Being able to collaborate with your business partners is as important today as it ever has been. This panel demonstrates the strong collaboration taking place in the BioHealth Capital Region. Led by Jarrod Borkat, Senior Director, External Partnerships & Collaborations, Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., the panel includes experts from Children’s National Hospital, George Mason University, AstraZeneca, and Immunomic Therapeutics.

• Jarrod Borkat, Senior Director, External Partnerships & Collaborations, Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.

Jarrod Borkat is a 20‐year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry. He currently serves as Vice President, Corporate Development, at Emergent BioSolutions, where his team supports M&A transactions and leads the Corporate Strategy function. Prior to this, he acted as Sr. Director of Partnering & Strategy for MedImmune, the biologics division of AstraZeneca. While at MedImmune, he also served as Global Head of Strategic Partnerships and Government Contracting, where he established more than 20 large-scale strategic collaborations with leading universities, NGOs and government entities. Mr. Borkat was initially brought to MedImmune in 2010, where he built a world-class portfolio management function that helped MedImmune manage a portfolio of more than 30 programs.

Before joining MedImmune, Jarrod worked at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for 11 years, rising through the ranks in the commercial organization. During his time at BI, he spent two years in Germany at their corporate headquarters, leading all global marketing efforts for their CNS franchise. His last position prior to leaving BI was Director of U.S. Marketing, HIV. Mr. Borkat won multiple awards throughout his career, including being recognized as an industry “Top 25 Direct‐to‐Consumer Marketer of the Year” in 2007 after leading the launch of a $120M consumer advertising campaign.

Jarrod has been a guest speaker and panelist at national and international conferences, including BIO, SXSW, Life Sciences Summit and others, on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to forming global partnerships.

Jarrod currently serves as a director on the following boards of directors; BioHealth Innovation (Board Chair), Maryland Technology Council and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. He also serves the Governor of Maryland as a member of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB) and is a graduate of Leadership Maryland’s “Class of 2018”.

Mr. Borkat and his father were the first father/son duo to complete a marathon on all 7 continents.

He holds a B.S in Biology from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Kennesaw State University.

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• Kolaleh Eskandnian, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Children’s National Hospital

Kolaleh Eskandanian is the Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Children’s National Health System. She is also the principal investigator of the FDA-funded National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation, focused on accelerating the path to market for pediatric devices. Kolaleh works with a large network of small and large businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies—all to address the unmet medical needs of children. She is the producer of two annual innovation competitions that select small businesses who demonstrate the ability to address a significant medical need in the pediatric space. Since early 2014, over 100 pediatric medical device companies have been funded and/or received technical expertise through these competitions.

Kolaleh’s own innovations are in the market space, used by millions. She is the lead inventor of the first-ever adverse event reporting system, initially deployed in a research academic environment. This technology and its derivatives have now been in the market for over 10 years. She has had leadership roles in the development of the first web-based trouble entry management system for a Fortune 100 company in the telecommunications sector. She has been a key contributor in securing over $50 million in government funding for two large research enterprises.

Prior to joining Children’s National, Kolaleh held positions with Intelsat, Accenture, and Georgetown University. Kolaleh’s background is in mechanical engineering with a PhD in operations science and an MBA.

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• Amy Adams, Executive Director, Institute for BioHelath Innovation, George Mason University

Amy Adams is responsible for nurturing and advancing biohealth research and innovation interests of more than 200 faculty and thousands of students who represent a broad range of academic disciplines. Her role includes fostering partnerships with industry, healthcare, government, and academic partners. Valuing the importance of creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, Amy is committed to working with partners across the state and region to grow the biohealth ecosystem. 

Prior to leading the development of the Institute for Biohealth Innovation in 2017, Amy served in several different capacities since 2002 at Mason. Amy brings experience as a scientific researcher using genomic and proteomic technologies to study signaling pathway networks in cancer. She led outreach efforts and created programs including the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program and the Galileo’s Science Café to engage high school and undergraduate students in research across STEM disciplines, communicate science to the public, and foster internal and external collaborations. Amy earned a M.S. in Chemistry, B.S. in Biology, and is an author on one patent and fifteen peer reviewed articles.

