M.S. in biochemistry from Drexel University and a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Drakas is board member of Blue Oak Therapeutics, Azkarra Therapeutics, ShangPharma Innovation, Rila Therapeutics, and board observer for Evrys Bio.

Evan Facher, PhD, MBA

Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Pittsburgh & Associate Dean for Commercial Translation in the School of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh

Evan Facher is Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Associate Dean for Commercial Translation in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of the Innovation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. In this role, Evan promotes the commercial and societal potential of faculty and student discoveries, and works with regional businesses to enhance the Pittsburgh regional innovation ecosystem.

Most recently, Evan was President/CEO of SironRX Therapeutics, a private, clinical-stage company developing novel drug therapies. Prior to this, Evan worked in Bayer Healthcare’s medical device division as General Manager of its Pittsburgh Interventional business. During this tenure Evan also served as Executive Director of Corporate Development overseeing company strategy and M&A. Evan started his career as Senior Manager Business Development at the biotechnology company Athersys, where he was a business development leader creating partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies. Over his career, Evan has been involved with corporate fundraisings bringing in nearly $100 million from venture, strategic partner and grant sources as well as a leader in company and product acquisitions totaling over $600 million of investments.

Evan holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami (FL).

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc

Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Founder & President at Every Cure

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the youngest faculty members to receive tenure at Penn Medicine. He is also co-Founder/President of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, co-Founder/President of Every Cure, and national bestselling author of ‘Chasing My Cure.’

Dr. Fajgenbaum is also a patient battling a deadly disease that he discovered a repurposed treatment for that is saving his life and others. He has advanced 13 other repurposed treatments and pioneered a new field called computational pharmacophenomics to accelerate drug repurposing.
One of the youngest awardees of multiple top grants, Dr. Fajgenbaum has published nearly 100 papers in journals like NEJM, been profiled by The New York Times, TODAY, and GMA, and received numerous awards like the 2023 Philadelphia Citizen of the Year Award. Dr. Fajgenbaum received a BS (Georgetown), MSc (Oxford), MD (UPenn), and MBA (Wharton).

Matt Fenske

SVP, Franchise Head at Harmony Biosciences

Matt is currently the Vice President, Lifecycle & Portfolio Strategy at Harmony Biosciences. He responsibilities include advancing new products and lifecycle programs in the company portfolio as well as building the pipeline through business development. Prior to Harmony, Matt led the New Products Group at Shire for the Immunology and Hematology Franchises and also a similar role at Baxalta prior to that. Baxalta was a spin-off from Baxter where he held numerous roles in Global Marketing and US Marketing in the BioScience Business Unit. Matt also spent time with Boston Scientific (Guidant) in sales and marketing roles.

Craig Gravitz

Director, Project Accelerator Transition Innovation Office (PATIO) at ARPA-H

Craig Gravitz is designing and implementing the transition and commercial strategy for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Prior to joining ARPA-H, Mr. Gravitz launched and ran a research and development program at the Defense Logistics Agency. That program was inspired by DARPA, but also by private sector innovation models like design thinking and lean start up. Using those models, he developed an effective framework to translate work into real world environments: real people used those innovations. He is a licensed attorney and has previously serviced as a contracting officer.

Claire Greenwood

Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Economic Competitiveness at Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia

Claire Greenwood is responsible for advancing the Chamber’s work to attract and expand companies, capital, and talent in the Greater Philadelphia region. Through Claire’s direction, she and her team engage C-Suite leaders from Chamber members, partners, and investors to actively amplify the region’s competitive advantages and accelerate equitable economic growth.

Claire provides leadership for several Chamber-wide initiatives including Select Greater Philadelphia and the Young Professionals Network. Her work advances economic competitiveness priorities in key sectors, including life sciences, by implementing a multi-platform approach to approach to business expansion, advocacy, and talent and workforce, as well as building the organization’s partnerships and marketing campaigns to ensure that companies and talent “Select” Greater Philadelphia.

Claire also serves as the Executive Director of the Chamber’s CEO Council for Growth, a committed group of more than 50 business, higher education and civic leaders working to make Greater Philadelphia one of the global first tier 21st-century innovation economies.

