Registration Questions

Call: 202-684-2034
Email: eventregistration@bisnow.com

Request Speaker Information

Speaker Topics

Tell us a Little More

Speakers and Panels

The Keys To Creating A National Life Science Hub

How To Successfully Compete With Other Well-Established Clusters in the U.S.

Shawn Cloonan

Shawn Cloonan

Life Sciences Lead & General Counsel

McCord Development

Justin Brasell

Justin Brasell

Executive Managing Director

Transwestern

Craig Laher

Craig Laher

SVP & Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences

The Signorelli Company

Tim O'Connell

Tim O'Connell

Senior Principal and Director, Science + Technology

HOK

Jose Rivera

Jose Rivera

Central Region Life Science Leader

DPR Construction

Martin Togni
Moderator

Martin Togni

Partner

Allen Matkins

Shawn Cloonan

Life Sciences Lead & General Counsel

McCord Development

Shawn W. Cloonan serves as Life Science Lead & General Counsel of McCord

Development, Inc., where he oversees all legal aspects of the firm, advises on strategic development projects, and leads McCord’s efforts in developing assets to serve the life science and biotechnology industry.

Prior to joining McCord in 2020, Cloonan served as Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President & General Counsel of Texas Medical Center since 2013. In his role at TMC, Cloonan was responsible for all operations, planning and development as well as all legal aspects of the corporation including compliance with the TMC covenants.

Before joining the Texas Medical Center, Cloonan was a public finance attorney

representing health care, governmental and higher education clients for Vinson & Elkins LLP and Bracewell LLP. In addition to representation on bond financing, Cloonan represented clients on general counsel matters and real estate and development.

Cloonan holds a Bachelor of Arts – Magna Cum Laude in government from the

University of Texas at Austin and earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors from The University of Texas School of Law.

He currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and is

active on its Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Cloonan was honored to receive the Houston Business Journal 40 Under 40 Award in 2013 and was named to the Top 100 Irish Lawyers in America List in 2015.

Justin Brasell

Executive Managing Director

Transwestern

Justin serves as Executive Managing Director of Transwestern’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Services Group and leads the Houston Healthcare & Life Sciences Brokerage Team. With 16 dedicated professionals, the Team leases over 8 million square feet of clinical & lab space, more than any other local firm, and has transacted over 2,000 lease and building sales in the last 5 years. The team specializes in agency leasing, tenant representation, investment services and strategic account management.

Justin has been with Transwestern since 2007 and specializes in providing real estate solutions within this niche space to investors, developers, end users and VC firms. His expertise in leasing, investment services, development, construction and asset management, allows him to apply a holistic lens to any real estate opportunity, resulting in optimal outcomes for Transwestern clients

Craig Laher

SVP & Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences

The Signorelli Company

Craig Laher is SVP, Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences at The Signorelli Company. Craig has over 30 years of experience comprising over $2 billion in healthcare, life sciences and university public-private-partnerships featuring “placemaking” developments, delivering high interconnectivity among naturally vibrant, walkable green areas with the best-in-class places to live, work, learn, play and be healthy. Prior to joining The Signorelli Company, Craig was Senior Vice President in charge of the Texas A&M Innovation Plaza campus development, a 2-million-square-foot mixed-use public-private-partnership, located at the Texas Medical Center.

The Signorelli Company (Est. 1994) is an accomplished leader delivering award-winning, master-planned communities featuring:

High interconnectivity among naturally vibrant, walkable green areas

Best-in-class places to live, work, learn, play and be healthy

Wellness Districts, healthier lifestyles, and sense of community

Mixed-use portfolio of more than 12,000 acres in SE Texas Operates multiple divisions based in The Woodlands, TX, including:

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Retail & Commercial

Single-family

Multi-family

Land Development

Notable master-planned Communities: Valley Ranch Wellness District at Valley Ranch (1,400 AC); Austin Point (4,700 AC)

3rd fastest growing company in Houston MSA (Source: HBJ 2022)

2018-2022 Houston Area Top Workplace (Source: Houston Chronicle)

Founder & CEO, Danny Signorelli, listed among “Most Admired CEO’s” (Source: HBJ 2022)

Tim O'Connell

Senior Principal and Director, Science + Technology

HOK

Tim O’Connell is a senior principal and director of HOK’s global Science + Technology practice. As a key member of HOK’s office in Washington, D.C., he has more than 25 years of architectural experience with extensive knowledge in lab planning and programming for highly complex projects.