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• Tracey Vetterick, COO – Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Tracey Vetterick is VP, Chief Operating Officer for Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca.  She is responsible for the for the overall operations of the Oncology R&D organization, including integration and strategy as well as site operations for the AZ US R&D locations. Tracey has been with AstraZeneca since 2011, serving in a number of different roles including head of Emerging Portfolio Strategy in the Oncology Business Unit, Oncology lead for Portfolio Strategy & Management and Oncology Business Development lead.  As head of Global Marketing for Immuno-Oncology Lung she led the global commercial launch strategy for IMFINZI, AstraZeneca’s lead immuno-oncology asset, in Stage III Unresectable NSCLC.  Tracey joined AZ from Genzyme Corporation (now Sanofi Genzyme) where she held roles of increasing responsibility in business development, program management, commercial operations and global marketing.

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• Bill Hearl, Chief Executive Officer, Immunomic Therapeutics

Dr. Bill Hearl is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (“ITI”).  He is an experienced and successful scientific businessman and bio-entrepreneur, having founded both ITI and formerly Capital Genomix in 2000.   Dr. Hearl has moved ITI steadily forward from an initial license agreement with the Geron Corporation in 2006 to an animal health license in 2012 and then most recently to two license deals with Astellas Pharma for the treatment of allergies, one for Japanese red cedar and a second global allergy license.  The second deal brought ITI an upfront payment of $300,000,000 and established the Company as one of the leading entities in nucleic acid research.   Dr. Hearl funded the Company by following a strategy of seeking a series of angel investment rounds which raised in aggregate over $12 million to drive the development of its allergy products.   Prior to founding ITI and Capital Genomix, he was a senior executive at Kirkegaard & Perry Labs and then held various R&D positions at Life Technologies and Pharmacia.   Dr. Hearl holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee (Oak Ridge & Knoxville) and holds multiple patents in the field of gene immunization.

Also known as “Soft Landing”, the ability for international BioHealth Companies to successfully enter the U.S. market and grow is a constant challenge. Having a partner in the U.S. to help with this process is critical to your business. Moderator, Rich Bendis, Founder, President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, discusses the topic with representatives from BHI, Gentian Diagnostics (Norway), Mimetas (Netherlands), and OnDosis (Sweden).

• Richard Bendis, President/CEO, BioHealth Innovation

Rich Bendis is an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker, and consultant. He currently serves as founding President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, a Maryland public¬private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of commercially relevant science. He is also 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 boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the Small Business Innovation Research Committee, the Maryland Life Science Advisory Board, and the National Association of State Venture Funds board; State Science and Technology Institute, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Institute as a national/regional judge and EOY winner.

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• Albine Martin, EIR, BioHealth Innovation

Dr. Albine Martin brings over 25 years of operating and commercialization experience within 3 public companies representing the biotechnology, diagnostics, therapeutics and life sciences sector.   She provides leadership to advance technologies from bench to market in her role as Executive in Residence at Johns Hopkins University and Biohealth Innovation. She has developed translational strategies and facilitated seed funding for technologies within Digital Health, Diagnostics, medical devices, research tools and therapeutics.  Within these roles she led the commercialization of core technologies, global portfolio expansion and working with the scientific teams to translate scientific principles towards high value products/services.  As COO of Precision Biologics, (a clinical stage oncology company) she led integration of clinical development within a Companion Diagnostic strategy. As Vice President, Compugen (CGEN), she built a disruptive revenue model incorporating consumable assets with emerging big data.  During her tenure at Life Technologies [LIFE] she led a global portfolio as   Senior Business Director and managed Joint Ventures and expansion within the Asia-Pacific region. She has collaborated with FDA/CBER to develop compliance standards and commercialization strategies for ancillary products and devices within the Cellular and Gene Therapy arena. She has led innovation through the BLA approval and commercialization of the first HPV diagnostic (Digene Dx/ Qiagen).  She is leading translation of HIV-1 persistence assays from academic laboratories to end-users through the founding of Accelevir Diagnostics.  She is a member of New Dominion Angels and an angel investor.  She supports the startup region through her role as reviewer on seed funding programs including the NSF SBIR seed fund. Dr. Martin holds a PhD from the University of Maryland and served as a Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health and holds a Certificate of Financial Management from Cornell University and is a graduate of the Program on Leadership and Strategy in Pharmaceuticals and Biotech at the Harvard Business School.