Pankaj Gupta

Search & Evaluation Lead, I&I, Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer

Rebecca Guzman

Partner, Vice Chair of M&A Division at Duane Morris

Rebecca A. Guzman focuses on the representation of start-up and emerging growth companies with a focus on life science companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics and healthcare IT industries. Her practice spans the entire corporate lifecycle, from formation through liquidity. In addition to her company client counsel, Rebecca represents a number of prominent venture capital funds and institutional investors in their financing activities.

Rebecca is broadly experienced in M&A and currently serves as a vice chair of the M&A Division of the firm. She also has extensive experience and regularly advises in all areas of Delaware corporate and alternative entity law.

Rebecca is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where she won the Prosser Prize in Negotiations, and a graduate, with highest honors, of Lehigh University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Before law school, Rebecca was a Fulbright Scholar in Jakarta, Indonesia.

William Hagaman, CPA, CGMA

Advisor at GenHenn Capital

Bill is the COO of GenHenn Capital. He supports the management of the family office, primarily focusing on evaluation of the companys assets and allocation and investment strategy. transitioned from his role as Managing Partner and CEO of WithumSmith+Brown, PC (Withum), the 22nd largest accounting, tax and advisory firm in the country, having been a member of the firm's management for over 40 years. As a licensed certified public accountant in New Jersey, as well as a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), Bill specializes in merger and acquisition services and international business. During his tenure as CEO, the firm grew 6x in revenue and expanded into non-traditional advisory services. Withum is known nationally for its unique culture and strong team member retention rates, as well as its intentional commitment to inclusion and diversity, reinforcing the foundation of the value-driven culture which was established under Bill’s leadership.A graduate of Richard Stockton College of New Jersey with a bachelor's degree in accounting, he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA). He serves as a current executive committee member and Vice-Chair of HLB International and as the former chairman of Nexia International USA - both of which are worldwide networks of independent accounting firms and business advisors. In 2022, Bill was recognized by ROI-NJ as one of the Top 50 Power Influencers in NJ, and by NJBIZ as part of the Accounting Power 50 List. In 2021, he received the Business Advocate Award from the NJ State Chamber of Commerce, and also the Stockton University School of Business Outstanding Alumni Award. In 2020, he received the National Network Leadership Award from Jobs For America Graduates. In 2010, Bill received the Thomas H. Kean Arts Adovavy Award, honoring him for his dedication to the arts. Bill is a sought-after thought leader, appearing on television and radio programs discussing topics related to leadership and business management, including appearances on Steve Adubato's television show, "NJ Caucus"; News 12 New Jersey's television segment, "New Jersey Business"; and Executive Leaders Radio. Bill was featured in the business leadership book, Catalysts of Culture: How Visionary Leaders Activate the Employee Experience, in which the first chapter spotlighted Bill and his story of Withum's unique culture. Bill resides in Monmouth County, NJ.

Matt Hammond

Father of Loie Hammond and Patient Advocate at The Calliope Joy Foundation

Matt and his wife, Lauren, are parents to Loie, who was diagnosed with a very rare fatal genetic disease, known as metachromatic leukodystrophy, or MLD on Christmas Eve 2012. She would not live to see her fourth birthday and passed away on January 27^th, 2014.

After Loie’s passing, Matt connected with Maria Kefalas and her late husband Pat Carr, who also had a daughter (Calliope) with MLD, and together they helped create the first nationwide Leukodystrophy Center of Excellence at CHOP and the Loie Hammond Memorial Lectureship, an annual program to bring researchers and clinicians up to date on progress in MLD. Through their ongoing efforts, the families continue to raise awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars through fundraising events.

Matt, is a civil engineer and Executive Vice President of TPD, Inc. Matt resides in Downingtown, PA. together with his wife Lauren, and son Owen.

Eric Heil, MBA

Managing Partner at Medical Excellence Capital

Eric Heil joined Medical Excellence Capital (MEC) as Managing Partner in 2021.

