BioTalk with Rich Bendis Podcast

A very interesting episode of BioTalk where Srujana Cherukuri, Ph.D. discusses her path from Intern to CEO and where the company is headed next

Before becoming CEO, Dr. Cherukuri served in multiple roles at Noble Life Sciences including Chief Operations Officer, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President of Product Development and Operations, and Director of Scientific Affairs.  In her previous roles at Noble, Dr. Cherukuri was instrumental in optimizing new preclinical animal models and streamlining operations to achieve operational efficiency.  In addition, Dr. Cherukuri led the successful consolidation of Noble operations at the Spring Valley Laboratories site. Prior to joining Noble, Dr. Cherukuri held positions at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, National Cancer Institute and University of Maryland where she led projects focused on understanding the basic biology and mechanistic actions in cancer cells. Dr. Cherukuri has expertise in diverse areas of Biology and has 12+ years of research experience in the areas of oncology and stem cell biology.  Dr. Cherukuri completed her PhD in biology at Cleveland State University.

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BioTalk Host Rich Bendis sits down with Anne Lindblad, Ph.D., President, and CEO of Emmes, to discuss her view of the region, her history with the company, and their mission, vision, and values.

Anne Lindblad, Ph.D., joined Emmes in 1982 as a Biostatistician and is currently the President and CEO. She has supported clinical research throughout her career, serving as Principal Investigator of projects spanning diverse disease areas, including neurology, ophthalmology, oncology, dialysis, transplantation, speech and hearing, and dentistry. Dr. Lindblad has been an NIH reviewer on multiple project applications for NINDS, NEI, NICHD, NIDCR, NIDDK, and NCCAM and has served as a member or chair of several Data and Safety Monitoring Committees for NEI, NIAAA, NIDDK, and NINDS. She was a member of an Advisory Committee charged with drafting policy to shape the appropriate planning and conduct of intramural studies at NIH. She was elected to the Board of Directors for the Society for Clinical Trials (2003-2006) and served as Program Chair (2002), as an Officer (2006-2014), and as President (2012-2013). Dr. Lindblad was selected to serve on NIH’s National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council from 2004 through 2008. She has taught courses in best practices in clinical trial design and conduct for ophthalmologists, neurologists, and immunologists. She has published and presented over 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Dr. Lindblad joined the Board of BioHealth Innovation in 2018.  Emmes has grown from 15 employees in 1982 to over 650 globally. In 2019 Emmes announced a significant investment by Behrman Capital which will allow Emmes to gain access to new tools, talent, service offerings, and expanded footprint faster than what Emmes might otherwise have accomplished.

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Charles Andres, Ph.D., RAC, is an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He focuses on patent prosecution, strategic patent counseling, IP due diligence, drug and medical device FDA regulatory counseling, invalidity and non-infringement opinions, life-cycle management, Supreme Court and Federal Circuit amicus briefs, and related business matters.Charles Andres, Ph.D., RAC, is an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He focuses on patent prosecution, strategic patent counseling, IP due diligence, drug and medical device FDA regulatory counseling, invalidity and non-infringement opinions, life-cycle management, Supreme Court and Federal Circuit amicus briefs, and related business matters.

Charlie has significant experience drafting patent applications, prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. and abroad, and evaluating the claims of issued patents. He has won cases before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences by brief and on oral argument. Patents Charlie has obtained have been listed in the Orange Book and asserted against a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, and he has drafted and filed multiple applications for patent term extension. Companies he has obtained patents for have been sold for a cumulative total of approximately $4 billion.

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Dr. Julia Finkel, Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Children's National Medical Center, joins Biotalk host Rich Bendis to discuss pain care management, the founding of startup AlgometRx, and the funding of this new companyDr. Julia Finkel, Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Children's National Medical Center, joins Biotalk host Rich Bendis to discuss pain care management, the founding of startup AlgometRx, and the funding of this new company.

Julia Finkel, M.D., is a pediatric anesthesiologist and director Pain Medicine Research and Development in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.

Dr. Finkel has extensive experience designing and conducting clinical trials relating to analgesics in children and has received both industry and federal funding of her research. Dr. Finkel is regularly invited to speak at national meetings on topics related to pediatric pain management.

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William E. Bentley is the Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Chair of Engineering and the Inaugural Director of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices. He is appointed in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering as well as the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park and the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research. At Maryland since 1989, Dr. Bentley has focused his research on the development of molecular tools that facilitate the expression of biologically active proteins and on materials incorporated into biomedical devices, having authored over 300 related archival publications

He is a fellow of AAAS, ACS, AIMBE, and the American Academy of Microbiology. He has served on advisory committees for the NIH, NSF, DOD, DOE, FDA, USDA, and several state agencies and has mentored over 40 PhDs and 25 postdocs, many now in leadership roles within industry (24), federal agencies (5) and academia (26). He co-founded a protein manufacturing company, Chesapeake PERL, based on insect larvae as mini bioreactors.

