Commercial Relevance Advisory Board

Principal, BioEnterprises LLC

Dr. Jesse Baumgold attended Oberlin College, and obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester Medical Center. His academic career included 12 years of basic biomedical research at the NIH, and an appointment as Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Radiology at The George Washington University Medical Center. He published over 50 scientific papers in the field of receptor-mediated signal transduction, 4 patents, and landed well over a million dollars of grant support. In 1994, Dr. Baumgold founded Receptor Biology Inc which was the first American company to produce and cell GPCR reagents to the drug discovery community. In 2004, he founded Applied Cell Sciences which provided GPCR products and cell culture services to the drug discovery community. Applied Cell Sciences merged with Cleveland-based ChanTest Corporation in 2009 and Dr. Baumgold currently serves as a Vice President for Product Services. He retains his passion for entrepreneurial companies and is on the Board of Directors of Plasmonix Inc and a member of the Dingman Angels, Active Angels and the Chesapeake Emerging Opportunities club.

Senior Director, External Partnerships & Collaborations, MedImmune

Jarrod Borkat is a 15-year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry. He joined MedImmune in 2010, where he currently serves as Senior Director/Head, Global External Partnerships & Collaborations. In this role he is responsible for establishing and overseeing global strategic collaborations with universities, non-profit organizations and government entities, across all the therapeutic areas relevant to MedImmune. His team led the creation of several multi-million dollar collaborations, including one with Johns Hopkins University and one with University of Maryland. Prior to this role, Jarrod led the Portfolio Strategy & Management function for MedImmune, helping the organization optimize its R&D portfolio. Before joining MedImmune, Jarrod worked at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for 11 years, rising through the ranks in the sales and commercial organization. During his time at BI, he spent two years in Germany, working at their corporate headquarters, leading the global commercial strategy for their CNS franchise. His last position prior to leaving BI was Director of U.S. Marketing, HIV. Jarrod has won multiple awards throughout his career, including being recognized as an industry “Top 25 Direct-to-Consumer Marketer of the Year” in 2007. He is also active in several industry organizations and has served on industry-related panels. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Jarrod serves on the Kentlands Board of Trustees and the Kentlands Community Foundation Board. He also ran a marathon on all 7 continents with his father, making them the first father/son duo to have accomplished this challenging endeavor. Jarrod earned an M.B.A. from Kennesaw State University, with concentrations in finance and marketing, and earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Georgia.

NaviMed Capital

Mr. Chan started working with NaviMed Capital in 2012 where he focuses on investing in privately held healthcare companies. Prior to NaviMed, Mr. Chan was part of the healthcare investment team at Siemens Venture Capital. Based out of Boston and Beijing, he evaluated and sourced healthcare deals worldwide, performed research on various market sectors and supported portfolio companies. Mr. Chan also held an investment role at SAC Capital and a marketing role at Medtronic Cardiovascular. Mr. Chan started his career developing a molecular diagnostic technology at a venture backed company. At Siemens Venture Capital, Mr. Chan was a Board Observer at MD Datacor and actively involved in the following investments: BioImagene, RadPharm, China Diagnostics, U-Systems and Cylex. Mr. Chan was a founding fellow of the Startup Leadership Program in 2007 and has mentored various start-ups to raise over $30 million in venture financing to date. Mr. Chan holds a B.S. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development, UMD
Director of Corporate Relations, UMD

Brian Darmody is responsible for developing projects, funding opportunities, and policies to support partnerships with private and government sectors. Previously he was the University's director of state and federal relations in the President's Office, and served in the legal counsel's office. He serves on national and state boards, including Fruanhofer USA, National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, Maryland Venture Authority, the Technology Council of Maryland, Maryland Space Business Roundtable and is past President of the Association of University Research Parks.He has served on the staff for the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration Office of Attorney-Advisor, and the Maryland General Assembly. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore.

Sr. Director, Scientific Services, Emergent BioSolutions

Moustapha El-Amine is a Senior Director and the Head of the Scientific Services (Affairs) department at Emergent Biosolutions Inc.  His role is to lead and manage technical due diligence activities associated with merger and new product acquisition activities and to develop corporate processes to evaluate internal preclinical and research programs in oncology, autoimmunity and infectious diseases.  He also assesses the development status and scientific progress of all preclinical and research programs in all platforms at Emergent BioSolutions.  In his role Dr. El-Amine continuously monitors and evaluates new technologies and selects those that are of interest to Emergent Biosolutions.  Before Joining Emergent Dr. El-Amine was a Principal Investigator at Dynport Vaccines (DVC, Inc.) leading a Vaccine program for DoD and before that he lead the iLT patch vaccine program at Iomai corp (Later Acquired by Intercell).  Dr. El-Amine has a Bachelor degree in Biology from the American University of Beirut (AUB, Beirut, Lebanon), a Masters in Molecular Endocrinology from Laval University (Quebec, Canada) and a PhD in Cell biology (Immunology) from Sherbrooke University (Sherbrooke, Canada).  Dr. El-Amine moved from Canada to Rockville, Maryland in 1997 to pursue postdoctoral training in gene-therapy/immunology at the American Red Cross, Jerome Holland Laboratories in David Scott’s Lab.  Dr. El-Amine is completing an MBA at the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University.