Prior to joining MEC, Eric served as an SVP/Advisor to Health Quality Partners, a non-profit organization committed to care delivery design and value-based care. He additionally served as an adjunct professor at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania teaching healthcare entrepreneurship from 2016-2020. In 2017, Eric co-founded and helped launch Upward Health with the BCBS Venture Fund, a technology-enabled care delivery service for complex patients with mental health challenges. Prior to co-founding Upward Health, Eric served as SVP, Chief Commercial Officer of Software Solutions at naviHealth Inc., a UnitedHealthcare Company, serving over 850 hospitals and 11,000 post-acute care providers nationwide. In 2012, Eric co-founded and served as president and CEO of RightCare Solutions, an evidence-based venture-backed health care IT company specializing in care transitions and discharge planning. In December 2015, RightCare Solutions, Inc. was successfully acquired by naviHealth, Inc.

Early in his career, Eric was an investment professional at Domain Associates, LLC, a leading life-science venture capital fund with over $2.5 billion under management, and was promoted to Entrepreneur-in-Residence in 2012 when launching RightCare. During his tenure there, Eric also led business development at Corthera (acquired by Novartis) and Celator Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals). Before joining Domain Associates, he was an Equity Research Analyst at Bear Stearns covering the Managed Care sector and a consultant with Easton Associates (now Navigant Consulting), a management consultancy dedicated to the medical industry.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering with a focus in healthcare systems from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Heil also completed his MBA from Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.

Maria Kefalas

Founder and Executive Director at The Calliope Joy Foundation

Maria Kefalas studied economics at Wellesley College and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. She worked at the Brookings Institution, held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and taught at Barnard College (Columbia University) before joining the faculty of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Kefalas is the author of numerous books and articles, and has received grants from the William T. Grant Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Department of Justice.

Her life took an unexpected turn in 2012 when her husband, father, and father-in-law were all diagnosed with cancer. That same year, on the fifth of July, she learned her youngest child, Calliope “Cal”, suffered from a fatal degenerative neurological disease called metachromatic leukodystrophy (or MLD). Leukodystrophies are in the same family as Tay-Sachs and Canavan diseases. Cal would lose the ability to walk, talk, and feed herself within months. Cal was not expected to survive beyond the age of six.

Kefalas gained fifty pounds and struggled with depression and grief. A year after her daughter’s diagnosis, her nine-year-old son PJ suggested that the family start selling cupcakes “to raise money and to help kids like Cal.” This idea for a bake sale would change everything. Then, she started blogging under the name “The Recovering Supermom” and published essays in Slate, The Mighty, and The Huffington Post.

Over the next several years, the family would sell 50,000 cupcakes. That money would help establish nation’s first Leukodystrophy Center of Excellence at the world-renowned Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has become a nationally recognized parent advocate for gene therapy who has spoken at the NIH, NORD, and the FDA.
Cal continues to beat the odds and will celebrate her 11th birthday in December. Kefalas has embraced a healthy lifestyle and now runs two miles every day and is “in the best shape I have been in for a decade.”

Tragically, Kefalas’s husband, Rutgers University sociologist Pat Carr died from multiple myeloma on April 16, 2020. This has provided Kefalas and her family with the unique vantage point on grief in the time of Covid-19.
With her late husband, Pat Carr, Kefalas is the co-founder of the Calliope Joy Foundation and Cure MLD.
The story of Cal and the cupcakes has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Kefalas’s work was funded by the Philadelphia Eagles, and she received the 2018 Rare Impact Award by National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD).

Her latest book Harnessing Grief: One Mother’s Quest for Meaning and Miracles will be published by Beacon Press in January 2021.

Eric Kopelson

Director, Corporate Development at Teleflex

Lori Krim Gough, PhD

Partner at Epidarex Capital

Lori has more than 22 years of experience in drug discovery and business development across the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.
Prior to joining Epidarex, Lori served as the Chief Business & Strategy Officer of NeuExcell Therapeutics. In this role she was responsible for developing and executing corporate partnering and financing strategies. She was also accountable for the company’s $200 million partnership with Spark Therapeutics, portfolio prioritization and external communications.

Lori previously served as the VP of Corporate Development at Tmunity Therapeutics, a cell therapy spin-out from UPenn, that has since been acquired by Kite Pharma. During her three years at Tmunity, Lori led the business development strategy for in-licensing, drove external innovation efforts and managed complex strategic partnerships.

Lori also spent five years at GSK where she held diverse leadership roles across multiple groups including Strategy and Portfolio, Discovery Partnerships with Academia (DPAc) and Platform and Technology Business Development.