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Emily English, CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics sits down with BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss company's history, the path to her role, and the evolution of their technology.

Emily English, CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics sits down with BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss company's history, the path to her role, and the evolution of their technology. Emily P. English, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Gemstone Biotherapeutics, LLC. Dr. English is a proven innovator and manager with a passion for transitioning early-stage technologies to operational capabilities and commercial products. In her current role, she is guiding the commercialization of Gemstone’s innovative biomaterials technology, with a goal of bringing solutions for scar-free skin regeneration to market. Prior to joining Gemstone, Dr. English spent eight years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where she was the Global Communications Program Manager and led a team of 35 scientists and engineers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna cum laude, in chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Outside of work, Dr. English enjoys spending time with her family, and she is an avid curler.

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Correction: This story originally published on 10/16 included a 2nd paragraph referencing a previous guest of BioTalk and not Monica Lopez, PhD

La Petite Noiseuse Productions Co-Founder and Executive Scientific & Artistic Director Monica Lopez, Ph.D. joins BioTalk Host Rich Bendis to discuss her career path, their consulting services, science-art integration, multidisciplinary thinking and doing in healthcare, and STEM-STEAMM education for workplace challenges of the future.

Dr. Lopez is a multilingual cognitive scientist, educator, entrepreneur, multidisciplinary artist, public speaker, and writer. At her company, Dr. Lopez leads a unique R&D program within creativity and human intelligence with the goal of advancing artificial intelligence. The result has been a novel model that merges the cognitive brain sciences with the arts, and forms the basis of the company’s consulting services in different industries (healthcare, autonomous systems, education, entertainment, and cyber) with clients from Boston, New York, and San Francisco and Europe (France, Belgium, Austria, United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany). To prepare leaders for the challenges of tomorrow, Dr. Lopez has created since 2009, as faculty at Johns Hopkins University and Peabody Institute, a STEAMM education platform. Prior to co-founding her company, she worked in business development, product evaluation, marketing, communications, and strategic partnering in various languages. Dr. Lopez is a frequent keynote and plenary speaker and panelist at international and national venues. She holds BA degrees in Psychology and French, and a MA and PhD in Cognitive Science, all from Johns Hopkins University, a Certificate of Art in Photography from Maryland Institute College of Art, and was a postdoctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Lopez has been recognized as a "particularly imaginative polymath" by the Imagination Institute of the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center. She has been a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow and distinguished guest with their Board of Directors.

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In this episode of BioTalk, Rich Bendis and guest Brian Darmody discuss growth across the region, the battle for talent and the upcoming AURP International Conference hosted in College Park.

Brian Darmody is responsible for developing projects, funding opportunities, and policies to support partnerships with the private sector. Previously he was the University's  Associate Vice President for Research and Development, Director of the University of Maryland Center for Applied Policy Studies, Director of State and Federal Relations in the UMD President's Office, and served in the  University's legal counsel's office. He serves on national and state boards, including Maryland Technology Council Executive Board, Fraunhofer USA, the Maryland Economic Development Association 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.

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Jeff Gallagher, CEO of Virginia Bio sits down with BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss accomplishments, challenges, and initiatives in his state and the BioHealth Capital Region.

Jeff is responsible for leading the premier statewide trade group that promotes the considerable scientific and economic impact of the life sciences industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to taking on the leadership of Virginia Bio in May 2012, Jeff was a co-founder and served as VP & General Counsel for Lyotropic Therapeutics. This small specialty pharma company used its proprietary formulation technology to create new drug products based on both NCIs and already approved API for license, further development and commercialization by mid and large pharma. Previously he practiced corporate law in Richmond, focusing on new technology company formation, international business and intellectual property transactions. He was a co-founder and longtime Chairman of the Richmond based nonprofit World Pediatric Project. He holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard, a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and an LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Virginia School of Law. He resides with his family in the Ginter Park area of Richmond, VA.

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Dr. Bill Hearl is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (“ITI”).  He is an experienced and successful scientific businessman and bio-entrepreneur, having founded both ITI and formerly Capital Genomix in 2000.   Dr. Hearl has moved ITI steadily forward from an initial license agreement with the Geron Corporation in 2006 to an animal health license in 2012 and then most recently to two license deals with Astellas Pharma for the treatment of allergies, one for Japanese red cedar and a second global allergy license.  The second deal brought ITI an upfront payment of $300,000,000 and established the Company as one of the leading entities in nucleic acid research.   Dr. Hearl funded the Company by following a strategy of seeking a series of angel investment rounds which raised in aggregate over $12 million to drive the development of its allergy products.   Prior to founding ITI and Capital Genomix, he was a senior executive at Kirkegaard & Perry Labs and then held various R&D positions at Life Technologies and Pharmacia.   Dr. Hearl holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee (Oak Ridge & Knoxville) and holds multiple patents in the field of gene immunization.

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