Dr. Kalayoglu is co-founder and CEO of Cartesian Therapeutics, a clinical-stage cell and gene therapy company headquartered in Gaithersburg.  Prior to Cartesian, Dr. Kalayoglu was co-founder and CEO of Topokine, which he led from concept to late-stage clinical trials, followed by a successful sale to Allergan (NYSE:AGN). Dr. Kalayoglu was also co-founder and COO of HealthHonors Corporation, which he led from concept to commercialization, followed by a successful sale to Healthways (NASDAQ:HWAY). Dr. Kalayoglu is a board-certified ophthalmologist who completed his residency and research Fellowship at Harvard, MD/PhD in immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Dr. Crystal Icenhour received her PhD in Pathobiology, training at Mayo Clinic and Duke.  Dr. Icenhour was named outstanding entrepreneur by Kauffman Foundation and is focused on translating new technologies to improve world health. Dr. Icenhour is an expert in infectious disease and her mission is to change EVERYTHING about how infection is identified. Dr. Icenhour co-founded, lead, and exited her first company, Phthisis Diagnostics, in 2013.  In 2014 Dr. Icenhour was recruited as founding CEO of Aperiomics in Ashburn, Virginia. Aperiomics’ mission is to disrupt healthcare through better identification of infection.

Mr. Gregory is a skilled and experienced CEO and Board Member with 30 years of progressively challenging responsibilities in the Healthcare Sector.  His experience spans numerous companies and positions including Executive Officer roles across successful start-up companies (Neuronix, Advanced Dx, NeuroMetrix, PrimeSource Healthcare), and leadership roles in Fortune 250 companies (Johnson & Johnson, Baxter, and Kendall Healthcare).  Gary has also served in Board roles from Chairman, Director, and Advisor to numerous organizations. He is recognized as a proven executive leader with big company capabilities and a start-up company mindset.

Mr. Gregory holds a BS in Economics and Minor in Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University.

As the UIDP’s President, Tony is a leading expert on university-industry relations and over the past 29 years, he has gained significant experience and insights by working in the academic, corporate, government and non-profit sectors. Tony holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of South Carolina and a B.S. in Chemistry and Political Science from Furman University. Tony also serves as a consultant for government agencies, non-profit organizations and corporations and is the former Chair of the MedStar Health Research Institute. Tony is married to Dr. Laura Boccanfuso, who founded Van Robotics; along with their three children, they reside in Columbia, SC.

Alex Philippidis specializes in biopharma business news and industry issues as Senior News Editor for GEN / Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, sister publication Clinical OMICs, and the parent company for both publications, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

GEN covers the entire bioproduct life cycle, including drug discovery, early-stage R&D, applied research (e.g., omics, biomarkers, and diagnostics), bioprocessing, and commercialization. Alex joined GEN in 2011 after four years at GenomeWeb L.L.C., where he covered research institutes and spent three years following biotech economic development as editor of the weekly newsletter BioRegion News.

Clinical OMICs covers the application of OMICs technologies in molecular and precision medicine for patients. The publication was launched in 2014 by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., for which Alex also edits newsletters focused on CRISPR and gene editing, palliative medicine, and the integration of integration of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) into global healthcare.

Previously, Alex worked more than 20 years for various newspapers covering business, science, Navy, and general-interest news, including the Westchester County Business Journal, where he served as Editor-in-Chief and held reporting positions from 1994 to 2007. Alex reported for Soundings, an independent newspaper covering the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in Norfolk, VA, from 1992-1993; and reported for Gannett Suburban Newspapers (now The Journal News) in White Plains, NY, from 1987-1992.

He has been interviewed and quoted by news outlets that include The New York Times, the BBC, WCBS-TV (CBS2 New York), Triad Business Journal, and WHYY-FM, the NPR station serving the Philadelphia region.

In his spare time, Alex enjoys solving crossword puzzles, watching classic TV game shows, and traveling with his family.

Dendy Young is the Managing Partner of McLean Capital, LLC, a private equity firm, based in McLean, VA, which focuses on investments in early-stage companies. He is also a member of Blu Venture Investors, an angel investment company that supports early stage companies in the Washington DC area through which he has built a portfolio of more than 15 young companies.

From January 1996 to 2006, Mr. Young was CEO of GTSI Corp. (NASDAQ: GTSI), a $1+ billion enterprise services and solutions provider. Prior to GTSI, Mr. Young served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Falcon Microsystems, Inc. and, before that, Falcon Systems, Inc.

Mr. Young serves on the Executive Committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). He is Chairman of the Board of Qlarion, Inc., which provides innovative business analytics to government, and Perthera Inc. which is commercializing a breakthrough in personalized medicine for patients with cancer, and is on the Board of Public Relay, Inc.

Mr. Young lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife, Andrea. He holds a SB in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Dr. Bing Yao is the CEO of Viela Bio, a spinoff from MedImmune. He has 20 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a track record of leading successful discovery and development of multiple biotherapeutics. He has served in key leadership roles in and lent critical contribution to the development and approval of multiple biologic products including: IMFINZI, FASENRA, and Siliq.
Previously, Dr. Yao has served as the SVP of MedImmune, Head of Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmune and the Former Head of Immuno-oncology Franchise of AstraZeneca. In addition, he has former leadership roles with Genentech and Tanox.

Jacob Vogelstein is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Camden Partners Holdings, LLC, where he focuses on Camden’s seed strategy. He currently serves on the board of Cage Pharmaceuticals, eNeura, Mind-X and Metabolon. Prior to joining Camden, Jacob was a founding partner of the seed-stage venture capital firm Gamma 3, LLC, and a Program Manager at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, where he made investments in high-risk, high-reward research to benefit the US Intelligence Community. Earlier in his career, Jacob served on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, in both the Applied Physics Laboratory and the Whiting School of Engineering.

Jacob has received widespread recognition for his innovative work in biomedical engineering over the past decade.  In 2017, he was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering.  He has been an invited speaker for diverse audiences ranging from BBC News to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications, and has three patents pending in the fields of neuroprosthetics and brain-machine interfaces.

Jacob earned a Sc.B. degree from Brown University in Bio-Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Amitabh Varshney is a Professor of Computer Science and Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. In his research, Varshney explores applications of high-performance computing and visualization in engineering, science, and medicine. He has worked on a number of research areas including visual saliency, summarization of large visual datasets, and visual computing for big data. He is currently exploring applications of virtual and augmented reality in several applications, including healthcare and telemedicine. Varshney is a Fellow of IEEE and has served in various roles on the IEEE Visualization and Graphics Technical Committee, including as its Chair (2008–2012). He also received the IEEE Visualization Technical Achievement Award in 2004.