Opening Symposium

Opening Symposium Information

Pain Points & Lessons Learned in Translating Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine Approaches into Clinical Therapies

Monday, December 2, 2019 - 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Sustained efforts in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have led us past hype and hope and now to the cusp of actual translation to the clinic. The assembled panelists are experts who have been part of that progression in our field and will share their insights on some unexpected hurdles and suggested paths forward to advance the momentum towards a real impact on public health.

Moderator: Dr. Taby Ahsan, Vice President of Research & Development, RoosterBio, Inc.
Dr. Taby Ahsan is currently Vice President of Research & Development at RoosterBio, Inc. She has over 20 years of experience in both basic and translational studies in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Taby trained in Bioengineering at UPenn and UC-San Diego, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at GA Tech. Her initial industry experience was at one of the earliest tissue engineering companies, Advanced Tissue Sciences in La Jolla, CA. She went on to join the faculty in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tulane University, where her lab focused on studying biomechanical regulation of both pluripotent and adult stem cells. Taby was also a Member and then Chair of the Cell, Tissue, and Gene Therapy Advisory Council (CTGTAC) at the FDA. In 2017 Taby joined RoosterBio in her continued efforts to help drive forward the field of regenerative medicine.
Speakers:  
Dr. Anthony Davies, Executive Chairman, Dark Horse Consulting

Anthony founded Dark Horse Consulting in 2014, bringing 20+ years of leadership experience in product, process and manufacturing development to cell and gene therapy companies in need. Anthony has a proven track record in managing pharmaceutical pipelines, is a skilled liaison with international regulatory agencies, and has an intense familiarity with a wide range of biologics, and cell and gene therapies. He is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and chair of national and international conferences and seminars, noted for his provocative, thoughtful and sometimes contrarian presentations.

Doris A. Taylor, PhD, Hon DSc, FAHA, FACC, Professor, Director, Regenerative Medicine, Texas Heart Institute and Texas A&M University

As a pioneer in the space of cell therapy and creating decellularized organs for over 20 years, Dr Taylor has been at the Texas Heart Institute since 2012, where she established both the Department of Regenerative Medicine Research and the Center for Cell and Organ Biotechnology, the latter in partnership with the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine. She holds faculty appointments at Texas A&M and Rice University and serves as a consultant for both academic and commercial enterprises in the regenerative medicine space. She has also founded multiple companies based on her research, including Miromatrix Medical Inc. to commercialize the organ perfusion decellularization/recellularization technologies developed in her lab and Stem Cell Security, LLC, a cell banking and data management company in Houston, Texas. She holds many honors, including appointments as a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, and Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Investors. Her work has been recognized and featured by 60 Minutes, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC Horizon, BBC News Health, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Associated Press, National Public Radio, NOVA Science Now, Science Channel STEM CELL UNIVERSE with Stephen Hawking, Huffington Post (Canada), and numerous other worldwide media outlets.
Dr. Christopher Gemmiti, VP of Operations, Sentien Biotechnologies, Inc.
Dr. Gemmiti has been active in the cell therapy field for more than 20 years, including roles at Sentien Biotechnologies, Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Organogenesis Inc. He is currently the VP of Operations at Sentien, where he has broad operational responsibilities for this clinical-stage cell therapy company, using mesenchymal stromal cells for treatment of acute kidney injury. At Organogenesis, he led the Oral Regeneration business unit’s cross-functional, strategic alignment for the clinical development, regulatory submission-and-review and commercial launch of GINTUIT™, the first manufactured allogeneic cell therapy approved by BLA (2012). He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS in both Biomedical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics from Johns Hopkins University. At Georgia Tech, Dr. Gemmiti was an NSF Fellow in Entrepreneurship through the TI:GER Program. Dr. Gemmiti has served on the Advisory Boards of the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (Georgia Tech), Biomedical Engineering (Johns Hopkins and Duke University), Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) and Cell Therapy Bioprocessing.
Tim Bertram, CEO, InRegen, CEO, Twin City Bio

Chief Executive Officer of inRegen, a multi-national privately owned clinical-stage cellular therapeutics company focusing on treatment of chronic renal disease and CEO of Twin City Bio, a USA-based CDMO focusing on the manufacturing and Development of cell-based therapeutics. He serves as a director for multiple biotechnology companies. Tim’s research and development activities have led to the commercialization of 8 medical products that are improving the lives of people around the world.