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• Shanyil Wickramasinghe, US Product Specialist, Genitan Diagnostics

Shanyil serves as US Product Specialist for Gentian Diagnostics (Moss, Norway). Gentian manufactures platform agnostic IVD reagent kits for both human and veterinary care. Shanyil serves as the first US employee for Gentian USA which was  operationalized under the “soft landing” program supported by Biohealth Innovation. Shanyil serves as a full time Gentian US employee with the goal of developing brand equity and sales growth within the US market for Gentian’s IVD products. His operational activities include both strategic and operational priorities.  Shanyil has worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.  He holds a MS in Healthcare Management from Johns Hopkins University along with a MS in Biomedical Sciences from University of North Texas Health Science Center and a BS in Microbiology from Oregon State University.

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• Anthony Saleh. CEO, miRecule

Anthony D. Saleh, Ph.D – Anthony a biotech entrepreneur and having served in a variety of roles in startup companies. He is currently the CEO of miRecule, Inc., but also helped found MIMETAS US, and Birich Technologies. As an “Entrepreneur in Residence” at BioHealth Innovation, he has consulted for over a dozen biotech companies. In this role, he led technology diligence, market analysis and business and product development efforts. He also participated in funding raises for two companies, and performed scouting efforts for Roche and MedImmune, leading to several academic collaborations. As the President of MIMETAS US (a startup affiliate of the Dutch company Mimetas BV), he raised over $4.5 M in non-dilutive funding and over $1 M in commercial partnerships to develop organ-on-a-chip based drug discovery models. Dr. Saleh has more than 15 years of experience in microRNA research, nucleic acid chemistry and the design of therapeutic oligonucleotides at Johns Hopkins University, The National Institutes of Health, and in the private sector. Dr. Saleh has raised about $5 M in dilutive and no-dilutive funding directed to gain IND approval for miRecule’s lead therapeutic MC-30.

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• Paul Vulto, Co-Founder/CEO, Mimetas

Paul Vulto is CEO and co-founder of MIMETAS. Under his guidance, MIMETAS developed into a multinational company with operations in Europe, US and Japan. MIMETAS currently works with the majority of top-50 pharma companies and counts over 100 co-workers. Paul is the inventor behind the OrganoPlate® platform and PhaseGuide technology of MIMETAS. Prior to founding MIMETAS, Paul worked for the high-tech company Silicon Biosystems in Bologna, the Institute for Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg and the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University. Paul holds a cum Laude masters degree in Electrical Engineering and a cum Laude PhD degree in Microsystems Engineering.

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• Martin Olovsson, Co-Founder/CEO, OnDosis

 Martin cofounded OnDosis in 2017 based on a concept from AstraZeneca. He has solid experience from senior roles within the pharmaceutical industry across commercial and development at local, regional and global level. Martin has a past as Global lead for the Respiratory franchise in AstraZeneca and as CEO of the AstraZeneca Nordic-Baltic Region.

 

While we adjust to a Covid-19 world, there continue to be great investment opportunities in the BioHealth Capital Region. Join BHCR CEOs as they make short introductions about themselves and companies. Join CEOs from American Gene Technologies International Inc., miRecule, Adaptive Phage, Healion Bio, KaloCyte, Emocha, Tailored Therapeutics, Inc., Deka Bioscience, and Ashvattha Therapeutics, Inc.

• Judy Costello, Managing Director – Economic Development, BioHealth Innovation

Judy Costello is Managing Director of Economic Development for BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI).  Prior to joining BHI, she served as Director of the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of BioHealth and Life Sciences and as Deputy Director of the department’s BioMaryland Center.  In these positions, she has worked to grow the biohealth cluster by supporting industry recruitment and retention, commercialization, workforce, non-dilutive and dilutive fundraising, international soft landing, partnership and promotion activities.  She previously worked for the Business Alliance organizing venture pitch forums, entrepreneur bootcamps, tech transfer showcases, educational seminars, and other programs connecting entrepreneurs, faculty innovators, students, and industry leaders in Maryland, DC and Virginia with each other and with those providing funding and other resources to young companies. Prior to joining the Business Alliance, Costello held positions in economic development, financial services marketing, and university public relations. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, and holds a MBA from Loyola University in Maryland.

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• Crystal Icenhor, CEO & Co-Founder, Aperiomics

As Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Aperiomics, Dr. Crystal R. Icenhour, Ph.D. is leading the fight to ensure that no one suffers needlessly from infectious disease. Leveraging over 25 years of clinical research expertise, she helms Aperiomics’ mission to harness next-generation DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to identify every known pathogen – bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites – using a single test. Dr. Icenhour has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and has appeared on NBC’s TODAY Show.

