Gregg Walker is responsible for overseeing DivcoWest’s asset management group, which includes managing the leasing strategy throughout the U.S. for all DivcoWest Clients. Gregg works closely with the CEO on developing new strategic relationships across the country. In addition, Gregg is a member of DivcoWest’s Investment and Executive Committees.

Before joining DivcoWest in 2019, Gregg worked as a leasing broker for over 19 years, most recently as a Managing Director for JLL in Silicon Valley, with a particular focus on Life Science and Technology companies. He is a member of CoreNet Global and received his Bachelor of Political Science from the University of Oregon.

Jeff Galvin is the CEO and Co-founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT). He earned his BA degree in Economics from Harvard in 1981. He has more than 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience including founder or executive positions at a variety of Silicon Valley startups. Several of his companies were taken public and/or sold to public companies, including one in the medical-technology arena that was sold to Varian, the leading maker of linear accelerators used in cancer therapy. Following his startup experience, he retired to become an Angel Investor in real estate and high tech. He came out of retirement to found and fund AGT after meeting Roscoe Brady at NIH.

Mr. Mundy oversees Oxford's Washington DC office with a

primary focus on new business and is a member of the US

executive committee. Mr. Mundy has over 25 years of

real estate acquisitions, development, and operations experience.

His previous leadership roles include being EVP at Equity Office

Properties (the largest US REIT - $39 billion market value),

CIO of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust and a

Managing Principal at Rubenstein Partners.

Mr. Mundy received his undergraduate degree at Boston

University and his MBA at The Wharton School.

Founded by a female, solo-GP with a PhD in Biophysics, Ecphora Capital’s founder boasts an extensive background, having deployed over $15M into medical startups. Additionally, she has been involved in the founding, funding, and board membership of 53 startups allowing for unparalleled expertise and support to portfolio companies.

As the CEO of TEDCO—Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies—Troy leads the organization’s mission to support economic development through the cultivation of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. He brings to bear more than 25 years of experience in investment management, higher education, telecommunications, information/communication technology, and management consulting in this leadership role.

Prior to joining TEDCO, Troy was the chief operating officer at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), the nation’s only urban land-grant university. UDC encompasses a six-site community college, a four-year baccalaureate campus, and a law school, and serves 7,000 degree- and certificate-seeking students. He oversaw an array of critical functions at UDC, including capital construction, communications, emergency management, enrollment services, facilities management, government relations, information management, institutional research, marketing, public safety, risk management, and strategic planning, to name a just a few.

An entrepreneur at heart and in spirit, Troy founded the management consulting firms LeMaile-Stovall LLC and GTMS Partners, LLC. He also co-founded and served as the first president and CEO of GulfSouth Capital. His resume includes positions as the interim president of Zenith Education Group; principal at Butler Snow Advisory Services; executive vice president and chief operating officer of Howard University; and senior vice president and chief financial officer Jackson State (Mississippi) University, where he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall HBCU CFO of the Year. Earlier in his career, Troy held positions at McKinsey & Company, Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T), AT&T Bell Labs, and Rockwell international.

Troy is a subject matter expert in capital stack formation and a frequent speaker on venture capital, economic development, and higher education administration, among other topics. He has published articles on entrepreneurship, venture capital, economic development, diversity and inclusion, and higher education. His expertise has been recognized through the various awards he has received including the Dealmakers Award and the Most Admired CEO, among others.

Joel S. Marcus, JD, CPA, is the full-time Executive Chairman and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT that pioneered the novel Labspace® niche and created the first-ever REIT uniquely focused on the critically important life science industry with its founding in 1994. Mr. Marcus has strategically positioned at the vanguard and heart of this $5 trillion secularly growing industry and continues to lead the one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-generation company as it celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024. Over the past three decades, Alexandria has transformed life science real estate from a specialty niche to a compelling mainstream asset class, and today it is the preeminent, largest, and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations. Prior to April 2018, Mr. Marcus served as the company’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President. Mr. Marcus has led the company’s remarkable growth from a startup, with $19 million in Series A capital, into an S&P 500® company with an irreplaceable life science real estate platform that has a total market capitalization of $33.1 billion and a total asset base in North America of 73.5 million square feet as of December 31, 2023. Alexandria, the only publicly traded life science REIT, has generated an outstanding total stockholder return exceeding 1,500% from its IPO in May 1997 through December 31, 2023, significantly outperforming major indices over the same period. Alexandria was named the NAIOP 2019 Developer of the Year, and its 2023 Nareit Investor CARE (Communications and Reporting Excellence) Gold Award represents the company’s eighth Nareit award in recognition of the best in investor communications among REITs.

