Renowned geneticist and biotech entrepreneur Dr. Dietrich Stephan will deliver the keynote address at the Fifth Annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit. The event, to take place April 21-22, 2015, will be held at the Waterfront Hotel in Morgantown, West Virginia.
To view the full agenda, read the bios of the featured presenters or to register, visit www.biowv.org/events/.
Stephan serves as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, and Associate Director of the Institute for Personalized Medicine of Pitt/UPMC where he leads the efforts in population genetics and translational acceleration and commercialization.
A serial entrepreneur, Stephan has been involved in the formation and development of multiple biotech companies, to include: Lifecode Health, Navigenics, Amnestix, Aueon, Inc. and DiaVacs Inc.
Stephan served as executive director of the Gene Partnership at Children’s Hospital Boston-Harvard Medical School where he worked to re-architect their care delivery model to bring modern genomic tools and strategies to improve outcomes. He also served on the leadership team at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.
The West Virginia Bioscience Summit will highlight the role and impact of the bioscience industry in West Virginia and the region, showcase research and commercialization efforts taking place at West Virginia universities and private companies, and discuss policies and programs to help nurture the industry.
A host of industry leaders, policy makers and subject matter experts will participate in the conference, to include:
- Pravin Chaturvedi, WVU alumnus, Founder and Chairman of Boston-based IndUS Pharmaceuticals and a co-founder of Florida-based Oceanyx Pharmaceuticals, will share his experience on how to raise funding to grow life science companies;
- David Gillogly, Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Operations at Mylan, will discuss the company’s far reaching clinical trial program;
- Dr. E. Gordon Gee, President of West Virginia University, will offer a conference welcome and kick off to the Life Science Research Showcase;
- Dr. Clay Marsh, the new Vice President and Head of WVU Health Sciences, will outline his thoughts on the life sciences and the role of WVU;
- Steve Turner, CEO of Protea Biosciences, will provide insight on how to successfully conduct a funding pitch;
- Representatives from the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, CereDx, Cordgenics and Vandalia Research will highlight company progress;
- John Maher, Ph.D. Vice President for Research, Marshall University Research Corporation, and Richard Giersch, Associate Director, Venture Development, at WVU will highlight commercialization initiatives at WVU and Marshall; and much more.
And, new for this year, the Summit will include a Life Science Research Showcase – conducted in past years by the LIINC program at WVU. This event is open to ALL West Virginia faculty-led research teams from across the state! A special reception will be held from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21 where researchers will present their research in a poster-session format. For more information, or to register, click here.
Derek Gregg, chairman of the Bioscience Association of West Virginia (BioWV), said, “A successful life science industry begins with research, which then leads to discoveries. Those discoveries provide the basis for company development and economic growth for the state. West Virginia is having success but there is much more that can be done to help grow this industry within our borders.”
He continued, “We are excited to have Dr. Stephan join us to share his story of medical innovation and entrepreneurism. He is a leader in his field and a true role model for those of us working to move the life science industry forward in West Virginia.”
The event is being sponsored by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Mylan, Amgen, Protea, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Fisher Scientific, Steptoe & Johnson, Pfizer, TechConnect West Virginia and the West Virginia Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI).
For additional information or to register, contact Bryan Brown at (304) 546-5500, or visit the website at: www.biowv.org.