Earlier in her career, Lori spent 12 years in drug discovery at Wyeth/Pfizer. During this time, Lori led several successful multi-disciplinary teams in her role as a medicinal chemist, and advanced multiple molecules into clinical development. Her work ranged from target identification to clinical candidate and spanned across multiple therapeutic areas. She has authored more than a dozen publications and is a named inventor on 18 patents.

Lori chaired the prestigious Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Research Conference, served on the Long-Range Planning Committee for the ACS MEDI Division and is currently part of the ACS Executive Board serving as Industrial Councilor. Lori also serves on the Boards of the Chemistry Department at the University of Pennsylvania, the Coulter Translational Drug Discovery Program at Drexel University, and the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Lori graduated Summa Cum Laude from Colgate University and earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert McGrath

Senior Associate Vice Provost and Director, IP & Agreements at Drexel University
Philadelphia
USA

Dr. Robert McGrath is Senior Associate Vice Provost and Director, IP and Agreements at Drexel University. As part of Drexel Applied Innovation, he and his team are responsible for managing and commercializing the intellectual property assets of the University. Prior to joining Drexel, he spent six years at the University of Pennsylvania, serving as Director of Technology Licensing prior to his departure. Dr. McGrath received his Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University, conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania and was an academic researcher for nearly fifteen years before entering the field of technology transfer.

Scott Morley, MBA

Senior Director, Office of Industry and Economic Partnerships at University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
USA

Senior Director at the University of Pittsburgh Office of Industry Economic Partnerships. We help companies partner with Pitt around research and technology transfer.

Neil Oberoi

Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities

Neil Oberoi is a Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities. He was previously a managing director in the Healthcare Corporate Investment Banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He has worked on numerous merger and acquisition buy and sell-side advisory mandates and corporate financings. Prior to business school, he worked as a consultant providing competitive intelligence advisory services to clients predominantly in the healthcare sector. Mr. Oberoi received an M.B.A from Columbia Business School with honors and a B.S. in biology from the University of Richmond.

Paul Orchard, MD

Medical Director of the Inherited Metabolic and Storage Disease Program, and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy (BMT & CT) at University of Minnesota

Dr. Paul Orchard is the Medical Director of the Inherited Metabolic and Storage Disease Program, and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy (BMT & CT) at the University of Minnesota. He is interested in the use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and other cell therapies, including gene therapy, to improve outcomes. In addition to his clinical work with patients who have inherited metabolic diseases, Dr. Orchard is engaged in research designed to identify strategies that enhance the delivery of enzymes to the brain and the peripheral nervous system for patients who lack specific enzymes. Other interests include the modification of stem cell transplant approaches and combination therapies to improve outcomes for patients with inherited diseases, and the potential to develop multi-institutional cooperative studies for these disorders.

Dennis Purcell, MBA

Founder and Senior Advisor at Aisling Capital

Katie Reuther, PhD

Executive Director at Penn Health-Tech

Katherine Reuther, PhD, MBA is the Executive Director of Penn Health-Tech and a Practice Associate Professor in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in Bioengineering), Columbia University (Executive MBA), and The College of New Jersey (BS in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering emphasis). Most recently, Dr. Reuther was a Senior Lecturer in Design, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, with additional appointments as the Director of the Columbia Biomedical Engineering Technology Accelerator Program (BiomedX) and the Director of Master’s Studies. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, Columbia's highest teaching honor.

Dr. Reuther has advised and educated numerous student and faculty teams and start-ups in developing and commercializing medical technologies. She serves as a consultant for Biocomx, a national organization that trains and supports researchers, professionals, and early-stage companies in commercializing medical technologies and in this role, has acted as a project manager for several NIH programs including the Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation (C3i) Program and the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative. She is also a nationally trained NIH I-Corps instructor. She is a co-founder of Syntegrity Biomedical, an orthopedic medical device start-up.

Jeannie Rojas, PhD

Senior Director, Business Development, Transactions at GSK

Jeannie Rojas is currently a Sr. Director of Worldwide Business Development at GSK. In her current role she leads deal transactions across all GSK therapeutic areas. She previously focused on search, evaluation, due diligence, and transactions for Immunological assets. Prior to joining GSK she was Vice President of Investments at DRI Capital. In her role at DRI, she led evaluation, due diligence, and transactions for investments in the healthcare space across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to DRI Capital, Jeannie held positions of increasing responsibility at Janssen R&D, a Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical company. Jeannie earned her PhD from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton Business School. She resides in Pennsylvania.