President & CEO, Altimmune, Inc.

William "Bill" Enright joined Vaxin in June 2008 and currently serves as a Director, President & CEO. Prior to joining Vaxin, Mr. Enright spent six years with GenVec, Inc. with increasing responsibilities including the Head of Business Development. Mr. Enright was responsible for helping to build GenVec's vaccine business including approximately $140M of funding for vaccine related initiatives and moving four vaccines into clinical development. Mr. Enright brings more than 23 years of experience in a variety of positions within the life science/biotech industry, including time as a consultant, a bench scientist and 12 years with Life Technologies, Corp. (previously Invitrogen), working in various senior level licensing, business management, manufacturing and research roles. Mr. Enright received a Master of Arts in Molecular Biology from SUNY at Buffalo and a Master of Science in Business Management from Johns Hopkins University.

BioIT Solutions, Inc.

Michael Fannon is the President and Founder of BioIT Solutions, Inc. in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mike has over 20 years of experience in the design, development and management of systems focused on Biotechnology research, development, clinical trials and product manufacturing. Mike is the chief architect of the BioIT Solutions Portal Products that form the foundation of logical, consistent and responsive systems tailored to solve complex data management problems. Mike was VP and Chief Information Officer of Human Genome Sciences, Inc. from 1994 through 2005 where he managed the design and implementation of computerized systems to support HGS's high-volume laboratory data collection, biological research, clinical data management, product development, manufacturing and business operations. Prior to joining HGS, Mike was the founder and president of TSI Consulting and held a series of technical and management positions with Martin Marietta's Information Systems Group. Mike earned an MBA in Operations Analysis from The American University, and a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

Vice President, R&D, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Jim Hughes became Vice President of Research and Development for the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) in December 2001. UMB's nationally prominent schools of dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work make it one of the top ten public academic healthcare centers in the country. Mr. Hughes' office is responsible for expanding and administering sponsored research and technology commercialization at UMB. He is also leading UMB's efforts to develop the UMB Bio Park, an ten-acre, one million square-foot research park that will employ over 2500 people. Prior to joining UMB, Mr. Hughes worked for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) for six years, most recently as director of Technology and International Business. He led DBED's efforts to recruit foreign-based businesses and technology-driven businesses to locate facilities in Maryland. Mr. Hughes has an MBA from the Columbia Business School and a BA from Davidson College.

CEO, GlycoMimetics, Inc.

Rachel King is co-founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics, Inc. (GMI), a biotechnology company which has so far raised over $60 million in venture capital financing and recently completed a strategic partnership with Pfizer. Before founding GMI, she was an Executive in Residence at New Enterprise Associates, one of the nation's leading venture capital firms. Mrs. King came to NEA after serving as a Senior Vice President of Novartis Corporation. Before joining Novartis, Mrs. King spent ten years with Genetic Therapy, Inc. through the company's early stage, initial public offering, and eventual sale to Novartis. There she held various positions, including as the Company's CEO. Mrs. King also worked previously at ALZA Corporation in Palo Alto, California and at Bain and Company in Boston. She received her B.A degree from Dartmouth College and her MBA from Harvard Business School. Mrs. King currently serves on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Association ("BIO"). At BIO, she is Vice Chair of the Health Section Governing Board and is a former Chair of the Emerging Companies Governing Board. She is also a Member of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley and of the Board of Directors of the MDBIO Foundation.

Director, Center of Connected Health, Adventist Healthcare

Arumani Manisundaram is founding Director for the Center for Connected Health at Adventist HealthCare, based in Rockville, Maryland. Manisundaram's strategic vision has led the development of Adventist HealthCare's HIE, an IT advancement that securely connects both hospital and office-based care environments, and the organization's Ambulatory Care EHR Support Program (ACES), which has propelled the adoption of EHR systems by more than 300 community medical providers in Maryland. He was previously a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton as Program Manager for the National Cancer Institute's caGRID (cancer grid). He currently serves on the MSO Advisory Board and Telehealth Advisory Group for the Maryland HealthCare Commission.

Partner
NEA

Sara Nayeem, M.D. is a Principal with New Enterprise Associates, a diversified venture capital firm with $13B in committed capital. Sara joined NEA's healthcare team in January 2009 and focuses on investments in biopharmaceutical companies. She serves on the boards of Mersana and Cydan and as a board observer for Epizyme, Omthera and Zyngenia. She has also been involved in NEA's investments in Tesaro, Prosensa, and 3-V Biosciences. Prior to joining NEA, Sara was an Associate with Merrill Lynch's Global Healthcare Group, where she advised biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies on numerous mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions. Previously, she worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley. She has conducted basic science research in mammalian cardiac development and clinical research in age-related macular degeneration. Sara concurrently earned her M.D. (cum laude) and MBA from Yale University, where she was a Yale MBA Scholar. She received her AB (magna cum laude) in Biological Sciences from Harvard University.

