10th Annual TLSF Agenda

Ann Tanabe, Chief Executive Officer, BioHouston 
Brad Burke, Managing Director, Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship 

Isaac Middleton, COO, Texas Medical Center 

Reggie DesRoches, Howard Hughes Provost, Rice University

Stephen M. Hahn M.D., CEO-Partner, Flagship Pioneering; Chief Executive Officer, Harbinger Health; and Former Commissioner of Food and Drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Tom Luby, Ph.D., Director, TMC Innovation 

Jason Bock, PhD, Vice President and Head of Biologics Product Development, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Fiona Mack, Ph.D., Head of JLABS @ TMC – Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Johnson & Johnson

Moderator | Emily Reiser, Ph.D., Associate Director, TMC Innovation
Adam Berman, CEO, Alleviant
Jordan Miller, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Volumetric & SVP, Chief Scientist for Regenerative Medicine, 3D Systems
Sarma Velamuri, M.D., CEO & Co-Founder, Luminare

Several Texas born and grown companies have reached significant milestones in the last two years. This conversation will celebrate these milestones, interrogate how these CEOs have navigated their teams to achieve these milestones, and discuss the advantages and challenges of growing high-growth, medical and life science startups in Texas.

Brian Toglia, Executive Vice President/Life Science Practice Leader, Higginbotham

Thomas Richardson, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, CGT Process Development, Lonza

Jeffrey Wade, President & CFO, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals 

Frank Stokes, CFO, Castle Biosciences 

Moderator | Sarah Hein, Ph.D., Entrepreneur in Residence, ACT, TMC Innovation
Dan Hargrove, J.D., Co-Founder & President, Cancer Insight
Suzanne Tomlinson, Ph.D., Director, Research Programs, Gulf Coast Consortia, Rice University
Dan Watkins, Ph.D., CEO, Mercury Data Science (MDS); Partner/Co-Founder, Mercury Fund

Texas is known for having incredible research and clinical care, but very few assets fully commercialized in Texas. This discussion is focused on early stage biotech companies in Texas, discussing the new resources that are available to investigators and founders and what still needs to be built out to see more successful biotech startups in the state.
 

Roger Trinh, Owner, Roger Trinh Talent Solutions

CaseCTRL
Dynamic Light
Crosscope
WAVi

Moderator | John (JR) Reale, Venture Lead, TMC Venture Fund, Managing Director, Integr8d Capital

Kyle Robertson, Vice President, Press Ganey; Co-Founder and CEO, NarrativeDx (acquired by Press Ganey)

Rachel Stillman, Senior Associate, 7wireVentures

Moderator | Jaye Thompson, Ph.D., Vice President Clinical & Regulatory Affairs, Greenwich LifeSciences; Clinical Advisor, Proxima

Bruce Butler, Ph.D., Vice President, Research and Technology Director, Office of Technology Management, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Michael Dilling, Ph.D., Executive Director, Commercialization, Technology Management; BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine 

John Schultz, Director, Office of Technology Transfer, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute

Gabrielle Guttman, Business Operations Senior Lead, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS

Ricardo Jimenez, Vice President of Technical Operations, Neurogene

Vince Flickinger, Senior Associate, Design Director, Gensler

Daniel Crank, Senior Associate, Studio Director (Lab Design), Gensler

With research and technology rapidly evolving, scientific startup companies need flexible spaces that provide the foundation and resources for growth and expansion. This session will focus on the benefits of accelerator/incubator spaces and provide attendees with perspectives from an accelerator/incubator owner, a startup company, and lab designer. The case study will predominantly focus on the JLABS @ TMC location.

Neurogene, a startup company that was previously housed in JLABS incubator spaces, will share their success story and lessons learned after transitioning out of the incubator space and moving into a location of their own. Neurogene and Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, will further explain how the original incubator space was designed as a flexible work environment that also supported opportunities for growth.

Gensler has designed multiple award-winning spaces for JLABS, including the TMC location, and is currently the design architect for Neurogene's new location. Gensler will discuss the importance of place for ideation and innovation while also touching on the types of traits necessary for renovating existing buildings to meet specific lab needs.

Brad Burke, Managing Director, Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship

Kristin Naidysh, J.D., Attorney, Winstead 

Initial public offerings (IPOs) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) offer two different exit and fundraising strategies for emerging technology companies. This presentation will focus on the nuances between IPOs and SPACs to equip life sciences founders with the tools they need to prepare for the future of their ventures. Topics include: pros and cons of IPOs vs. SPACs, emerging trends, and practical implications.

