Saurabh (Rob) Aggarwal

Rob Aggarwal, PhD, is a Principal and Co-Founder of Novel Health Strategies, a life sciences consulting firm based in Bethesda, MD. Mr. Aggarwal has led more than a hundred US and global health care strategy projects. Under Mr. Aggarwal's leadership, Novel Health has been chosen as the preferred consulting partner of Fortune 500 biopharmaceutical and device firms. Before Novel Health, he was at Sanford C. Bernstein (New York), IMS (New York) and Parexel (Washington DC). Mr. Aggarwal has published several thought leading articles on life sciences industry trends, and is a frequent speaker at major conferences and meetings.

Mr. Aggarwal is the author of the annual recurring series published in Nature Biotechnology, called "What's fueling the biotech engine" (2006-2014), cited by more than four hundred publications. During 2011-13, Mr. Aggarwal was interviewed and quoted by The New York Times, Scientific American, Nature Medicine, The Gray Sheet and other leading news magazines. Mr. Aggarwal was invited by The Royal Danish Consulate to led and organize strategy workshops in Copenhagen for European biotech firms.

He holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University, where he won multiple awards and patents for his work.

Stephen P. Auvil

Stephen Auvil is the senior vice president for technology transfer and commercialization at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO). In this capacity, he oversees TEDCO's various funding programs and other programs designed to support entrepreneurial activity in the State of Maryland. TEDCO is a technology-based, economic development organization that supports early-stage technology companies - especially those commercializing technology from Maryland's universities and federal labs.

Prior to TEDCO, Stephen spent 17 years in university technology transfer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and the Johns Hopkins University. He has an undergraduate degree in biology and engineering science, and he has master's degrees in business administration and biotechnology.

Robert Bagdorf

Robert Bagdorf leads Pfizer's Search and Evaluation business development group. This function is responsible for company
outreach, asset identification, and due diligence activities across all therapeutic areas for Pfizer's innovative pharmaceutical business units. He has over 12 years experience in the identification and evaluation of licensing and acquisition opportunities on both a global and regional basis. Before assuming his current role, Bob was responsible for opportunity assessment and negotiation of transactions for the Specialty Care Business Unit.

Dr. Bagdorf is a board-certified neurologist who joined Pfizer in 1998 in Neuroscience Clinical Development. Prior to joining Pfizer, Bob had a large consultative general neurology practice and was the medical director for a community hospital neurodiagnostic center. He earned a Bachelor's degree in behavioral biology from Johns Hopkins University, an M.D. from New York University School of Medicine, and a Healthcare MBA from George Washington University. He completed his neurology residency and electrophysiology/epilepsy fellowship at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Sam Bakri

Sam Bakri is the founder and CEO of Eastern Healthcare Partners, a private equity backed start up focused on setting up focus factories in health care in the US and emerging markets. He is the former CEO and co-founder of Kind Consumer (www.kindconsumer.com) and was formerly a venture partner at singularity holdings. He has a medical degree from the University of London and has an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Fulbright scholar.

Dr. Joel Braunstein

Dr. Braunstein is a cardiologist, and co-founder and Managing Partner of LifeTech Development (LTD) Partners, a life sciences venture partnership. He is also co-founder and CEO of LifeTech Research, an affiliate of LTD established in 2003 for the purpose of providing technical and market due-diligence research services to institutional investors and emerging companies.

Dr. Braunstein has played a lead operational role in the start-up of numerous life sciences companies. He currently sits on five corporate boards: C2N Diagnostics, an Alzheimer's diagnostics / biomarker company; Tivorsan Pharmaceuticals, a biologics company developing a recombinant protein for a neuromscular disorders; 3Prime Dx, a molecular diagnostics company developing cardiac biomarkers; and NexGen Medical Systems and Correx, device companies each developing minimally-invasive cardiovascular devices.

Dr. Braunstein received his M.D. with highest distinction from Northwestern University Medical School in 1996. Subsequently, he trained in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School until 1999, and as a Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson National Clinical Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Additionally, he completed an M.B.A. with management focus in 2004 and maintained an Assistant Professor cardiology faculty position at Johns Hopkins University. He remains an advisor to the Hopkins Carey School of Business, and is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University.