CEO | Co-Founder, Care at Hand (Acq by Mindoula Health)

Dr. Ostrovsky is a practicing physician and social entrepreneur who co-founded Care at Hand. He continues to lead Care at Hand’s executive management and strategic vision since its acquisition by Mindoula Health.

He has led teams at the World Health Organization, United States Senate, and San Francisco Health Department toward health system strengthening through technology. Andrey has contributed to legislation at the city and national level to advance care delivery for vulnerable populations. And he serves on several boards and committees dedicated to interoperability standards, quality improvement, and innovation including the National Quality Forum, Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), and the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), among others. He is a published researcher in quality improvement, healthcare innovation, and care coordination.

Andrey holds a Medical Doctorate and undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Psychology Magna cum Laude, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Andrey completed his pediatrics residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital where he was a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. He is teaching faculty and attending physician at Children's National Medical Center.

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, BioMarker Strategies

As Principal of Policy Advocates, Inc., from 1995-2001, Mr. Parrott's clients included HGS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ciba-Geigy, Diversa, Genentech, HealthCare Ventures, Hoffmann-La Roche, Western Digital and Wyeth. During this period, he helped take public both 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, subsequently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, and InforMax, Inc., subsequently acquired by Invitrogen. He previously held senior policy and corporate communications management positions with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (1979-1995), American Hospital Supply Corporation (1976-1979), and Walgreen Company (1973-1976).

Mr. Parrott has helped launch important therapeutic products in immunology, oncology, infectious disease and pain relief, and has helped bring two prescription products over the counter. He received his B.A. from the University of South Florida and attended graduate school as a University Fellow at Northwestern University. Mr. Parrott currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Maryland Health Care Product Development Corporation, Senior Advisor to the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board, and as a Director of the Tech Council of Maryland and MdBio. He formerly served as Chair of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Committee on Outreach and Alliance Development, Chair of the Rx Partners health care reform coalition, Founding Trustee of the Foundation for Genetic Medicine, and Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development.

Dr. Harsha Rajasimha has over 15 years of experience and widely recognized in the field of systems biology, Genomics BigData analytics, rare diseases and precision medicine for cancer. Dr. Rajasimha is currently global head of life sciences R&D IT solutions for Dell. He co-directs the center for metabolic and rare diseases at George Mason University. Before this, he led the global strategy and business development for Strand Life Sciences, a CAP/CLIA laboratory and Bioinformatics powerhouse for precision medicine, between 2013 and 2016.  

A serial entrepreneur, Dr. Rajasimha founded Jeeva Informatics Solutions (www.Jeevadx.com) in 2013, a BigData Informatics Company that received the ‘Bioscience Company of the Year 2014’ award from Montgomery County, MD. He is co-founder and board member of the non-profit organization for rare diseases India (www.ordindia.org) and established mechanisms to accelerate rare disease diagnosis, public health policies and accessibility of treatments for patients in India. Dr. Rajasimha has led the development of some of the largest genomics projects including PathogenPortal, Pathosystems resource integration center, Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG), LIMS implementation at the FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, architected Genome Explorer® a web-based platform for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis for Genome International Corporation and Cyberinfrastructure development for National Eye Institute's genomics program. His contributions to the NGS program were recognized by NEI director’s innovation award in 2012. 

An accomplished scientist, Dr. Rajasimha has authored over 15 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and is often invited speaker at international conferences. He has contributed to global standards initiatives such as BioPAX, DELSAGlobal, personalized medicine coalition, and the global alliance for genomics and health. He earned baccalaureate degree in computer science engineering from Bangalore University, Masters in Computer Science & Bioinformatics and Doctoral degree in interdisciplinary program genetics, bioinformatics and computational biology from Virginia Tech.

Principal, J. Rosario et Al, LLC

Biomedical entrepreneur, physician, leader, advocate, educator, and biomedical researcher with thirty four consecutive years of experience in strategic clinical research development, effective public-private partnerships, international multidisciplinary collaborations, biomedical education, science administration, and organizational development in the United States and around the world. Superior leadership, organization, management, communication and negotiation skills. Extensive national and international professional network in medicine, biotechnology, government, multilateral organizations, industry, and philanthropy.

Rick Soni is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, a publically-traded clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. He has held this position since August, 2009. Prior to that, he also served as Chief Business Officer from July 2008 to August 2009. While at Rexahn, Mr. Soni has been instrumental in transforming Rexahn from a discovery stage company to a clinical stage company and has formed a major licensing partnership between Rexahn and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining Rexahn, Mr. Soni held various management positions within Otsuka from June 1997 until July 2008 and was responsible for development and commercialization of otsuka’s successful product portfolio. Prior to Otsuka, Mr. Soni also held several management roles within New Product Planning, Sales and Marketing at Novartis and Schering-Plough (now Merck).

Mr. Soni received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Wisconsin- Madison and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.