During Mr. Marcus’s over 30 years leading Alexandria, he has built a pioneering company with a differentiated business model and a unique mission ― to create and grow life science ecosystems and clusters that ignite and accelerate the world’s leading innovators in their noble pursuit to advance human health ― that continue to distinguish Alexandria from all other REITs. Guided by Alexandria’s mission, Mr. Marcus established four strategic and integrated verticals encompassing real estate, venture investments, thought leadership, and corporate responsibility that together catalyze life-changing innovation and drive positive change for the benefit of human health and society.

In recognition of the company’s outstanding track record, renowned author and business strategist Jim Collins has said, “Alexandria has achieved the three outputs that define a great company: Superior Results, Distinctive Impact, and Lasting Endurance.”

Mr. Marcus has accelerated Alexandria’s extraordinary growth through the tremendous execution of its visionary ecosystem-building and cluster development strategy in key locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Mr. Marcus also founded and continues to lead Alexandria Venture Investments, the company’s strategic venture capital platform, in 1996. With approximately $1.5 billion under management, Alexandria Venture Investments actively invests in disruptive life science companies as well as promising agrifoodtech and technology companies that are advancing transformative new therapeutic modalities and platforms to meaningfully improve human health. Mr. Marcus introduced the company’s thought leadership vertical in 2011 when he co-founded the renowned Alexandria Summit®. Established to serve as a highly collaborative, neutral platform, the Alexandria Summit convenes a world-class network of visionary stakeholders to explore the most important issues facing human health and leverage its powerful collective voice to contribute tangible solutions that help drive the discovery and development of novel cost-effective therapies and impact policy to accelerate innovation to better manage disease.

Additionally, Mr. Marcus spearheads Alexandria’s corporate social responsibility pillars, which aim to develop and implement long-term, scalable solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges, including disease and other threats to human health, hunger and food insecurity, deficiencies in support services for the military and their families, addiction, disparities in educational opportunities, mental health, and homelessness. In the face of the devastating opioid epidemic in 2017, Mr. Marcus and Alexandria partnered with Verily, an Alphabet company, to pioneer OneFifteen, a personalized, non-profit data-driven healthcare ecosystem dedicated to addiction recovery, in Dayton, Ohio — a city with one of the highest per capita overdose death rates in the nation that year. Alexandria designed and developed a state-of-the-art campus with a unique full continuum of care, including medication-assisted treatment, residential housing, peer support, and job placement. Since opening in 2019, OneFifteen has treated over 7,500 patients afflicted by opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders, and this mission-critical program continues to have a meaningful and positive impact on the lives of thousands of people and the broader community.

Mr. Marcus has also been deeply engaged with several highly impactful local and national non-profit organizations for many years, including through his service on the board of directors of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Emily Krzyzewski Center, National Medal of Honor Museum, Navy SEAL Foundation, Office of Strategic Services Society, and TOPGUN Association. Mr. Marcus’s significant philanthropic contributions have been widely recognized, including being honored by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for Distinction in Civic Engagement and Renewal.

Prior to co-founding Alexandria, Mr. Marcus had an extensive legal career specializing in corporate finance and capital markets, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. During that time, he acquired expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry and was one of the principal architects of Kirin-Amgen, Inc., the trailblazing joint venture established in 1984. He was also a practicing certified public accountant and tax manager with Arthur Young & Co., where he focused on the financing and taxation of REITs. Mr. Marcus serves on the board of directors of Applied Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: APLT) and Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITCI).

