top of page
Speakers
REGIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 2024
Rick Siger
Secretary of Community & Economic Development
On May 3, 2023, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously confirmed Governor Josh Shapiro’s nomination of Rick Siger as the Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development.
​In his current role, Rick leads the commonwealth’s efforts to grow our economy and build a better future for Pennsylvanians. He is committed to helping small businesses thrive, spurring innovation, and increasing opportunities in communities to make Pennsylvania a national leader in growth and innovation.
​
Prior to his current role, Rick served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the President at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh and led CMU’s growth strategy at Hazelwood Green, a former Pittsburgh industrial site re-envisioned as a new model for economic development and translational research.
​
Rick served President Barack Obama for more than seven years in multiple roles, including as Chief of Staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of Commerce. He also worked as former Governor Tim Kaine’s Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
​
Rick was born and raised in Pittsburgh and currently lives there with his wife Kinsey Casey, daughter Margaret, and dog Amos. He holds a B.A. in political science from Columbia University.
Jennifer Griffin, PhD
Partner, Mission BioCapital​
Jennifer has spent the last 10+ years accelerating early-stage life science companies through direct investing, as well as creating ecosystems for them to thrive.
As a VP at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), she designed and executed the Commonwealth’s investment strategy with a particular focus on developing underserved and underrepresented markets and talent within the industry. Before this, she served as a management and strategy consultant at Back Bay Life Science Advisors.
She began her career as a licensing professional at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office working with faculty, entrepreneurs, and investors to commercialize early-stage life science innovations. Jennifer holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she studied the genetic basis of mycobacterial cholesterol utilization.
Biotech CEO panel
Renold Capocasale
CEO, Incite Health
Ren is an accomplished executive with over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry. He started as a bench scientist, holding roles in QC and Discovery at Medarex, Centocor, and Janssen where he established the polychromatic flow cytometry and cell sorting Core facility. He is an expert in cellular analysis and validation of flow-based immunoassays for safety and efficacy assessment of biologics and cell therapies. He has co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts and a book chapter on the “Application of Flow Cytometry in Drug Development”. He is co-inventor of several patents.
Ren founded and was chief executive officer of FlowMetric Inc., the first contract research organization dedicated to flow cytometry-based services for translational and clinical trial drug development. He oversaw the formation of FlowMetric Life Sciences with the addition and growth of a European subsidiary, FlowMetric Europe, and FlowMetric Diagnostics, a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited high-complexity clinical lab. In 2022, after twelve years of solid organic growth, led the acquisition of FlowMetric and FlowMetric Europe to KCAS/ Vitruvian Partners.
Ren now leads the team at Incite Health Inc, where addressing unmet needs in clinical services, LDT development and support and data transfer are prioritized.
Randall N. Hyer, MD, PhD, MPH
CEO, Merlin Biotech
Dr. Hyer has more than 15 years of experience in biotechnology with vaccines, biologics, and biosimilars. In November 2021, Dr. Hyer stepped down as Senior Vice President for Global Medical Affairs at Moderna where he worked on the FDA approval and launch of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Prior to Moderna, he headed Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Dynavax, where he helped achieve approval of HEPLISAV-B, a new two-dose hepatitis B vaccine with a novel adjuvant. He left Moderna to launch Merlin Biotech and brings with him a wealth of development success.
Lillian Chiang, PhD
CEO, Evrys Bio
As the CEO of Evrys Bio, Dr. Chiang is a trailblazer in the field of drug discovery innovation. The company has made significant progress in advancing what could be potentially the first host targeted antiviral for a broad range of viral diseases. She and her team have enabled this work through non-dilutive funding commitments of up to $50M. Throughout her career she has built from scratch, state-of-the-art technologies, drug discovery & development teams, and businesses at Stanford, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma, Aestus Therapeutics, and Kadmon. Lillian received her BS from MIT, a PhD in Bacteriology from the University of Madison, Wisconsin, a Post Doc in Neurobiology from Stanford and an MBA from the Wharton Business School. Prior to Evrys Bio, Lillian was VP of Translational Medicine at Kadmon Corporation.
Panel Moderator
Nick Spring, BSc (Hons), DipM, MCIM
Entrepreneur in Residence
Nick Spring is an accomplished life sciences leader and dynamic entrepreneur with a passion for empowering innovation on a global scale. As the first Entrepreneur in Residence at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, he provides strategic mentorship to spinouts from the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. He advises over a dozen early-stage companies supported by the Academic Innovation Zone program. With hands-on expertise in strategy, tactics, fundraising, and product development, Nick is dedicated to helping startups turn bold ideas into breakthrough successes.
His career highlights include founding Topaz Pharmaceuticals as the CEO, leading it to a $200+ million acquisition, and boosting revenues at Reliefband Technologies, again as CEO, by 600%. With global experience spanning top roles at Merck—where he spearheaded billion-dollar product launches—Nick’s work has taken him across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North and South America. As Humanitas's founder, managing partner, and association with The Bracken Group, he continues to drive growth and deliver high-impact solutions across biotech, pharma, and medical devices.
Nick brings a global perspective, entrepreneurial spirit, and a track record of results to every venture, making him our moderator for our discussions that inspire progress and innovation today.
Emcee
Grant W. Castor
Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy and Operations
Grant holds more than a decade of strategy, finance and commercial operations experience in the biopharma and medical device industries. Prior to joining Sentynl as a founding member in 2015, Mr. Castor led marketing operations for Amedra Pharmaceuticals LLC and Lineage Therapeutics, which was successfully sold to Impax Laboratories, LLC, now Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Before his focus in biopharma, Mr. Castor held numerous commercial roles in the medical device sector, most notably as the head of U.S. operations and global marketing for an Israel-based organization, where he successfully commercialized a novel orthopedic device in more than 30 countries. Mr. Castor earned his Bachelor of Science in international business from Johnson & Wales University.
bottom of page