Maryland Life Science Surge

As Managing Partner, Mark is responsible for all aspects of Matan Companies' operations and real estate holdings. He provides leadership, guidance, and vision to Matan’s seasoned executive management team. Mark began his career in real estate alongside his father at Fitzgerald & Matan, primarily working in commercial leasing and land sales. During the mid-1990’s Mark started acquiring commercial real estate on behalf of a small group of prominent investors, following the RTC crisis. With Mark as it’s leader and major investor, Matan grew exponentially. Mark still remains a significant investor in the company, sitting alongside that core group of original investors. A native of Kensington, MD, Mark attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C., later completing his undergraduate work at Georgetown University. Mark is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Maryland, as well as an active member in the community. As a strong supporter of catholic education, Mark has served as the President of the Board of Directors for the Visitation Academy and recently completed three terms on the Board of Directors for Gonzaga College High School.

Kelly M. Schulz brings a wealth of knowledge to the Maryland Department of Commerce from her years of experience working in the government, in the private sector and as a small business owner. She had previously served as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor since her confirmation in February 2015 and is also a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. At Labor, she was responsible for managing an agency with nearly 2,000 employees and an operating budget of more than $375 million. Under her leadership, Maryland’s apprenticeship program grew to its highest level since 2008, with more than 10,000 apprentices statewide. The Department’s Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) Maryland program received national recognition for both innovation and effectiveness and was named one of the Top 25 programs in the 2018 Innovations in American Government Award competition. A former member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Frederick County, she served on the Economic Matters Committee from 2011- 2015. In addition to local issues, then Delegate Schulz took special interest in legislation relating to banks and other financial institutions, business, occupations and professions, economic development, labor and employment, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation. Prior to embarking on a career of public service, Secretary Schulz sold real estate, worked as a program manager for a defense contractor and was a part-owner of a cyber security firm. She has received several awards including the Outstanding Recent Alumna Award from Hood College in 2011, and is proud to participate as a member in many local community organizations including the Libertytown-Unionville Lions Club and the Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company. Kelly is also a past Board member of the Frederick County Habitat for Humanity. Secretary Schulz obtained her Associates degree from Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York and later obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. A native of Warren, Michigan, Kelly currently lives in New Market in Frederick County with her husband John Nowell. She has two sons and daughters in law, Brandon and Clara, and Bradley and Maria.

Dr. Cherry received his doctorate in Biology with a concentration in Biomedical Science from The Catholic University of America in 2008 and his Master of Science in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University in 2000. In his dissertation research, Dr. Cherry studied molecular changes in ovarian tumor progression, and identified several biomarkers that proved useful in early diagnosis of this disease that often eludes detection until it has reached a very advanced stage. He joined QIAGEN Inc. in 2008 as a research fellow in their Gene Expression Laboratory where he studied the role of miRNAs in various disease states and identified novel miRNA targets in phosphodiesters in collaboration with the Center for Cancer Research at NCI. Following his fellowship, he was promoted to a research scientist in QIAGEN’s research and development laboratory, where he proceeded to work on QIAGEN’s genomic characterization platform, miScript, for miRNA detection, low and high-throughput miRNA molecular profiling platform. In addition, he developed the automated applications for Q-PCR gene expression miRNA/mRNA molecular profiling kit and supported the marketing applications to the biomedical research community. This new product generated $6.8 million net sales in year one for QIAGEN Inc. in 2010. He was then recruited back to the NIH/NCI in 2010 to become a Scientific Program Director and Assistant Project Officer of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and the Contracting Officer’s Representative, level III, for the Operational Technical Support Contract for the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) and the National Institute of Health’s Division of Intramural Research community. The ATP/CRTP is currently a $17million program that provides state-of-the-art advanced technologies to the NIH principal investigators, postdoctoral and clinical fellows at NIH/NCI and other federally funded research institutes. In 2011, Dr. Cherry co-developed a $4 million technology development arm for the ATP/CRTP directorate. This program was established to promote a collaborative environment with the NIH intramural community to develop innovative technologies in all areas of biomedical research including genomics, proteomics, imaging (subcellular and cellular), nanotechnology, genetically engineered animals, veterinary histology/pathology and bioinformatics. In 2013 his responsibilities pivoted from the ATP/CRTP to the Laboratory of Animal Science Program (LASP). During his governmental oversight of the LASP, he has successfully implemented and launched the NCI’s Gnotobiotic operations, Genomic Modification Core and the HIV reservoir laboratory and continued the development of the LASP technology development effort. In 2018 Dr. Cherry launched the first Biotechnology Fellowship at the Frederick National Laboratory for trainees looking to move their career to biotech and pharm arena. Dr. Cherry currently serves as the scientific advisor for all high school, undergraduate, graduate and capstone students at the NCI at Frederick campus. In 2021 Dr. Cherry was selected to become the chief of NIAID’s Research technologies Branch and the Associate Director of Research Technologies within NIAID. There he established an interdisciplinary resource that provides investigators access to leading-edge technologies and specialized expertise that are fully integrated to study complex biological questions. The first initiative launched in year one was the Integrated Data Sciences Section, IDSS. This program focuses on providing scientific consultation, training, on computational and data science support through manuscript preparation. In 2022 Dr. Cherry was named chief of operations for the Center for Human Immunology Inflammation and Autoimmunity, where he worked in full collaboration with the newly established scientific advisory board to increase the visibility and accept 46 projects during his three-year tenure from 16 total from 2008 to 2021. Dr. Cherry has been appointed to several scientific advisory boards representing NIAID/NIH for various universities in the state of Maryland and currently serves Chair of Board of Governors for Shepherd University. Dr. Cherry has been an associate professor at Hood College’s graduate program since 2017 and currently an adjunct professor at Mount St. Mary’s University graduate program where he teaches Biomedical Ethics, Introduction to Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, Protein Biochemistry and Advanced Technologies Genomics and Proteomics applications.

Pete Briskman is currently Executive Managing Director and Co-Lead for JLL's Mid-Atlantic Life Sciences Practice. Previously, he was the Broker Lead for JLL’s Maryland region overseeing all brokerage operations for both Baltimore and Bethesda offices. His primary focus is working closely with the region’s most visible Life Sciences and Government Contracting organizations, assisting them with strategic real estate planning, lease/purchase structuring, negotiations, municipal incentives and overall transaction management for his clients’ with leased and owned real estate portfolios. Experience Pete has over twenty years of experience leading complex real estate assignments nationally for headquarter transactions, custom build-to-suits, consolidations, expansions, and site selection of technical facilities to support his clients’ business needs. He is a multiple recipient of GWCAR’s award for Commercial Leasing Broker of the Year and Leasing Transaction of the Year. He has also been recognized by the Maryland Daily Record’s Power 100 List 2021. Education and affiliations Pete graduated from McDaniel College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He is Vice Chairman of the Board for BioHealth Innovation and sits on the Alumni Council for McDaniel College and Advisory Council for Junior Achievement. Pete is from Montgomery County where he still resides with his wife and three children.

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.