He was named one of Real Estate Forum’s 2017 Best Bosses in commercial real estate and was previously a recipient of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award (Los Angeles – Real Estate). Mr. Marcus received his undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Bendis is an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in the technology and healthcare industries. He currently serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America (IA), a national public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of innovation economy in America. As one of the most recognized experts in the field of innovation economy, Mr. Bendis has served on numerous distinguished boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the Small Business Innovation Research Committee, the National Association of State Venture Funds board; State Science and Technology Institute, and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Institute as a national/regional Judge.

Mr. Bendis has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations including the United Nations, NATO, UK Trade and Industry, European Commission, French Embassy, the German Marshall Fund, The Canadian Consulate, METI, AKEA, the International Science Parks and Innovation Expert Group and other global entities. Mr. Bendis is a frequent consultant and speaker to 16 International innovation based economic development organizations, as well as over 20 states, regions and cities throughout the U.S. He was voted one of the Top 5 Speakers on innovation economy in 2012.

Sonia joined King Street in 2021 with over 15 years of experience in commercial real estate and finance. As Managing Director and West Region Market Leader, she is responsible for overseeing the firm’s activities in the Western United States. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

John, an equal majority owner of SGA, spearheads the firm’s architecture practice, encompassing the life sciences, academic, commercial, technology, and residential markets. Known as a design innovator and thought leader, John leads many of the firm’s valued client relationships. Using his creativity, knowledge and strong communication skills, he has generated award-winning design concepts and has achieved public approvals for SGA’s largest and complex projects.

With over 16 years at SGA, John oversees the firm’s large-scale projects in both urban and suburban settings. He plays a major role in master planning, conceptual design, and the entitlements process, welcoming opportunities to present the perspective of clients to generate consensus among communities, municipalities and key stakeholders.

John’s talent for placemaking and architectural innovation has broadened recognition for SGA’s approach to design. Within the firm, John is a champion for design and an advocate for SGA’s culture, with an ongoing focus on fostering a supportive environment where people can thrive and grow as design professionals.

John received a Bachelor and Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech. Outside of the office, he spends time with his wife, two sons, and dog Brenna, who is a lab mix. He and his family enjoy traveling, the beach, and sports – they support Boston’s pro teams, his sons’ youth teams, and their alma maters, Virginia Tech and Ohio State.

Kurt’s professional engineering career spans over 40 years. His expertise includes structural engineering design for Mission Critical Facilities such as Data Centers, Health Care Facilities such as Hospitals and Clinics and Life Sciences Facilities such as Biopharmaceutical Pilot Plants and Production Facilities around the United States and the World. His area of expertise is in designing buildings to be occupable after natural disasters including Tornados, Hurricanes and Earthquakes. He has been the structural engineer of record for conventional “fixed Base Buildings” ranging from 1-23 stories, “Base Isolated Buildings” ranging from 1-5 stories, and the retrofit and new construction of buildings incorporating Fluid Viscous Dampers ranging from 1-22 stories. He has published numerous papers on passive energy dissipation and presented the findings at various conventions in Boston, San Francisco and Milan.

For over 23 years as the Founding Principal at PARADIGM Structural Engineers, Kurt spends most of his time developing new leaders at PARADIGM and mentoring staff in Chicago and San Francisco.

In his current role as Senior Vice President of Investment Sales for the commercial Boston office of LPC, Scott oversees all partnerships for joint venture investments and financial advisory to clients looking to invest in the Boston market. Scott has worked on over half a billion in successful acquisitions and development that total over 2,000,000 square feet of commercial assets and development across Massachusetts. Scott has worked with a number of financial investment vehicles including, but not limited to: pension fund investors, fund managers, private wealth investors and foreign capital.

Once a project has been acquired by LPC within a partnership, Scott and his team are then responsible for the oversight of the asset by implementing the business plan put forth at acquisition. Due to the LPC model, the asset management team is able to effectively evaluate tenant relationships, operating best practices, value-add capital plans, financial strategies and dispositions. During the hold period of an LPC asset, Scott would be the point of contact for any debt relationships and dispositions.

Scott has been a member of numerous organizations in the Boston real estate market including REFA and NAIOP. Scott is an alumnus of the Boston University Certificate in Real Estate Finance program and a certified Real Estate Salesperson in Massachusetts. Scott joined Lincoln Property Company (LPC) in 2007 after obtaining his undergraduate degree from Connecticut College. Scott lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts with his wife, Lauren, and their daughter Siena.