A successful entrepreneur and biotechnology executive, Dr. Icenhour previously served as President and Chief Science Officer for Phthisis Diagnostics in Charlottesville, Virginia – a research and development company developing easy-to-use molecular diagnostics for intestinal parasites. Dr. Icenhour holds two patents, has authored and co-authored numerous research articles and theses, and has been a prolific speaker and presenter at scientific conferences. As a world-renowned expert in microbiology, she has served on review panels for the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research Program.

Based in Loudoun County, Virginia, Dr. Icenhour currently serves on the region’s Economic Development Advisory Council, providing strategic guidance and support to growing businesses in Virginia. She previously served as Chairman of Virginia BIO and was chosen to participate in the Springboard Enterprises 2016 class of women-led companies.

Dr. Icenhour received her Ph.D. in Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine from the University of Cincinnati Medical School of Graduate Studies in 2002. Following the completion of her graduate degree, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and the Department of Infectious Diseases at Duke University Medical Center, where she currently serves as an adjunct assistant professor.

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• Anthony Saleh. CEO, miRecule

Anthony D. Saleh, Ph.D – Anthony a biotech entrepreneur and having served in a variety of roles in startup companies. He is currently the CEO of miRecule, Inc., but also helped found MIMETAS US, and Birich Technologies. As an “Entrepreneur in Residence” at BioHealth Innovation, he has consulted for over a dozen biotech companies. In this role, he led technology diligence, market analysis and business and product development efforts. He also participated in funding raises for two companies, and performed scouting efforts for Roche and MedImmune, leading to several academic collaborations. As the President of MIMETAS US (a startup affiliate of the Dutch company Mimetas BV), he raised over $4.5 M in non-dilutive funding and over $1 M in commercial partnerships to develop organ-on-a-chip based drug discovery models. Dr. Saleh has more than 15 years of experience in microRNA research, nucleic acid chemistry and the design of therapeutic oligonucleotides at Johns Hopkins University, The National Institutes of Health, and in the private sector. Dr. Saleh has raised about $5 M in dilutive and no-dilutive funding directed to gain IND approval for miRecule’s lead therapeutic MC-30.

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• Rini Pek, Analyst, BioHealth Innovation

Rini is an analyst with BioHealth Innovation, where she supports clients through non-dilutive funding applications, commercialization strategies, market analysis, pitchdeck development, and business development related activities. Prior to joining BHI, Rini served as Senior Scientist at a local biotech startup where she assisted with non-dilutive funding application and scientific research. Rini holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park.

 

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• Amir Soltanianzadeh, Co-Founder/CEO, SpineAlign

Amir Soltanianzadeh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spine Align, a Baltimore-based medical device company founded by Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers and spine surgeons focused on developing the world’s first platform of real-time, 3D alignment measurement tools for spine surgeons. Amir has been leading the company’s innovative technology strategy and business development efforts since its inception in 2016. He works alongside incredible co-founders, including physician-inventor, Dr. David Gullotti, and world-renowned spine surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Theodore (Chief of Spine Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital). Before Spine Align, Amir developed a portfolio of inventions spanning computer vision, device design, and global health, including two GI therapeutic endoscopy technologies licensed to Boston Scientific. He also helped develop and commercialize a synthetic biology bioreactor technology that is now used at over a dozen labs nationwide; this technology became a Boston startup called FynchBio. Amir earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and a MSE in Bioengineering Innovation & Design from Johns Hopkins University.

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• Arti Soltanianzadeh, Executive Director, Maryland Innovation Initiative, TEDCO

Dr. Arti Santhanam is the Executive Director at the Maryland Innovation Initiative program at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), the technology commercialization and investment instrument for the state of MD.

Dr. Santhanam has an excellent experiential background in life science research, tech commercialization, seed investment and program management. She currently manages the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) fund investing in commercialization and start-up companies spun out of five participating universities; Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland College Park, Baltimore and Baltimore County campuses, as well as Morgan State University. Established in 2012, MII has invested $35M that has resulted in 90 startups, >$415M follow-on funding and 7 exits till date. Indeed, the 2018 Milken Institute report identifies MII as one of 2 programs helping Maryland retain 3rd place ranking on the State Technology and Science Index. At TEDCO, Dr. Santhanam has served various roles over the years including Investment Analyst for the Maryland Venture Fund and Director for the Life Science Investment Fund.