Governor Josh Shapiro

Governor at Governor of Pennsylvania

Bruce Shook

Serial MedTech Entrepreneur, Vice Chair of the Board at Life Sciences PA
King of Prussia
USA

Bruce Shook is a serial medical technology entrepreneur with 40 years of industry experience, including multiple early stage ventures focused on opportunities in cardiac surgery, cardiology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and vascular disease. Mr. Shook formed Vesper Medical in 2016 as a spinout of Intact Vascular. Mr. Shook served as President & CEO of both Intact Vascular and Vesper Medical until Intact Vascular was purchased by Royal Philips in 2020 and Vesper Medical was acquired by Royal Philips in 2022. Prior to Vesper Medical and Intact Vascular, Mr. Shook was co-founder, Director, President and CEO of Neuronetics [NASDAQ: STIM], which markets a non-invasive brain stimulation technology for the treatment of depression and OCD. Previously, Mr. Shook was co-founder, Director, President and CEO at Neuron Therapeutics, a venture-backed company developing a drug/device product for the treatment of CNS disorders and President of Abiomed [NASDAQ: ABMD] where he successfully obtained PMA approval for the first, FDA-approved ventricular assist device. Mr. Shook also developed cardiac pacing and anti-arrhythmia products at Cordis Corporation. He has raised more than $500 million in private equity funding across multiple ventures. Mr. Shook has served on several corporate boards including Devoro Medical (acquired by Boston Scientific), Surgiquest (acquired by Conmed), Respicardia (acquired by Zoll) and CoTherix (acquired by Actelion). Mr. Shook currently serves as a Director for Evident Vascular, Inquis Medical and Protexa Endovascular; and serves as Vice Chair on the Life Sciences PA and the Penn State Research Foundation boards, respectively. Mr. Shook holds advanced degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Business Administration from Columbia University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, respectively. He earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University.

Stephen Spagnol

Director, Business Development & Licensing at Merck
West Point
USA

Stephen Spagnol is a Director of Business Development & Licensing, Enabling Technologies at Merck. He leads Search & Evaluation efforts related to mRNA/RNA, Drug Delivery & Formulation, Vaccines & Biologics Bioprocess, Cell & Gene Therapy and Gene Editing. Prior to returning to Merck, Stephen was an Associate Director at Johnson & Johnson where he led efforts for novel new modality therapeutics. He led Phase III and late-stage development for AAV gene therapy programs and development for oncolytic viruses and viral vaccines for oncology. He led novel platform development for gene therapy culminating in several patent applications. Stephen started his career at Merck and serving as a Scientific Supervisor and led formulation and process development efforts for RNA Therapeutics and mRNA Vaccines. He also led design and optimization of novel drug delivery technologies for RNA therapeutics and mRNA vaccines. Stephen received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Stephen completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

John Swartley, MBA, PhD

Chief Innovation Officer at University of Pennsylvania

John S. Swartley, MBA, PhD is the Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Pennsylvania responsible for implementing and leading a University-wide Innovation agenda in partnership with stakeholders across the institution. In this capacity, he works closely with Penn’s leadership and Deans, as well as key external partners, to help ensure that Penn continues to maintain its world-class status as an innovative leader in the field of technology development, translation, and commercialization. Dr. Swartley previously served for nearly a decade as Associate Vice Provost for Research and the Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) where he led a multi-faceted team that focuses on new product development, corporate partnerships, technology licensing and new venture creation based on faculty expertise and discoveries made at Penn.

Prior to joining Penn in 2007, Dr. Swartley served as Senior Vice President and General Partner of BCM Technologies (BCMT), the venture capital investment subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Swartley joined BCMT in 2003 from the Yale University Office of Cooperative Research where he was Associate Director of the Medical Campus Office. Over the course of his career, Dr. Swartley has facilitated thousands of commercialization and research partnership agreements that have collectively generated close to five billion dollars in licensing income and sponsored research funding, as well as participating in the formation and oversight of hundreds of university spin-out companies representing multiple billions of dollars of capital creation. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Bates College, an MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University, and a PhD in Microbial & Molecular Genetics from Emory University.

