Dr. Jim Jackson is a senior vice president and the chief scientific officer for Emergent Biosolutions, a position he has held since 2008. From 2011 through 2015 Dr. Jackson also served as Head, Vaccines and Therapeutics Development Group located in Seattle as part of Emergent’s Biosciences Division. Since coming to Emergent in 2003, Dr. Jackson has held several management positions including: vice president, technical support and vice president commercial products development. Joining Emergent through the acquisition of Antex Biologics Inc., a biotechnology company focused on vaccine and anti-bacterial drug discovery and development, Dr. Jackson served as president, Antex Biologics Research and Development Corporation from 2004 to 2006. While at Antex Dr. Jackson led the company’s R&D programs in enteric, respiratory and STD vaccine development as vice president research and development; and as the senior director, molecular biology.

Prior to Antex Dr. Jackson was with W.R. Grace & Co at its corporate research center in Columbia, MD from 1987 to 1994, working on a variety of projects including novel enzyme engineering and expression for the production of specialty chemicals, animal therapeutics/vaccines for the agricultural market and nucleic acid-based diagnostic technologies. As a post-doctoral fellow at Exxon’s Research & Engineering Center, Dr. Jackson’s research was directed toward understanding the genetics and biochemistry of energy harvesting and transduction in photosynthetic bacteria.

Over his 30 year career in science and product development, Dr. Jackson has published numerous research papers and holds 37 patents. Dr. Jackson received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Georgia and a B.A. in Microbiology/Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee.

Andrew Ishizuka, Ph.D., is co-founder and CSO of Avidea Technologies. Avidea is a Maryland-based biotech focused on vaccines and immunotherapies. Avidea combines expertise in synthetic chemistry and immunology to systematically enhance the delivery and activity of immune-active drugs through its proprietary “Nanoscaffold” delivery platform. Andrew oversees the pre-clinical proof-of-concept animal testing and translational studies for Avidea’s lead program: a personalized cancer vaccine comprising patient-specific neoantigens delivered in self-assembling nanoparticles. Prior to joining Avidea, Andrew was a post-doctoral fellow with Robert Seder at the Vaccine Research Center, NIH. Andrew has a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Washington, attended medical school at Duke University, and has a Ph.D. from Oxford University through the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge program.

Over the past 20 years Tami has helped technology companies grow in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationwide from start up to public companies and beyond. Tami has been involved with the successful exits of over 150 companies and has represented technology companies, investors, SBICs and underwriters such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.  Tami spent 13 years as a partner in distinguished law firms such as DLA Piper and Cooley and most recently was with a $75 Million technology government contractor where she served for 5 years as the General Counsel and most recently President. Tami has served on several organizational boards including most recently the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and as counsel in her early career for the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association. In addition, she has served the tech community by participating as a speaker, committee chair or legal advisor for both the DC Tech Council and Tech Counsel of Maryland. Tami has been named one of America’s Top Lawyers and has received the Young Gun Award from the Washington Business Journal. Tami is active in the arts community in Annapolis both as an advisor and performer where she performs in bands and theater with her husband.

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.

Dr. William Hearl is the founder & CEO of Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. and is an experienced and successful life science businessman and entrepreneur. Dr. Hearl is adept at brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities, highlighted by his groundbreaking $300 million deal with Astellas Pharma in 2015.   Dr. Hearl has been active in the Maryland biotech community for over 30 years. In 2000, he founded of Capital Genomix, Inc., a Maryland-based biomarker and drug discovery Company. Prior to CGI he served in various roles at other Maryland – based companies including Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories (KPL), Life Technologies, IGEN and Pharmacia – Electro-Nucleonics.   Dr. Hearl earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee and B.S. from East Tennessee State University.

Dan Gura, PharmD, MPH is Director of Business Development at AlgometRx, Inc., a medical device start-up based in Washington, DC. AlgometRx, Inc. is a platform technology founded by a pediatric anesthesiologist to objectively measure pain in real time, both its type and intensity, as well as determine drug effect to refine interventions used for pain management in both adult and pediatric patient populations. Dan was formerly Director of Business Development at CommGenix , a medical education company, where he oversaw the pain and healthcare technology platforms. Dan served as Associate Scientific Director at the Geriatric Oncology Consortium (GOC), a non-profit agency dedicated to improving care of elderly patients with cancer through clinical research and education. Prior to the GOC, Dan worked at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, in the Department of Pain and Symptom Management. His research focused on the natural history of phantom limb/stump pain in pediatric and adult cancer amputees. Dan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College, his Master of Public Health degree from the UT Houston Health Science Center, and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy/UT San Antonio Health Science Center. He received post-doctoral fellowship training in health economics/epidemiology from Yale University College of Medicine, School of Public Health.

Dr. Guay-Woodford is the Hudson Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research at The George Washington University. She is a pediatric nephrologist and an internationally recognized investigator whose research focuses on identifying clinical and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of inherited renal disorders, notably autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease. In 2009, Dr. Guay-Woodford was awarded the Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease, given by the PKD Foundation and the International Society of Nephrology. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed reports and more than 50 reviews and book chapters.

Over the past 12 years, Dr. Guay-Woodford has played multiple leadership roles in promoting clinical and translational research, including establishing and directing (2005-2012) the NIDDK-funded University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hepato-Renal Fibrocystic Disease Research and Translational Core Center, and serving as the founding Director of the UAB CTSA program (2008-2012). In 2012, Dr. Guay-Woodford was recruited to direct the CTSA-funded Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National (CTSI-CN), as well as to lead the Center for Translational Science in the Children’s Research Institute. She has mentored numerous residents, fellows, and junior faculty. In addition, she serves on the External Advisory Committees for multiple CTSA programs, as well as several NICHD-funded K12 programs.

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.

Shaun Grady has global responsibility for Business Development Operations at AstraZeneca, leading the company’s transaction execution, due diligence and Alliance and Integration Management function including externalisation, licensing and partnering, M&A, and divestments.

Shaun was appointed to his current role in 2013 with the creation of the Global Product and Portfolio Strategy (GPPS) unit. Prior to this, he was Vice President, Strategic Partnering & Business Development (2010-13) and Vice President, Corporate Business Development (2006-10).

Shaun originally joined ICI as an attorney and held positions in the pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and legal departments. Following the demerger from ICI, he was appointed Assistant General Counsel, Corporate for Zeneca.

Shaun worked on the merger of Astra and Zeneca, the merger of Zeneca Agrochemicals with Novartis Agribusiness to form Syngenta, and the creation of Avecia. Shaun also worked on the acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), led the acquisition of Amylin, and subsequent buy-out of Bristol-Myers’ Squibb’s interest in the Diabetes Alliance. In addition, he has spent time in the US business managing the legal function and also completed a two year secondment to HR, leading a global People Strategy change project.

Shaun is a Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Cambridge Judge Business School and is a member of the Board of Cambridge United Football Club.

Based in Cambridge, Shaun enjoys rugby and soccer, and occasionally turns his hand to sports writing.

Douglas is a leader in accelerating growth of digital and biohealth companies through innovative business development that delivers value and results. As an entrepreneur and intrapreneur he has crafted innovative solutions using technology, process improvement and human ingenuity. He is a thought leader in digital therapeutics, population health and precision health. He is the author of 11 books health and technology and delivered over 300 talks and workshops for leading health and life sciences organizations. Recently, Doug served as the AVP and Innovation Officer for the Inova Center for Personalized Health where he led the development of new value and outcome based clinical and business relationships with global life sciences and medical device companies. The Inova Center for Personalized Health is 117 acre campus on the Washington DC beltway that is being transformed into a translational research, drug discovery and innovation center.