Alicia Mistry Hinds serves as COO at Alloy Properties, a national life sciences platform formed by TPG Real Estate Partners in the spring of 2020 that focuses on investing in life sciences and innovation campuses in the major life science markets, including Boston, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Atlanta. Prior to joining Alloy, Alicia spent a few years at Longfellow Real Estate Partners, primarily focusing on West Coast leasing and asset management. Before Longfellow, Alicia worked on a variety of different types of real estate under Goldman Sachs’s Merchant Banking Division. In her spare time, she enjoys scuba diving.

Kevin is a First Vice President and a member of CBRE’s National Life Sciences Practice Group. He specializes in assisting life sciences and biotech companies develop and achieve real estate strategies that account for the flexibility needed in a constantly changing industry. His in-depth knowledge of the biotech life cycle, including initial funding, drug development, clinical trials and capital events, allow him to tailor specific strategies to his clients' needs. His background working for an international life sciences developer/owner offers a unique perspective to leverage the best possible real estate outcome for clients.

Prior to joining CBRE, Kevin spent 12 years working for BioMed Realty/Blackstone, a leading provider of real estate to the life sciences industry. After 4 years in the Philadelphia region handling leasing, he moved to the DC area in 2010 to open BioMed’s Maryland office. There he spearheaded leasing, development and acquisition efforts for the Mid-Atlantic region, totaling 2.5 million square feet in inventory. He negotiated and completed over 2 million square feet of lease transactions and was involved in the acquisition of over 650,000 square feet across several buildings. Upon fully leasing up the Mid-Atlantic portfolio, he oversaw the disposition of 2 million square feet.

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

Steve has dedicated his career to ensuring science thrives. He leads our firm's award-winning science & technology practice and guides teams in designing projects that supercharge discovery—from buildings designed to develop life-saving cancer treatments to environments that further exploration of space’s outer limits.

Steve’s goal on any project is to ensure scientists and researchers across government, health and commercial sectors have optimized, healthy and exhilarating environments where they are able to perform at their best. He partners with top organizations to break barriers, demand more change and take the next steps to achieve their research potential

Mr. Germain has senior responsibility for executing the overall strategy of the Company. His responsibilities include

sourcing and originations investment opportunities, oversight of underwriting and due diligence, transaction structuring

and execution, development project management, operations, and asset management.

Prior to co-founding MCB Science + Health, Mr. Germain served as Senior Investment Officer, Investments for Ventas,

Inc., an S&P 500 company and real estate investment trust that owns and manages healthcare, life science, MOB and

senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom.

As a former member of the Ventas senior leadership team, Germain was responsible for investments within the growing

university, life science, research and innovation center portfolio, the Company’s #1 capital priority. Since inception,

Germain helped grow this portfolio to over $4 billion and over 7MM SF through acquisitions and developments.

Responsible for originating, negotiating, and executing acquisitions and development opportunities, Germain has been

involved in more than

$20 billion completed real estate transactions during his tenure at Ventas.

Germain joined Ventas in 2006. Prior to overseeing the university, life science, research, and innovation center

platform, he served as Director of Acquisitions and Investments for Lillibridge Healthcare Services, a fully integrated

medical office building (MOB) operating company, completing in excess of $4BN in transactions. His earlier roles at Ventas

included asset management of the Company’s MOB and outpatient portfolio where he oversaw operations including

joint venture partnerships, third-party property management, leasing, buildouts, loan compliance, operating and capital

budgeting and financial reporting, as well as roles in acquisitions and corporate finance. He began his career at General

Electric Capital Corporation in the Financial Management Program (FMP).

Germain is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), a dynamic

network of university research parks and innovation district industry leaders. He is a member of the Urban Land

Institute’s University Development and Innovation Council. Germain is a member of the Real Estate Executives Council

(REEC). He served as a member of the Board of Phase 1 Ventures (P1V) from 2016 to 2022, a program from the

Philadelphia Science Center which matches proven entrepreneurs with academic scientists to help move ideas from the

lab to the marketplace by strategically contributing expertise and funding to the commercialization process. He also

served as a Steering Committee member for the Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID) from 2019 to 2022. He

serves as Vice President of the Board of High Jump, a non- profit organization that aims to equalize access to education

for Chicago middle school

As a Principal with StonebridgeCarras, Kent Marquis focuses on financial strategies relative to acquisitions, asset management, and dispositions. He manages relationships with current and prospective financing partners, directs the underwriting of potential investment properties, manages the firm’s investment assets, and reports on all investments to lenders and investors. He has more than twenty years of experience in the real estate industry with complex joint venture structures spanning a diverse range of property types.