Max Budyansky

Mr. Budyansky is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of BOSS Medical LLC. He also serves as a Project Engineer at Jhpiego Corp. developing low-cost medical devices for the developing country markets. Mr. Budyansky was a researcher at the Cell Mechanics Laboratory at the University of Connecticut where he developed with Professor Lykotrafitis, Micro-CGS, a novel micro-scale curvature detection technology with application to cancerous cells. Mr. Budyansky previously served as an engineering consultant to Advanced Power Systems and was a part of the Loss-of-Coolant-Accident (LOCA) group within Westinghouse Nuclear. With an M.S.E. in Bioengineering Innovation and Design from Johns Hopkins University and B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, Mr. Budyansky's engineering background emphasizes biomechanics and the application of mechanical engineering principles to medical device design and innovation.

Dr. Eugene Buff is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) and Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) with over twenty years of combined scientific, consulting and management experience. He has substantial expertise in a wide variety of industries, including but not limited to healthcare, biotechnology, medical devices, consumer products, materials and chemical manufacturing.

Dr. Buff is a Founder and President of Primary Care Innovation Consulting (PCIC), a new type of innovation management and business development firm directed towards companies' growth by open innovation. PCIC also provides variety of training programs for technology scouting and technology commercialization. Dr. Buff is also a Co-Founder and one of the Principals of UsTech Discovery LLC, technology discovery and commercialization assistance company focused on technologies and innovation management in developing economies, e.g. Israel and countries of the Former Soviet Union. For over eight years

Dr. Buff served as a Vice President at yet2.com, Inc. and lead consulting projects for yet2.com clients on both technology licensing and technology acquisitions. He has been a primary broker on several highly publicized licensing deals.

Dr. Buff earned his Master degree in Biochemistry as well as his Medical Doctor degree from Russian State Medical University. He is also a Ph.D. in Genetics and is a coauthor of 14 papers in peer reviewed international journals. Eugene is an active member of the Licensing and Technology Transfer community and serves on several committees and task forces at AUTM and LES. He is a member on many consulting and professional network organizations and often mentors and presents on issues of Intellectual Property, Innovation and Technology Transfer both in US and internationally. See http://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenebuff for Dr. Buff's complete professional profile.

Jeffrey is the Founder and Executive Director for Avancer Group, Inc. Avancer Group advises health care and life science organizations on sustainable ways to improve business performance. His professional conviction is "Closing the gap between vision and reality!" 

Professionally, Jeffrey has over twenty-five years of corporate and life science related experience. He has held numerous senior positions – including chief executive, chief financial, chief operating and chief strategic planning officer – and has served as a member of the board of directors of public and private organizations. As a management consultant, he has advised many emerging and Fortune 500 organizations. 

Academically, Jeffrey is an adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Business, Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He teaches graduate courses in capital investment and finance and performs primary research on the operational performance of clinical trials. 

Philanthropically, Jeffrey is or has been on the not-for-profit boards of the Salvation Army (Board Officer, Executive Board, Task Force Chair), Girl Scouts Council of Eastern Pennsylvania (Property Committee), United Nations on Global Leadership and Capacity Development (OHRLLS) for Business Leading Global Change, Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy (Executive Board of Advisors), Boy Scouts of America (Executive Board) and National Adoption Center (Board Member).

Jeffrey holds a Master of Science in Finance from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Engineering in Engineering Science from Penn State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Illinois Institute of Technology. He also has certificates in mergers and acquisitions from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Level 1 Change Agent from Conner Partners, and Black Belt Six Sigma from Goodwin College of Drexel University. Philanthropically,

In September 2013 Charles was named Chief Scientific Officer,Greater Asia where he is responsible for providing overall leadership for the greater Asia R&D Organization, as we seek to enhance or capabilities and product offerings for the region. Charles previously was Vice President International R&D responsible for the strategy and global performance of BD regional R&D operations with major focus on Asia. Charles retains responsibility for BD Technologies (BDT) in Research Triangle Park, NC.

In 1998 Charles was appointed BD's Vice President, Research, responsible for BD Technologies. In addition to its North Carolina activities, BD Technologies operates a small Life Science focused R&D effort in Singapore, BD Technologies engages in technology development in support of downstream product development carried out by the BD businesses. In addition, Charles and his organization champion and introduce new Innovation practices at BDT and also across BD. Charles has led the Steering Committee responsible for BD's Technology Leadership Development program part of a broader initiative to provide a pipeline of talent for the company.