Cassie Tran, PhD

Senior Licensing Associate at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Cassie Tran is a senior licensing associate at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She has been interested in the application of science in healthcare since her undergrad days at the University of Virginia where she obtained a BS in Biomedical Engineering. Cassie then obtained her Ph.D. in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Jefferson University. Later, during her post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania, she worked as a fellow in the Penn Center for Innovation. She joined the Office of Technology Transfer at CHOP as a licensing associate in 2016 and she has been working to help move CHOP technologies from the bench to the bedside ever since.

Arda Ural, PhD

EY Americas Life Sciences Sector Leader at Ernst & Young

Arda Ural is the EY Americas Life Sciences Sector Leader. Prior to joining EY, he was a Managing Director at a strategy consulting firm for six years, where he led the Life Sciences M&A Practice. Earlier, he worked as a VP of Strategic Marketing and a BU Lead at an American medical technology company. He also served as the SVP Marketing & Sales for a startup biotechnology company which went public. Arda started his career with a pharmaceutical company in Istanbul and subsequently relocated to New York, where he held leadership roles in product commercialization and new product development. He earned a PhD in General Management and Finance and an MBA from Marmara University and his MSc and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Boğaziçi University. Arda serves on several Advisory Boards at BIO, BioNJ and NJIT Biomedical Engineering.

Gerald Vardzel

President & CEO at LifeX Global

Amy Waldman, MD, MSCE

Assoc. Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Assoc. Director, Neurology Gene Therapy, Medical Director, Leukodystrophy Center of Excellence, Attending at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Amy T. Waldman, M.D., M.S.C.E., is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). Dr. Waldman received her Medical Doctorate from Jefferson Medical College (Thomas Jefferson University). She completed her pediatrics residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and child neurology residency at both CHOP and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The recipient of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society-American Academy of Neurology Foundation Clinician Scientist Development Award, Dr. Waldman completed a fellowship in pediatric and adult MS. In 2005, she co-founded the Pediatric MS Center at CHOP, and in 2015, she co-founded the Leukodystrophy Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Waldman’s primary research focuses on the development and interpretation of outcome measures for clinical trials in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2021, she was appointed the Associate Director of Gene Therapy at CHOP.

Teresa Whalen

CEO and President at CytoAgents
Pittsburgh
USA

Teresa Whalen has had a 20+ year career in Life Sciences. As a biotech innovator, healthcare technology leader, life sciences investor, hospital board trustee and clinical pharmacist; she has a successful track record of bringing life-changing healthcare products to market. Teresa was a key employee building and exiting 2 startup companies. Teresa was selected as a 2021 North America EY Winning Women. Teresa also serves on the Board of St. Clair Health, a highly regarded healthcare institution with leading quality metrics in the Greater Pittsburgh Area as well as the Allegheny Conference on Community Development driving economic growth in Southwestern PA.

Tony Williams, MBA, PhD

Associate Director, Office of Technology Licensing & New Ventures at Princeton University

As Associate Director, Tony is responsible for supporting the protection and licensing of software and inventions created at Princeton University, with a particular focus on assisting Princeton researchers in all aspects of the development of startup companies to move their research innovations out of the lab and into the marketplace.

After earning a PhD in chemistry from the University of Cambridge, Tony gained postdoctoral research experience in materials chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, and then at Princeton University in the laboratory of Professor Robert Cava. He later earned an MBA from the University of Oxford, where he won a competitive fellowship to work for the university’s technology transfer office. Prior to starting at Princeton in February 2016 as New Ventures Associate, he worked on the Technology Ventures team at Imperial Innovations, the technology transfer office of Imperial College London and one of the UK’s leading investors in academic research-based startups.