Prior to joining StonebridgeCarras, Mr. Marquis worked in public accounting with Reznick Group in audit/compliance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from Husson University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Marquis served as co-chair of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association Capital Markets Committee from 2014-2016. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and serves as a mentor in the ULI Mentorship Program.

Bill Brewer serves as a Senior Vice President with Trammell Crow Company, where he is responsible for originating and overseeing ground-up development and value-add investment opportunities. Bill works primarily in the residential and life science markets but has also previously been involved in Trammell Crow Company’s government office development business and its medical office and senior living initiatives. Additionally, Bill is responsible for maintaining relationships with third-party equity and debt providers in the residential and life science markets.

Bill joined TCC in 2012 and previously served as an Associate with JM Zell Partners.

Sigma Mostafa has 22 years of biotech industry experience in large pharma and CDMOs. Her expertise lies in building and growing organizations in the process development and manufacturing space for clinical and commercial products. Sigma is currently the Senior VP and Site Head of the North Carolina site at KBI Biopharma. The site process development, manufacturing, analytical services, and engineering organizations have direct reporting line to her in this role. The entire site is approximately 650 people and carries out upward of 50 process development and manufacturing programs and supports at least 10 INDs per year. During her 12 year tenure in KBI, Sigma built the North Carolina mammalian process development department from a five program per year to a 50 program per year organization and recruited and mentored a best in class team of scientists capable of solving the toughest technical challenges in the biotech industry.

Sigma started her career at Eli Lilly & Co. and was in charge of multiple teams over her seven-year tenure, including early phase material generation, process development & high throughput technology teams and was also the CMC leader in charge of the entire CMC team for a clinical product. Sigma subsequently joined Diosynth Biotechnology/Organon as the head of the upstream department. Her team supported both client and in-house programs once Organon was acquired by Schering Plough, which then became part of Merck & Co.

Sigma earned her Ph.D. in Chemical & Biological Engineering from Northwestern University, and her Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin with High Honors.

John Swift, a partner and the global science and technology practice leader, has more than 30 years of experience in high performance building systems engineering design. He has delivered solutions for research, commercial and academic facilities that require effective and reliable infrastructure for the optimization of occupant health, safety and comfort, while minimizing energy and water consumption. He is recognized as an authority in the profession, helping write standards for the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Environmental Protection Agency – and has been an official reviewer for NIH grant submissions since 2009. His portfolio includes developments for leading research institutions such as Draper, Novartis, Brown University, MIT, and Harvard Medical School. Recently, he oversaw the completion of 400 Summer Street, the new, LEED Platinum, home for Foundation Medicine in Boston’s Seaport District.

Mitsy serves as Gensler’s Southeast Region Sciences Practice Area Leader. Graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of the Philippines. She is an architect and laboratory / equipment planner and provides technical leadership for lab facilities where design is driven by survey research and facility benchmarking. Her career began when the US woke up to the need to upgrade the infrastructure of laboratories for discovery, biodefense and surveillance. In the 20+ years since then, she has had the privilege to strategize, plan and design projects that expand beyond life sciences biomedical R&D and cGMP to advanced technology labs for robotics, 3D printing, and semiconductor R&D. These are exciting times for technical leadership in the biotech / tough tech ecosystem in Montgomery County.

Experience includes: Biocontainment: BSL-2 / ABSL-2/ PL-2; BSL-3 / ABSL-3; BSL-4. Reference laboratories and Biorepositories. Cleanrooms: ISO 8 Gowning, ISO 7 Airlock, ISO 5 Workroom, ISO 3 Bench. Pharmaceutical Experience: immunology aseptic processing facility; virology vaccine production; pilot; cell culture media manufacturing, process & product QA/QC validation stability.