From 1988 to 1998 Charles was Vice President of R&D for BD's Hypodermic and Injection Systems business. During this period the major product development work was done for BD's highly successful sharps safety products. Prior to joining BD Charles led the product development efforts for Millipore Corp in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Charles serves on the Board of NC BIO the local affiliate of BIO, the national Biotechnology industry organization. NC BIO advocates on behalf of its member companies mostly locally in North Carolina.

Charles serves on the Board of Ibiliti a non-profit focused on supporting and growing the Med Tech industry in N C and through Ibiliti's subsidiary Launch Ibility provides hospitals with innovation process services across the innovation spectrum form idea generation to technology commercialization, The innovations that are focused on are for operating efficiency and outcomes improvement.

Charles has a Ph D and MA from Princeton University an MSE degree from Johns Hopkins and a B Ch E degree from the City College of New York. Charles has numerous publications in the field of Rheology and has given many technical talks.

Charles is member of numerous professional organizations and engages in outside charitable and philanthropic efforts on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Princeton University.

Charles serves on advisory committees for the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at Princeton, the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the Chemical and BioMolecular Engineering Dept. also at Johns Hopkins.

Charles' interests and expertise are mainly in the areas of Innovation leadership in large established multi national companies and globalization of R&D.

Mr. Gottfried serves as an advisor with The Advisory Board Company. In his role, Mr. Gottfried provides strategic guidance to large health care systems. Through data-driven analysis and implementation of industry best practices, Mr. Gottfried serves as a thought partner and operational consultants for hospitals and providers seeking innovative payment strategies and pay-for-performance contracts. He has extensive experience in the healthcare field as an entrepreneur, specifically in the development, marketing and assessment of medical technologies. Mr. Gottfried is a graduate of Jonhs Hopkins MSE program in the Center forBioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) and hold a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tel Aviv Univsersity.

Albert heads the Business Development Dept for BD Technologies, responsible for technology development, management and commercialization and BD's life science incubator. He has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology industries. Prior to joining BD, he held executive business development positions at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Icagen and D-Pharm Ltd after starting his career at Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals where he served in senior clinical, marketing and business development positions in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. He is a Certified Licensing Professional, published in the field of diabetes and received an MSc Pharmacology from Rutgers University.

Daniel R. Lee is Aperion Biologics' Chief Executive Officer and has over 21 years experience in the medical device industry. Aperion is a regenerative medicine company focused on the global need for tissue based products and is currently in advanced clinical development with an animal-derived tissue scaffold for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Prior to joining Aperion (formerly CrossCart) in August 2008,

Danny was responsible for the TRUREPAIR business unit at Smith& Nephew Endoscopy (SNE). This business unit was a result of Smith & Nephew's acquisition of OsteoBiologics, Inc. (OBI) in July 2006 for $72.3 million. At OBI, Danny was responsible for global marketing activities at this early development organization focused on cartilage and bone repair technologies. Prior to joining OBI, Danny was the Director of Marketing for Regeneration Technologies, Inc. (RTI), now RTI Biologics, a leading allograft tissue processor for orthopaedic, spinal, craniofacial, and urologic surgical applications which went public in 2000. While at RTI, Danny played a key rolein creating and establishing RTI's Sports Medicine business unit.Danny spent the first ten years of his career in research and development with the U.S. Surgical Corporation (now Covidien).

Prior to joining RTI, he was the Director of the Sports Medicine Research and Development group at Surgical Dynamics, a subsidiary of U.S. Surgical Corporation. Much of his experience at U.S. Surgical focused on usingresorbable polymer-based materials for orthopedic products.Mr. Lee received his Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and his Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Danny currently serves on the External Advisory Board for the UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is a member of the International Cartilage Repair Society, Society for Biomaterials and the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) where he holds a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist (CTBS) certification. He currently holds thirteen patents on implants andinstruments used in orthopedic and general surgery.

Don McDaniel

Don McDaniel is an accomplished strategist, leader, adviser and entrepreneur. He is also a highly-respected health economist, and sought-after speaker and writer. Over his professional career, Mr. McDaniel has played leadership roles in a number of health care, insurance and technology organizations, and is recognized as a thought-leader and strong executive manager. As President and Chief Executive Officer for Sage Growth Partners, Mr. McDaniel is responsible for executing SGP's go-to-market strategy. Mr. McDaniel is also a member of the professional faculty at the Carey Business School, The Johns Hopkins University.