Jim Wilson, MD, PhD

Director, Gene Therapy Program Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Wilson is an innovator and pioneer in the field of gene therapy. In a career spanning four decades, he has identified, isolated, and developed virus-based vectors for in vivo gene therapy. His laboratory is responsible for discovering a new family of endogenous adeno-associated viruses (AAV) that have become best-in-class for in vivo gene therapy vectors. His research efforts and novel technology have contributed to successful clinical programs of in vivo gene therapy for rare monogenic diseases developed by other companies, including Glybera® for familial lipoprotein lipase deficiency (AAV1), Luxturna® for RPE65-mediated retinal dystrophy (AAV2), and Zolgensma® for spinal muscular atrophy (AAV9). More recently, his laboratory demonstrated for the first time therapeutic in vivo genome editing in a large animal model, thus extending the therapeutic potential of the AAV platform.

During the early 2000s, Dr. Wilson found that AAV genomes are prevalent in primates; characterization of these novel capsids revealed an expanded family of viruses that have great therapeutic promise (1-3). For example, the rhesus isolate AAV8 has shown improved gene transfer to liver, muscle, and photoreceptors (1, 4) whereas the human isolate AAV9 is capable of crossing endothelial and blood-brain barriers that enable it to target the heart and central nervous system (5, 6). Recent work in Dr. Wilson’s laboratory has highlighted how specific AAV-protein interactions in endothelial cells enhance the ability of AAV to cross the blood-brain barrier (7); such work may prove instrumental in the development of new AAV-based therapies for genetic diseases which affect the central nervous system.

Dr. Wilson aims to expand gene therapy to also treat acquired diseases and other conditions, such as deploying AAV-based therapies to treat influenza (8) and central nervous system metastases located beyond the blood-brain barrier (9). Novel applications of the AAV platform include prophylaxis against subsequent organophosphate poisoning, potentially offering protection in biowarfare (10). Dr. Wilson is also pursuing in vivo genome editing. In a world-first, his laboratory recently demonstrated efficient and stable in vivo gene editing in liver cells in non-human primates that resulted in reduced levels of circulating PCSK9 and serum cholesterol; this work has important implications in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (11).

Translational research efforts are ongoing in his laboratory across a portfolio of lysosomal storage diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, infantile epilepsies, and liver metabolic diseases. A robust, discovery-oriented research program in virology, vector engineering, and gene editing complements the translational portfolio and informs the development of next generation vectors and therapies.

Bin Yan, PhD, JD

Associate Vice President for Research and Director, Office of Technology Transfer at Pennsylvania State University

Bin Yan, PhD JD is an Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at Penn State. Prior to joining Penn State in 2022, Bin was the director of the Office of Technology Transfer at University of Miami. During her tenure, the University of Miami generated record levels of licensing revenue and was ranked as one of the top performers in the country by Heartland Forward on the effectiveness of technology transfer based on comparable research expenditures. Bin is a tech transfer veteran who has spent over 20 years working with innovators, investors and industry partners to advance the commercialization of university research at various institutes including University of Florida, and University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Her work experience also includes serving as the associate vice president for licensing and legal counsel at a publicly traded biotechnology company. Bin holds a PhD from University of Florida and is a member of the New York Bar.

Jonathan A. Epstein, MD

Interim Executive Vice President, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System & Dean, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine

University of Pennsylvania

Laurie Actman

Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer

Penn Center for Innovation

David Apfel

Head, External Innovation, R&D Data Science & Digital Health

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

David Banko

Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research

B. Braun Medical

USA

Gaeton Biscardi

Managing Director

Stout

Erica Bozeman, PhD

Associate Director, Oncology Scientific Innovation

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Ted Clineff

Director, SBM Strategy & Business Development

DSM-FIRMENICH

USA

Benjamin Dibling, PhD

Associate Vice Provost for Research, Managing Director, Penn Center for Innovation

University of Pennsylvania

USA

Robert Drakas, PhD

President

ShangPharma Innovation

Evan Facher, PhD, MBA

Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Pittsburgh & Associate Dean for Commercial Translation in the School of Medicine

University of Pittsburgh

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc

Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Founder & President

Every Cure

Matt Fenske

SVP, Franchise Head

Harmony Biosciences

Craig Gravitz

Director, Project Accelerator Transition Innovation Office (PATIO)

