Presenting at AZBio Expo 2012

The General Session Presentations at the AZBio Expo are an opportunity for you to connect and engage with national and local bioscience leaders. 2012 marks year 10 of Arizona’s Bioscience Road Map. During that decade we have built the research infrastructure and leadership base that lays the foundation for tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth. Our next decade must focus on commercialization bringing these life changing technologies to markets.It’s time we all started moving forward faster and we are bringing you a host of leaders who know how to do just that in the Ethington Theatre.

Adjacent to GCU Arena, The Ethington Theatre has set the stage for brilliant performances over a 50-year history at Grand Canyon University. On May 17th AZBio sets the scene to showcase bioscience brilliance and to share the stories of leaders who are moving our Arizona Bioscience Industry Forward Faster. With only 311 seats, this intimate theater connects AZBio Expo 2012 attendees with these leaders as they share their stories from the General Session Stage.

AZBio Expo 2012 Partial Presenters Listing:

(Alphabetical order)

Peter Allison, J.D., Chairman, IDM Technologies | Founder & CEO, IDM Lab Track. With more than 30 years of business management, venture capital, and equity placement experience, Peter Allison is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctorate from Seattle University. (To learn more, click here.)
Paul R. August, PhD, US Head, Early to Candidate Unit, SANOFI, US (To learn more, click here.)
Jennifer Barton, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona, Assistant Director, The BIO5 Institute. (To learn more, click here.)
Robert Bowser, PhD, is an internationally recognized ALS research scientist and researcher at the new The Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital knows how to go from discovery to development to delivery and he’s gearing up to do it again. (To learn more, click here.)
Lee Cheatham, PhD, Deputy Director, The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, General Manager the Biodesign Impact Accelerator. (To learn more, click here.)
Leif P. Christoffersen, Director of Biomass Integration, Yulex Corporation. Leif is responsible for advancing Yulex’s energy, efficiency and biomass initiatives. Prior to Yulex, Christoffersen played a key role in establishing the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation (EOWBF) with whom he maintains an active advisory role. He also spent over five years at the Diversa Corporation (Verenium Corporation and BP Biofuels), where he managed bioprospecting collaborations, as well as managed Diversa’s grants program, coordinated their scientific advisory board, and supported their international business development efforts. Christoffersen has also served as a climate change adviser to the Executive Director of UNEP at COP1 and COP2 of the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). At the start of his career, he worked with subsistence farmers in Costa Rica and Kenya to support and promote agroforestry practices, which included setting up exportation of organic produce. Christoffersen holds a degree from Hobart College (BA, Economics) and the University of California, San Diego (MBA, Rady School of Management).
Ben Cloud, President and CEO, Phyco Biosciences, Inc., brings over 30 years of experience as a farmer and farmland developer with operations in Arizona and Southern California. His significant experience in production agriculture including drip-micro irrigation systems and design, cropping systems, processing and marketing have contributed to the development of the Phyco production platform and business approach (To learn more, click here.)
Josh Hottenstein, Cleantech Open
Laura Huenneke, PhD, Provost and Vice President Academic Affairs, Northern Arizona University (To learn more, click here.)
Joan Koerber-Walker, MBA, President and CEO, Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio) leads Arizona’s statewide bioscience organization and connects, engages and advocates on behalf of Arizona’s Bioscience Industry. (To learn more, click here.)
William F. Mulholland,II, Esq., Of Counsel, Snell & Wilmer (To learn more, click here)
Babak Namati, PhD, President & CEO, STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE, INC. and Consulting Member of the Emerging Technologies Group, Corporate Office of Science & Technology, Johnson & Johnson (To learn more, click here.)
Alan C. Nelson, PhD, Founder, Chairman and CEO of VisionGate | Executive Director of the Predictive Health Analytics Initiative (PHAIT3) at Arizona State University. (To learn more, click here.)
Robert J. Penny MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, International Genomics Consortium, Executive Director expO, PI The Cancer Genome Atlas Biospecimen Core Resource and PI The Cancer Genome Atlas Tissue Source Site Network. (To learn more, click here.)
Randy Ryan, Assistant Director, Arizona Agricultural Experiment Stations, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona, shares how ARID and Arizona’s collaborative are ‘heating things up’ on the Algae Biofuels Scene. (To learn more, click here.)
Michelle Wells, RAC, Regulatory Affairs at W.L. Gore and Associates, is responsible for coordinating approvals for stroke, venous and peripheral products. Michelle has more than 20 years of experience in drugs and devices, including inhalation drugs and devices (aerosol & powder), vascular grafts, catheter based vascular therapies, suspensions, solutions/injections, creams, ointments, shampoos, nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, diagnostic drugs, wound healing, topical and aesthetic products, and orphan drugs and devices. Michelle’s forte is in early negotiations with FDA, particularly pre-IND and pre-IDE meetings to secure agreement early on in development programs to ensure smooth submissions and subsequent approvals. (To learn more, click here.)
Greg Yap, AB, MBA, Senior Vice President and Lifecycle Leader, Advanced Staining Assays at Ventana Medical Systems, a member of the Roche Group. In this role, Greg is responsible for Ventana’s entire market leading portfolio of cancer assays, ranging from standard-of-care diagnostics for all major cancers to novel multiplex tests and companion diagnostics. These assays are used to inform treatment of more than half of all cancer patients in the US and almost half of all cancer patients worldwide. Greg’s career has been focused at the intersection of business, medicine, and novel technologies. His experience spans personalized medicine, translational research, and genomics as well as high growth companies both large and small. (To learn more, click here.)

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Sponsors and Supporters

AZBio Expo 2012 Partial Presenters Listing:

(Alphabetical order)

Stay Tuned… Additional Bio’s… Coming soon