David Hilbert has spent the past 20+ years combining his disciplined approach to science with the business of effective drug development and corporate management.   He is currently President and CEO at Arcellx, Inc., a company focused on the development of regulated immune cell therapies for treatment of human disease. From 2009-2014, David was the CSO at Zyngenia, Inc., and led the company’s development of multi-specific antibody-based therapeutics.  From 2006 to 2009, David consulted with leading scientists, executives, and venture firms in assisting startup biotech companies with the many strategic and operational challenges associated with early stage drug development. In 2004, he served as Vice President of Research at Cellective Therapeutics, a start-up antibody company acquired by MedImmune in October 2005.  David began his biotech career in 1996 at Human Genome Sciences (HGS) where he spent 8 years guiding the preclinical development of antibodies and genomics-based therapeutics.

Quality Biological, Inc. (QBI), is a woman-owned and operated Contract Development Manufacturing Organization with a 30-year history of serving the needs of the BioHealth Capital region.  QBI delivers high-performance, high-quality custom products to support consistent and reproducible results in research, method and process validation, preclinical drug discovery and large-scale production of custom formulations for commercialization.  As President and CEO, Angela Graham, provides the leadership and strategic direction for what has become an award-winning multi-million-dollar business. Her integrity and customer satisfaction philosophy are guiding principles of the organization; ensuring QBI is seen, first, as a trusted business partner.  Angela’s expertise is in marketing, organizational development, and change management. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and has completed executive studies at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jeffrey A. Galvin is the CEO and Co-founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT). He earned his BA degree in Economics from Harvard in 1981. He has more than 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience including founder or executive positions at a variety of Silicon Valley startups.  Several of his companies were taken public and/or sold to public companies, including one in the medical-technology arena that was sold to Varian, the leading maker of linear accelerators used in cancer therapy. Following his startup experience, he retired to become an Angel Investor in real estate and high tech. He came out of retirement to found and fund AGT after meeting Roscoe Brady at NIH.

Jeffrey M. Gallagher, CEO of Virginia Bio, is responsible for leading the premier statewide trade group that promotes the considerable scientific and economic impact of the life sciences industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to taking on the leadership of Virginia Bio in May 2012, Jeff was a co-founder and served as VP & General Counsel for Lyotropic Therapeutics. This small specialty pharma company used its proprietary formulation technology to create new drug products based on both NCIs and already approved API for license, further development and commercialization by mid and large pharma. Previously he practiced corporate law in Richmond, focusing on new technology company formation, international business and intellectual property transactions. He was a co-founder and longtime Chairman of the Richmond based nonprofit World Pediatric Project. He holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard, a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and an LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Virginia School of Law. He resides with his family in the Ginter Park area of Richmond, VA.

Mr. Bendis is an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in the technology and healthcare industries. He currently serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America (IA), a national public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of innovation economy in America. As one of the most recognized experts in the field of innovation economy, Mr. Bendis has served on numerous distinguished boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the Small Business Innovation Research Committee, the National Association of State Venture Funds board; State Science and Technology Institute, and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Institute as a national/regional Judge.

Mr. Bendis has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations including the United Nations, NATO, UK Trade and Industry, European Commission, French Embassy, the German Marshall Fund, The Canadian Consulate, METI, AKEA, the International Science Parks and Innovation Expert Group and other global entities. Mr. Bendis is a frequent consultant and speaker to 16 International innovation based economic development organizations, as well as over 20 states, regions and cities throughout the U.S. He was voted one of the Top 5 Speakers on innovation economy in 2012.

Ripley Ballou, MD is Vice President and Head, US R&D Center of GSK Vaccines in Rockville, MD. Previously he was Head of Clinical Research and Translational Science, Vaccine Discovery and Development at GSK’s Vaccines headquarters in Rixsensart, Belgium. He has also served as Deputy Director for Vaccines, Infectious Diseases Development, Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Ballou is an expert in vaccine development and has worked in this field for more than 30 years. Trained in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, he began his work on vaccines at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research where he led the team that with GlaxoSmithKline co-developed RTS,S, the world’s most advanced malaria vaccine. Dr. Ballou has numerous publications in the field of vaccine development and infectious diseases.