Tim has served as lab planner, lab architect, project manager and project architect on numerous research facility projects, including the DC Consolidated Forensic Laboratory Facility, a LEED Platinum building that won the R&D Magazine Lab of the Year Special Mention Award for Collaborative Science.

His experience programming and planning lab spaces for corporate and commercial life science clients gives him a unique perspective of the needs of industry and how to shape innovation developments to meet those needs. Tim’s experience working with commercial life sciences developers allows him to help those clients and design teams to program and plan the right innovation facilities and at the right size - developing projects from the inside-out.

Tim frequently speaks on the topics of research facilities and scientific workplaces and has been published on the subjects of sustainable design and lab design. His focus on responding to the needs of each unique client and innate understanding of scientific environments has enabled Tim to repeatedly produce innovative design solutions and establish himself as a multifaceted Science + Technology thought leader.

Jose Rivera

Central Region Life Science Leader

DPR Construction

With nearly 40 years of experience, Jose Rivera supports National and Global Life Science clients, Investors, and Developers with Capital Project Planning and Implementation Strategies. With a focus on the execution of new product development, scale-up, and manufacturing processes, Jose is an expert on Integrated Project Delivery for Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Validation (EPCV) Projects.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in both Mechanical, and Civil Engineering, as well as a Master of Arts in Construction Management. He is a Professional Engineer - BSCE and BSSE from the US Coast Guard Academy, BSME UPR and Master Engineering Management and Master in Process Controls & Automation. He is also an active member in THBI, ISPE, PDA, TPE.

-

Martin Togni

Moderator

Allen Matkins

Martin L. Togni is a partner in the San Diego office of Allen Matkins with a practice focusing primarily on Life Sciences, representing a variety of landlords and tenants in the development and leasing of Life Science and Biotech projects. He has successfully completed major leasing transactions totaling more than 40 million square feet in California, the Midwest, and East Coast over the past 25 years, representing some of the nation's leading real estate and end-user companies. Martin also represents a wide variety of clients in the acquisition, disposition, development, financing and ground leasing of shopping centers, industrial projects, office buildings and other commercial and mixed-use projects throughout the country

Fostering Innovation & Technology In A Rapidly Changing Industry

Technology and Innovations Role In The Future of Life Sciences & Healthcare

Papia Ghosh

Papia Ghosh

Manager, Office of Technology Commercialization

MD Anderson Cancer Center

John Schultz

John Schultz

Director, Office of Technology Transfer

Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute

Fiona Mack

Fiona Mack

Head of JLABS

TMC

Tom Luby

Tom Luby

Director

Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation.

Jan Odegard

Jan Odegard

Executive Director

The Ion

Richard Barbles
Moderator

Richard Barbles

Director

Newmark

Papia Ghosh

Manager, Office of Technology Commercialization

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Papia is a Licensing Manager in the Office of Technology Commercialization at MD Anderson Cancer Center and is involved in all aspects of commercialization including assessing the technology/opportunity, identifying the right partner and establishing the relationship with chosen partner. Papia previously worked as a Consultant at LEK Consulting in both their Boston and London offices. There she advised large biotech and pharma on various aspects of strategy, from market assessment, acquisition screening, portfolio management, financial projections, other. Prior to LEK, Papia was a post-doctoral fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and received her PhD at Yale University, and in both positions her research focus was in oncology.

Fiona Mack

Head of JLABS

TMC

As Head of JLABS @ TMC, Fiona is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company

onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming and P&L. In this

role, she catalyzes and supports the translation of science and technology into valuable solutions for

patients and consumers across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer, and healthtech sectors.

Prior to joining JLABS, Fiona was Senior Director of External Innovation at Ipsen, supporting the

expansion of the Rare Disease and Neuroscience portfolios. Before joining Ipsen, Fiona was a Director of

External Innovation Oncology Discovery at Roche. While at Roche, she led cross-functional teams to

identify and evaluate opportunities based on their scientific merit and strategic alignment with

oncology/immuno-oncology early discovery and clinical development pipelines. Notable activities

include the acquisition of Tensha Therapeutics, Tusk Therapeutics and Ignyta, in addition to early

discovery academic collaborations.