ARPA-H

Claire Greenwood

Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Economic Competitiveness

Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia

Pankaj Gupta

Search & Evaluation Lead, I&I, Worldwide Business Development

Pfizer

Rebecca Guzman

Partner, Vice Chair of M&A Division

Duane Morris

William Hagaman, CPA, CGMA

Advisor

GenHenn Capital

Matt Hammond

Father of Loie Hammond and Patient Advocate

The Calliope Joy Foundation

Eric Heil, MBA

Managing Partner

Medical Excellence Capital

Maria Kefalas

Founder and Executive Director

The Calliope Joy Foundation

Eric Kopelson

Director, Corporate Development

Teleflex

Lori Krim Gough, PhD

Partner

Epidarex Capital

Robert McGrath

Senior Associate Vice Provost and Director, IP & Agreements

Drexel University

USA

Scott Morley, MBA

Senior Director, Office of Industry and Economic Partnerships

University of Pittsburgh

USA

Stephen Spagnol

Director, Business Development & Licensing

Merck

USA

Person Name	Job Title	Organization
Jonathan A. Epstein, MD	Interim Executive Vice President, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System & Dean, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine	University of Pennsylvania
Laurie Actman	Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer	Penn Center for Innovation
David Apfel	Head, External Innovation, R&D Data Science & Digital Health	Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
David Banko	Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research	B. Braun Medical
Gaeton Biscardi	Managing Director	Stout
Erica Bozeman, PhD	Associate Director, Oncology Scientific Innovation	Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Ted Clineff	Director, SBM Strategy & Business Development	DSM-FIRMENICH
Benjamin Dibling, PhD	Associate Vice Provost for Research, Managing Director, Penn Center for Innovation	University of Pennsylvania
Robert Drakas, PhD	President	ShangPharma Innovation
Evan Facher, PhD, MBA	Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Pittsburgh & Associate Dean for Commercial Translation in the School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh
David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc	Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Founder & President	Every Cure
Matt Fenske	SVP, Franchise Head	Harmony Biosciences
Craig Gravitz	Director, Project Accelerator Transition Innovation Office (PATIO)	ARPA-H
Claire Greenwood	Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Economic Competitiveness	Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
Pankaj Gupta	Search & Evaluation Lead, I&I, Worldwide Business Development	Pfizer
Rebecca Guzman	Partner, Vice Chair of M&A Division	Duane Morris
William Hagaman, CPA, CGMA	Advisor	GenHenn Capital
Matt Hammond	Father of Loie Hammond and Patient Advocate	The Calliope Joy Foundation
Eric Heil, MBA	Managing Partner	Medical Excellence Capital
Maria Kefalas	Founder and Executive Director	The Calliope Joy Foundation
Eric Kopelson	Director, Corporate Development	Teleflex
Lori Krim Gough, PhD	Partner	Epidarex Capital
Robert McGrath	Senior Associate Vice Provost and Director, IP & Agreements	Drexel University
Scott Morley, MBA	Senior Director, Office of Industry and Economic Partnerships	University of Pittsburgh
Neil Oberoi	Senior Managing Director	Guggenheim Securities
Paul Orchard, MD	Medical Director of the Inherited Metabolic and Storage Disease Program, and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy (BMT & CT)	University of Minnesota
Dennis Purcell, MBA	Founder and Senior Advisor	Aisling Capital
Katie Reuther, PhD	Executive Director	Penn Health-Tech
Jeannie Rojas, PhD	Senior Director, Business Development, Transactions	GSK
Governor Josh Shapiro	Governor	Governor of Pennsylvania
Bruce Shook	Serial MedTech Entrepreneur, Vice Chair of the Board	Life Sciences PA
Stephen Spagnol	Director, Business Development & Licensing	Merck
John Swartley, MBA, PhD	Chief Innovation Officer	University of Pennsylvania
Cassie Tran, PhD	Senior Licensing Associate	Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Arda Ural, PhD	EY Americas Life Sciences Sector Leader	Ernst & Young
Gerald Vardzel	President & CEO	LifeX Global
Amy Waldman, MD, MSCE	Assoc. Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Assoc. Director, Neurology Gene Therapy, Medical Director, Leukodystrophy Center of Excellence, Attending	Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Teresa Whalen	CEO and President	CytoAgents
Tony Williams, MBA, PhD	Associate Director, Office of Technology Licensing & New Ventures	Princeton University
Jim Wilson, MD, PhD	Director, Gene Therapy Program Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine	University of Pennsylvania
Bin Yan, PhD, JD	Associate Vice President for Research and Director, Office of Technology Transfer	Pennsylvania State University