Technology: R&D and quality labs providing containment and barrier facilities for semiconductors, additive manufacturing, consumer robotics, and the space industry.

Rachel is the Director of the BARDA Alliance for Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, and she serves as the Interim Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington, DC.

As BARDA Alliance Director, she is responsible for managing BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between JLABS and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which aims to stimulate the innovation and incubation of science and technologies. Rachel leads the strategic direction, alliance management, and oversight of all operational activities related to the collaboration with BARDA, including managing the sourcing and selection of high potential companies for JLABS locations and developing global programming.

Before joining JLABS, Rachel was the Chief of Staff for the National Evaluation System for health Technology Coordinating Center (NESTcc)—an initiative of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC)—that was established with funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was recognized in September 2019 as one of the first collaborative communities with participation by the FDA. Prior to joining NESTcc, Rachel worked at PCORI, helping to launch the Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet), a national effort to engage patients and leverage electronic health data to improve the speed and efficiency of clinical research in the United States.

Rachel received her MBA from Georgetown University and MPH in global health policy from The George Washington University.

Dr. Michael Salgaller leads the Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit (TAMU) within the National Institute of Health’s (NIH’s) Technology Transfer Center, where he leverages over 20 years of business, scientific, and investment experience in various life science sectors to support technology development and commercialization. The TAMU serves in a business development role to foster licensing and collaborative activity between buy-side stakeholders and the NIH. Immediately prior to returning to the NCI, Michael was a Vice President at The Conafay Group, a healthcare-focused government affairs firm in downtown DC, where he led alliance development activities centered on civilian health. He served as President of Biologics Consulting Group, a boutique firm providing professional services focused on regulatory affairs. Michael spent several years on the investment team of an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to the life sciences. He began his buy-side career as Vice President of R&D for Northwest Biotherapeutics, where he led the development of cancer cell therapies that achieved clinical benefit. He began his career as a Senior Scientist with Dr. Steve Rosenberg at the NCI. He is the author of “Biotechnology Entrepreneurship,” and teaches an entrepreneurship class at NIH. He is on the Board of Canines-N-Kids, a foundation supporting cooperation between researchers in pediatric and veterinary oncology. He has written over 70 scientific/business articles and book chapters. Dr. Salgaller received his PhD in Pathology from The Ohio State University.

Travis Kowalke joined USP in 2018 to lead the Global Facilities Management group and oversee USP’s 15 global locations. As the Sr. Director, Travis oversees all aspects of facilities operations, security, real estate and operations planning activities including growth and improvement initiatives. Travis has over 20 years in facilities management experience that includes 15 years of experience related to the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. Travis is currently partnering with USP’s Global Health Division by acting as the Chief of Mission for the design and construction of a regulatory testing facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo and partnering with multiple other nations to provide design and construction guidance for laboratory and testing facilities.

As Director of Economic Development and Special Projects, Judy Costello works for Montgomery County Maryland’s County Executive on a variety of projects related to business growth and retention, innovation, and economic development. Before joining Montgomery County, she worked for BioHealth Innovation (BHI), a Washington, DC area nonprofit focused on growing the biohealth industry in the region, as Managing Director of Economic Development. Prior to joining BHI, she served as Director of the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of BioHealth and Life Sciences and as Deputy Director of the department’s BioMaryland Center. In these positions, she worked to grow Maryland’s biohealth industry cluster by supporting company recruitment and retention, commercialization, workforce, non-dilutive and dilutive fundraising, international soft landing, partnership, and promotion activities. Judy previously managed the nonprofit Business Alliance for Innovation and Entrepreneurship organizing venture pitch forums, entrepreneur bootcamps, technology transfer showcases, educational seminars, and other programs connecting entrepreneurs, faculty innovators, students, and industry leaders in Maryland, DC and Virginia with each other and with those providing funding and other resources to young companies. Before serving as Executive Director of the Business Alliance, Costello held positions in financial services marketing, economic development, and university public relations in New York City, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Judy is a graduate of Georgetown University, and holds a MBA from Loyola University in Maryland. Born in Washington, DC, she grew up on a farm in Western Pennsylvania, and has lived in Montgomery County, Maryland supporting entrepreneurs and other growing companies in the region since the mid-1980s.