Fiona began her career in industry as a Senior Research Scientist at Wyeth Oncology and eventually took

on a senior leadership role when the company was acquired by Pfizer. Fiona was able to complement

internal early drug discovery expertise with external innovation as a program leader for pipeline

projects. She also led external collaborations to support IND-enabling studies for anti-sense

therapeutics, bi-specific immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates.

Fiona earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and her

undergraduate degree in Biology from Cornell University. Her innovative work has been published in

high impact journals and she also has several granted patents.

Tom Luby

Director

Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation.

Tom Luby Ph.D. is the Director of Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation. In this role,

he oversees all of the innovation efforts of TMC focused on research, education, and

commercialization of novel healthcare solutions. Prior to this, he was the head of JLABS

@ TMC in Houston, Texas. In that role, he catalyzes and support the translation of

science and technology into valuable solutions for patients and consumers across the

pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer healthcare sectors.

Tom started at Johnson & Johnson Innovation as a New Ventures Lead at the Johnson &

Johnson Innovation Center in Boston. In that role, he was instrumental in fostering many

deals for the Boston office, which included the expansion of JLABS to JLABS @

Toronto. Prior to J&J, Tom spent 14 years in various R&D and business development

positions, most recently as Sr. Director, Research Ventures at Shire. Nine of those years

were spent working in R&D and operational roles across three start-up biotech

companies in the Boston area.

Tom received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from State University of New York, and a

Ph.D. in Immunology from the Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University.

Attachments area

Richard Barbles

Moderator

Newmark

Richard Barbles is a Director at Newmark’s Houston office, specializing in healthcare brokerage. Barbles’ will focus on growing Newmark’s presence within the healthcare real estate space in Houston.

Prior to joining Newmark, Barbles held roles as Partner at Clay Healthcare Development and Vice President at Stream Realty focusing on healthcare .

Barbles’ diligent work ethic, strong dedication to his clients and ability to problem solve sets him apart. A lifelong Houstonian, he has been around the real estate business since childhood—his grandfather worked in property management. Prior to his career in real estate, Barbles spent five years as a pro-golfer.

Barbles earned a Bachelor of Science from Mississippi State University.

Opening Remarks With The Greater Houston Partnership

Life Science Update With Torrey Adams

Torrey Adams

Torrey Adams

Senior Director, Global Life Sciences

Greater Houston Partnership

Torrey Adams

Senior Director, Global Life Sciences

Greater Houston Partnership

Torrey A. Adams joined the Greater Houston Partnership on January 18th. He comes to the Greater

Houston Partnership with over 16 years of domestic and international experience in business

development, sales, marketing, marketing research and communications, sales/account management,

and project management and planning in chemicals and pharmaceuticals projects. He has previously

worked for several life science companies including BASF in Florham Park, NJ, Cambrex in Durham, NC

and Sanofi in Bridgewater, NJ.

Torrey is responsible for leading the Partnership’s work to position Houston as the Third Coast for Life

Sciences. He works to coordinate the efforts to support growth of the life science ecosystem and assist

with the recruitment of both domestic and international life science companies to the Greater Houston

region.

Torrey has a B.S in Chemistry from Marquette University and a Ph.D. in Synthetic

Organic/Organometallic Chemistry from Wake Forest University. He also has an MBA with a

concentration in Marketing from Wake Forest University.

Keynote Presentation TMC President & CEO Bill McKeon

William F. McKeon

William F. McKeon

President & CEO

Texas Medical Center

William F. McKeon

President & CEO

Texas Medical Center

William “Bill” McKeon is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Medical Center.

He is responsible for driving strategic, operational and programmatic initiatives across the Texas

Medical Center’s member institutions to enhance its leadership position in the life sciences.

McKeon joined the Texas Medical Center in 2013 as executive vice president, chief operating

officer and chief strategy officer.

McKeon attended Roger Williams University on the Harold G. Way Scholarship for Leadership

and Academic Excellence. He worked throughout his college years as a legal intern at

Asquith, Merolla, Anderson, Ryan & Wiley – a prestigious law firm in Providence, Rhode Island.

He graduated with top honors with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies. He earned his

master’s degree from University of San Francisco School of Management.