Prior to TEDCO, she worked across federal and commercial partnerships to address global health issues through her positions as a Senior scientist/ subject matter expert first through MITRE corporation and then through her private consulting practice, engaging with partners at USAMRIID and ECBC.

Dr. Santhanam received a Master of Science in Clinical Biochemistry from University of Madras (India) and a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Rutgers University, NJ. She did her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Santhanam is passionate about bringing affordable healthcare to all and accelerating innovative solutions from bench to bedside. She served on the Board of Directors of the Annapolis-based non-profit advocacy group METAvivor Research and Support, Inc., where she established the METAvivor research program to fund groundbreaking research to treat Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Under her directorship METAvivor has awarded over $4M in research grants and was selected as a premier patient-run Research Programs in VP Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative! In addition, she serves on the Maryland Governor’s Life Science Advisory Board and an active member of the Women in Bio- Capital region chapter and the ADVAmed Business Development working group

Companies are still working to raise capital while we remain socially distant. Join us as we discuss how to best adjust and continue attracting investors to your business. Moderator, Rich Bendis, Founder, President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, is joined by investment experts from Alexandria Venture Investments, The BioHealth Capital Fund, Boston Millennia Partners, and JP Morgan.

• Richard Bendis, President/CEO, BioHealth Innovation

Rich Bendis is an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker, and consultant. He currently serves as founding President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, a Maryland public¬private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of commercially relevant science. He is also 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 boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the Small Business Innovation Research Committee, the Maryland Life Science Advisory Board, and the National Association of State Venture Funds board; State Science and Technology Institute, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Institute as a national/regional judge and EOY winner.

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• Conley Jones, Senior Asscoiate – Science & Technology, Alexander Venture Investments

Conley Jones is a Senior Associate with Alexandria Venture Investments and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., where he helps manage the company’s New York and Maryland tenant and investment portfolios. Prior to joining Alexandria in 2016, Conley worked in a number of roles spanning the life science sector, including experience as a post-baccalaureate researcher with Harvard Medical School, as a Healthcare Informatics specialist with Inova Health Systems, and as a Business Analyst with liquid biopsy company Sevident, Inc. Conley received his B.S. in Biology from The College of William & Mary, and his M.Eng. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

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• Andrea Alms, Fund Manager, BioHealth Innovation

The BioHealth Capital Fund is a venture capital early stage investment fund created by the BioHealth Innovation (“BHI”), located in Rockville, MD, the center of the BioHealth Capital Region. BHI manages a for profit subsidiary BioHealth Innovation Management (BHIM) which owns equity in 27 of the 108 client companies of BHI and has had 3 exits. Our lead investor is Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Andrea is recognized for her abilities in guiding venture capital, private equity, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and other transactions involving biohealth companies. Andrea assists limited partners, general partners, investors with lauching and operating secondary and primary investment funds. Wellesley College (BA), Averett University (MBA), and U.Va. (M.S., Pharmacology).

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• Faz Bashi, Venture Affiliate Partner, Boston Millennia Partners

Faz Bashi is a physician, scientist, and investor in Silicon Valley focusing on innovations in Healthcare and Life Sciences for humans and animals/pets.  He is currently Lead Venture Investor with Portfolia’s FemTech Fund™ which focuses on emerging technologies, products and services improving women’s health and wellness throughout their lives. From fertility solutions to menopausal care and overall fitness, the fund will invest in high-potential opportunities that can be both profitable and grant women greater health and wellness.

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• Chrisitan Barrow, Executive Director – Life Sciences – Commercial Banking, JP Morgan

Chris Barrow is a senior banker with J. P. Morgan commercial bank. Chris joined J.P. Morgan in 2012 in the Philadelphia office, where he and his team focus on providing financial solutions to life sciences companies located in the Mid-Atlantic – Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Chris has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry with roles that have spanned from public accounting to banking.

Chris’ current job is to help life science companies – biotech, specialty pharmaceutical, specialty pharmacy, medical device, med-tech, medical diagnostics and contract research organizations – gain access to JPMorgan’s well-known healthcare commercial and investment banking resources.

Prior to his current role, Chris started his career with EY (inactive CA and CPA licenses). He subsequently served as a senior banker for Bank of America. In this capacity, he was responsible for origination and structuring of debt products to general industry companies located in Pennsylvania.

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a graduate diploma in Accounting both from McGill University. He currently resides in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.