The 2024 AZBio Trailblazer Honorees are: Senator Eva Burch, FNP-C; Senator Brian Fernandez; Senator David Gowan; Senator John Kavanaugh; Senator Janae Shamp, BSN, RN; Senator T.J. Shope; Representative Selina Bliss; Representative David Livingston; Representative Stacy Travers; and Representative Julie Willoughby, TCRN.
The Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio) today announced that it will honor ten Arizona Legislators at the 2024 AZBio Trailblazer Awards on December 12, 2024 from 11 AM – 1 PM.
What it means to be a trailblazer…
Each year, AZBio looks back across the legislative session and the year to identify those leaders whose actions and active community engagement support the growth of Arizona’s life science and healthcare industry and help to ensure the people of Arizona benefit from its success. Scores are then tallied, and the top ten legislative leaders are named that year’s Trailblazers.
“This year’s Trailblazers come from both sides of the aisle and both the Senate and the House. They are champions for quality education, improving healthcare delivery, and supporting the growth of our life science ecosystem,” shared AZBio President & CEO Joan Koerber-Walker.
- Senator Eva Burch, FNP-C
- Senator Brian Fernandez
- Senator David Gowan
- Senator John Kavanaugh
- Senator Janae Shamp, BSN, RN
- Senator T.J. Shope
- Representative Selina Bliss
- Representative David Livingston
- Representative Stacy Travers
- Representative Julie Willoughby, TCRN
AZBio, members of the Arizona business and bioscience community and guests will come together on December 12, 2024 for a special luncheon to honor members of the Arizona Legislature and along with the State and Local Elected Officials who have made it possible for the Arizona Bioscience Industry to gain national recognition, build capital infrastructure, and take its place as a leader in both scientific discovery and job growth for the 2024 AZBio Trailblazers Awards and Legislative Luncheon.
Looking forward to 2025
In 2023, AZBio celebrated its 20th year of supporting the growth of Arizona’s Life Science sector and proclaimed a bold vision: Arizona will become a Top-Ten Bioscience State.
The Trailblazers luncheon will feature the release of the 2023 state and national life science metrics and unveil where Arizona ranks nationally.
Special Guest: Pete Pellerito, senior policy advisor, BIO
Peter M. Pellerito is the senior policy advisor and former interim vice president for state government relations and alliance development for the Washington DC-based Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) where he focuses on Federal and State economic development initiatives and technology transfer/commercialization. Mr. Pellerito has co-authored nineteen reports and best practices guides on bioscience/life science economic development legislation and business development, and is also a contributing author/editor to the seven bi-ennial Battelle/BIO national publications focusing on state initiatives that support bioscience commercialization of research technologies, and state public policy initiatives. He sits on several national and regional university-industry committees that focus on technology transfer and commercialization efforts for universities and community college workforce development. Those organizations include the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU), and American Association of Universities (AAU).
For more information about the event, please visit Trailblazers 2024
About AZBio
Founded in 2003, the Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. (AZBio) supports life science innovation and life science innovators in Arizona. A key component in Arizona’s life science ecosystem, AZBio is the only statewide organization exclusively focused on Arizona’s bioscience industry. AZBio membership includes patient advocacy organizations, life science innovators, educators, healthcare partners, philanthropists, and leading business organizations. AZBio members employ over 345,000 Arizonans.
For more information visit www.AZBio.org