Dr. Siewe holds a Ph.D. in Immunology, Molecular and Cell Biology from the Technical University of Munich, Garmany. He currently serves as a Director of Business Development with the Bio-innovations group at Thermo Fisher Scientific. In this role, he is responsible for supporting life science incubator owners/operators in their mission to attract biotech start-ups and accelerate the discovery of breakthroughs. Before joining Thermo Fisher, Dr. Siewe led Business Development and Biopharma strategy efforts at a neurotechnology start-up. His background includes extensive academic research and Business Development experience.

Dr. Verena Kallhoff serves as Sr. Director, Global Life Sciences at the Greater Houston

Partnership. She works together with local, state, national, and international players to spur

and support the growth and development of the greater Houston region’s life sciences

ecosystem and assists companies looking to relocate or expand in the region.

Verena first moved to Houston in 2003 to attend Baylor College of Medicine, graduating in 2008

and subsequently obtained an MBA from University of Houston – Clear Lake. Verena has held

positions with Harris Health System as Quality Assurance Analyst, and Houston Methodist

Research Institute, where she began as Administrative Fellow and later served as the Innovative

Managing Director of CyBHOR, an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center sponsored

by the National Science Foundation.

In 2017, Verena relocated to Austin joining the innovation initiative at Dell Medical School at

The University of Texas at Austin where she developed and led programs to build an innovation

ecosystem. Organizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Verena is a founding member of

TEXGHS, the Texas Global Health Security Consortium and was instrumental in developing and

implementing business strategies for the consortium’s activity.

Verena also served as the VP for Omics and Precision Medicine at Equideum Health, a health

tech startup, where she developed partnerships with research organizations and built networks

to accelerate omics-related research to enable authentic, personalized precision medicine.

Brett is a Vice Chairman at Cushman & Wakefield and has over 20 years of expertise in representing clients in their strategic real estate initiatives. His expertise is in large scale, complex transactions with a focus on major ground-up developments and adaptive re-use for life sciences. His expertise extends to providing invaluable support to life science companies by designing thoughtful strategies and leveraging his deep understanding of marketplace dynamics, opportunities and extensive relationships built over his career.

To date, he has completed over 10 million square feet of lease transactions with over $6 billion in total consideration

Brett graduated with a BA in Economics at San Diego State University. He currently resides in Carlsbad with his wife and four kids.

Marc Elrich was elected as Montgomery County Executive on Nov. 6, 2018. He had previously served three terms (12 years) on the Montgomery County Council as an at-large member, being first elected in 2006. He served as a Councilmember on the Takoma Park City Council from 1987-2006. For 17 years, he was a teacher at Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Takoma Park.

As a County Councilmember, he was the chief sponsor of several landmark pieces of legislation and programs. He led the successful effort to increase the Montgomery County minimum wage in coordination with surrounding jurisdictions to $11.50 an hour and subsequent legislation that will eventually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He was the first elected official to propose building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system throughout the County to address Montgomery's transportation and environmental problems. Ground was broken in Fall 2018 for the first BRT line, which will run along Route 29.

Throughout his political career, he has been a champion of improving tenants' rights and for making developers pay for a greater share of the infrastructure cost to build schools and transportation solutions. He was a leader in the fight to preserve Ten Mile Creek in the Clarksburg area by limiting the proposed development that would have threatened the health of Montgomery County's last best stream which flows into the County's backup water reservoir.

A founding principal of Stonebridge, Douglas Firstenberg directs firmwide strategic planning, oversees landmark development projects, and plays a key role in major transaction negotiations. Under his leadership, Stonebridge has developed several of the region’s most innovative and successful urban mixed-use properties, including breakthrough transit-oriented developments and public/private initiatives.

Mr. Firstenberg has more than thirty-five years of real estate industry experience, leading complex development projects totaling more than 10 million square feet and $4 billion in value. Mr. Firstenberg started his career with K.S. Sweet Associates, a Philadelphia-based real estate and investment firm where he was named partner. In 1993, he co-founded Stonebridge Associates in Washington, D.C., and led the transformation of the firm into an urban infill mixed-use developer. Mr. Firstenberg graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts and currently serves in leadership roles of several industry and charitable organizations.