McKeon began his professional career at Du Pont de Nemours. He initially led the

implementation of large news publishing systems around the world and was later promoted to

run marketing and business development. During his time at Du Pont, McKeon lived throughout

the United States, United Kingdom and Sweden. His career shifted to health care when he was

recruited to Stanford University Medical Center, where he initially led the Cardiovascular

Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery business. He was then promoted to Director of Market

Development for all 17 business lines at Stanford.

He then went to Raytel Medical Systems - the largest cardiac monitoring business in the United

States. He served as Executive Director and digitized all businesses so that physicians could see

patients’ EKGs online from anywhere in the world. At Raytel, he won the Computer World

Smithsonian Award in Medicine.

McKeon came to Houston to join U.S. Oncology, which provides cancer care for over 25 percent

of the U.S. population. There, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and

Pharmaceutical Business Relations. During McKeon’s tenure, U.S. Oncology grew from $250

million to $1.4 billion, filed for IPO and was later acquired by the McKesson Corporation.

McKeon then moved to Medtronic Inc., the largest medical device company in the world. He led

Strategy and Emerging Technologies across all of the Medtronic businesses. His main focus was

to define the digital strategy for all Medtronic medical devices so that they could connect to

cellular devices.

McKeon was then recruited to serve as President and CEO of Microport Inc. in Shanghai. He

grew the business from $17 million to $157 million in two years. Additionally, he diversified the

business from one line to four lines and prepared the company for IPO. Today, Microport is

listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

McKeon then moved to London to serve as President and CEO of Cellnovo, the first mobile

diabetes management system in the world. He raised $10 million for its Series A round and $57

million for the Series B. Cellnovo is public on the European Exchange.

Why This Matters

What You'll Learn: 

  • What are the next steps for Houston to become a national life sciences hub, rivaling the national coastal centers and international leaders? 

  • How are emerging industries in Houston, such as nanotechnology, biodefense and stem cell research, changing the area's ecosystem?

  •  Incubators are essential to anchoring tenants to a market. What are investors doing to further invest in expanding the Greater Houston Area? 

  • How integral are educational systems, like UT, A&M, and Rice and their advanced young talent, in strengthening Houston's potential and success in the research domain?

  • What effect do major research developments like Ion Tower, Innovation Plaza, and the incredible TMC3 have on Houston's world stage potential?

  • What are some of the new and emerging technologies that will impact the industry in the years to come? 

  • How do industry leaders draw the attention of investors and tenants from the coastal hubs inland toward Texas and Houston?

How You'll Do More Business: Houston's reputation as a life sciences hub is growing. With current projects like Texas A&M's Innovation Plaza and the largest life sciences building in the world, TMC3, Houston is primed and ready to rival national and international leaders in life sciences. Factors like the local young talent pool and the long-term potential to achieve market maturity are attracting life sciences companies, owners and developers to the area. However, the city still lacks enough lab space to seriously compete with other well-established clusters in the U.S. While there are several projects in the pipeline, that does not address the more immediate problem of catering to startups and companies that need space right now. Join us as we address these topics and so much more at our first ever in-person life sciences event. Learn what 2022 holds for Houston's future and how market leaders are working to achieve a world-class status. 

Who You’ll Meet: GC's, Architects, Developers, Owners, Investors, Engineers, and Lawyers    

What Does Your Ticket Get You: Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to identify opportunities, build your network and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us.  

Questions about your ticket purchase or interested in sponsoring? Reach out to customerservice@bisnow.com for customer support. 

 For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our Texas event producer Sophie McCourt at sophie.mccourt@bisnow.com

Venue

The Westin Galleria Houston
5060 W Alabama St.
Houston, TX 77056

Ballroom: Woodway I & foyer


Parking information: For free parking, utilize the Brown Garage which will lead you directly to the lobby of the hotel. Valet is also available for $25+tax.

Get Directions

Agenda

Time Activity
2:00 PM
2:50 PM
Opening Networking
2:50 PM
3:00 PM
Opening Remarks With The Greater Houston Partnership

Life Science Update With Torrey Adams

3:00 PM
3:15 PM
Keynote Presentation With President & CEO of the Texas Medical Center Bill McKeon
3:15 PM
4:00 PM
The Keys To Creating A National Life Science Hub

How To Successfully Compete With Other Well-Established Clusters in the U.S.

4:00 PM
4:50 PM
Fostering Innovation & Technology In A Rapidly Changing Industry

The Future of Life Sciences & Healthcare Innovation

4:50 PM
5:15 PM
Closing Networking