Before founding Healthfundr, Sean was a securities attorney representing boards of directors, corporations, and others in complex securities and business litigation. He was a trial team member in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit defending a broker dealer. Sean was also an early employee at a successfully exited software startup and has extensive experience with building web products, online marketing, and how ideas spread on the internet. Sean received his B.A. from BYU and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota where he graduated magna cum laude. He also has a certificate in International & European Law from the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France. He takes everyone who visits him in Dallas mountain biking, just to show you can mountain bike in Dallas.

Advisor to emerging tech start-ups; Mentor at Baiaida Institue of Entrepreneurship, Drexel University. Past Judge for Wharton and Fox School of Business, Temple University Business Plan Competitions.

Currently, Mark is partner and cofounder of Rounded Third, a consulting firm dedicated to helping small to midsize companies establish practices that retain earnings and investments for strategic initiatives through improved spend management.

Prior to Rounded Third, Mark held a number of leadership positions with increasing responsibilities at Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGS), a local biotechnology company in Rockville MD.

Mark's last held position at HGS was the Senior Director of Alliance Management. Named to the role in 2011, Mark led the charge to formalize the function and provide experienced leadership to ensure that HGS achieved the best outcomes in partnered programs. Mark's responsibilities include anticipating and managing inevitable conflicts, helping guide and communicate decision making, engaging with partner governance structures, and seeking opportunities to improve and expand HGS collaborations.

Previously, Mark was Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Human Genome Sciences. After being named to the role in 2007, Mark transformed the department from a purely transactional department into a value driven sourcing organization. Their focus provided sourcing, contracting, supplier relationship management support, and facilitated the procurement of goods and services for HGS.

Mark's team led a number of key strategic sourcing initiatives including outsourced clinical trial and manufacturing partnerships, supply chain optimization, commercial sourcing events, and utilities procurement. In addition, his group implemented and/or overhauled a number of enterprise wide programs (Procure to Pay, T&E, Vendor Management, P-Card, etc.) to drive down transactional inefficiencies and acquisition costs.

Previously, Mark led Engineering Operations for 7 years at HGS, which was responsible for engineering and automation support for the design, construction, and commissioning phases of over 1M ft2 of manufacturing, development and office spaces. Prior to HGS, Mark worked as an engineer for Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Mark received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his MBA from the University of Maryland. He also holds a CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional Certification) from APICS. His personal interests include volunteering at the Iona House (senior services), running, and running after his kids.

Allen is currently the COO of CHADIS, a medium HIT organization providing strategic and operational leadership for business development. He also serves as a strategic advisor to Healthfundr. Prior to this, Allen worked at The Office of the National Coordinator providing strategic policy planning for the EHR Incentive Program and outreach and coordination in support of federal grantees. Allen has also worked with local health officials in Maryland to analyze emergency department usage data and identify gaps in preventative care objectives. Allen has spent time consulting on various projects including India’s first emergency response system and providing support for their expansion across larger rural regions of the country. Allen started his career in healthcare at Healthwise where he helped clients integrate patient educational material and resources into EHRs, PHR, and web portals. Allen received his M.P.H. and M.B.A. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and the Carey Business School.

Misti Ushio is a Managing Director at Harris & Harris Group. Prior to joining Harris & Harris Group in 2007, Ms. Ushio worked at Merck & Co. for over 10 years in BioProcess Research & Development focused on vaccines and biologics, and was a Technology Licensing Officer at Columbia University. Ms. Ushio currently serves on the board of Ancora Pharmaceuticals Inc. Senova Systems, Inc, AgBiome, LLC and OpGen, Inc. Her past investments include BioVex, Inc. (acquired by Amgen). Ms. Ushio also serves on the board of the FastForward Accelerator at Johns Hopkins University and is on the Executive Oversight Committee for the Columbia University Coulter Foundation Grant. She was graduated from Johns Hopkins University (B.S., Chemical Engineering), Lehigh University (M.S., Chemical Engineering) and University College London (Ph.D., Biochemical Engineering).