Chester Koh, M.D., Professor of Urology, Pediatrics, and OB/GYN, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine; Director, Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC)  

George Hutchinson, CEO, Invictus

Christine Luk, Associate Principal, Fannin Innovation Studio

Daniel Powell, CEO, Spark Biomedical 
 
Isabella Schmitt, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Proxima 
 
This panel discussion is focused on the challenges that face pediatric device development and how Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC), the FDA-funded multi-institutional pediatric device consortium that is based at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, and Fannin Innovation Studio, assists innovators to overcome the challenges. The discussion includes two panelists who are pediatric device innovators and will be followed by an update on a proposed national ecosystem for pediatric device development.  The intended audience is entrepreneurs, investors, academicians, clinicians, engineers, students, and trainees who are interested in learning more about pediatric device development. 

Corveus Medical (Formerly Caridian Medical)
Tesa Medical
Vivifi Medical
Starling Medical
NeuraStasis
Lifelet Medical
XN Health 
Eisana

Jonathan Gallion, Ph.D., Principal Data Scientist, Mercury Data Science
Angela Holmes, COO, Mercury Data Science
Dan Watkins, Ph.D., CEO, Mercury Data Science; Partner & Co-Founder, Mercury Fund

Increasingly AI is a differentiator in life science and healthcare, allowing companies to use the power of data science to improve patient outcomes, develop new drugs, and efficiently automate workflows. Panelists will discuss trends that they are seeing for how AI is changing the landscape in biopharma, medical devices, and healthcare software. Panelists will also discuss how companies can more rapidly gain insights from data sets and will provide considerations for an AI-based competitive strategy.

Moderator | Juan Pablo Segura, Co-Founder and President, Babyscripts
Sean Blackwell, M.D.,Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, McGovern Medical School-UTHealth
Andrea Caracostis, M.D., CEO, Hope Clinic
Donica O'Connor, Director of Practice Operations, Privia Health Gulf Coast

Rates of maternal and infant mortality are elevated in Texas. This panel will include local leaders in OB and community care to discuss the current state and what the future of Obstetrics can do to better care for moms and babies in Texas.
 

NERv Technology
Cubresa
Breathe BioMedical (formerly Picomole)
OncoDrex
Vena Medical

Fiona Mack, Ph.D., Head of JLABS @ TMC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Johnson & Johnson

Rachel Rath, Director, BARDA Alliance, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Johnson & Johnson

Christopher Pavlos, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development, Jurata Thin Film

Upendra Marathi, Ph.D., President & CEO, 7 Hills Pharma

Curious about resources that are available to early-stage innovators in Texas? This discussion will cover opportunities available when accessing the support of a life science incubator, like Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS and public-private partnerships, like Blue Knight. These types of resources may offer guidance and support for navigating development and commercialization, to ultimately bring potential solutions to patients more efficiently. We’ll showcase two local Blue Knight companies from JLABS @ TMC, 7 Hills Pharma and Jurata Thin Film, who will discuss their experiences with these resources. You will learn about areas of interest for Blue Knight, as well as the unique strengths of the Texas region and potential alignment.

YAP Therapeutics
4M Therapeutics
Drusolv Therapeutics
TEZCAT Laboratories
Aether Therapeutics
Ares Immunotherapy

Moderator | Aleece Hobson, Venture Partner, HX Venture Fund

Rima Chakrabarti, M.D., Partner, KdT Ventures

Michelle Ho, Ph.D., Senior Associate, 5AM Ventures

Tim Marx, Venture Partner, Baird Capital

Jorge Ramirez, Head of Investments, Trialspark Investments

Amplified Sciences
EMPIRI
Lantha Sensors
Hera Biotech
CellChorus
Matica Biotechnology
Cx Precision Medicine

Cindy WalkerPeach, Ph.D., Chief Product Development Officer, Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas

Kieron Jones, CEO & President, K2Bio

Maxwell Biosciences
Immatics US
7 Hills Pharma
Hummingbird Bioscience
Tachyon Therapeutics
Yaso Therapeutics
Ridgeline Therapeutics

Arthur Greenspan, J.D., Partner, Perkins Coie (New York Office)

Valeska Pederson Hintz, J.D., Partner, Perkins Coie (Austin Office)

Andrew (Andy) Smetana, J.D., Partner, Perkins Coie (Austin Office)

Building and funding a life science company in a “move fast and break things” culture brings inherent challenges as the pressure to grow competes with the “do no harm” ethic and legal obligations to investors and customers. Join for a discussion of lessons learned from Theranos’ meteoric rise and fall, including a review of facts revealed in the Elizabeth Holmes trial and conviction.  This panel will include emerging company lawyers with in-house experience, who routinely help companies and investors navigate fundraisings, disclosure and due diligence obligations, and corporate governance, as well as a seasoned white collar litigator who regularly advises on high-stakes criminal, legislative, and regulatory investigations and proceedings, internal investigations, and securities and other litigation.

Spark Biomedical
Bluejay Diagnostics
Vascular Perfusion Solutions
Solenic Medical
Roboligent
CorInnova
Lapovations
Nia Therapeutics

10 Most Promising Companies 
Michael E. DeBakey Award

Please join us for an hour of networking as we highlight the companies presenting at today's event.