HudsonAlpha Executive Vice President for Genomic Medicine and Chief Genomics Officer Howard Jacob, PhD; has been named a “Future Maker” by the 2016 BIO International Convention, recognizing him as someone “who overcame challenges and enormous obstacles and did not wait for change, but drove it.”
Winners were selected via a worldwide voting process and have the opportunity to share their vision for the future at the convention June 6-9, 2016 in San Francisco, Calif.
Jacob will take the stage June 8th at 3:00 pm to discuss genomic medicine and the use of whole genome sequencing to diagnose rare disease today– as well as the potential to use the genome for preventive health decisions in the future..
“There are millions of people living with a rare disease and HudsonAlpha uses genome sequencing to find diagnoses and better treatments for those patients,” said Jacob. “I’m honored that I have the opportunity to showcase how we are changing lives through genomics.”
“It’s no surprise Dr. Jacob was selected as a representative of the future of biotech,” said Carter Wells, vice president for economic development at HudsonAlpha. “We believe in the power of genomics to positively impact health not only for patients on difficult diagnostic odysseys, but also for those ‘healthy’ patients seeking additional information to guide their care in the long term.”
BIO brings together more than 15,000 biotechnology and pharma leaders to discuss new opportunities and promising collaborations. This event covers a wide spectrum of life science and application areas, including genomics.
Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield will lead a delegation of state bioscience leaders, including HudsonAlpha. In addition, Canfield is teaming with BioAlabama, a statewide industry group, and established bioscience businesses and research organizations, to enhance the recruitment of life science firms and talented researchers to the state. BioAlabama will have an Alabama state pavilion at BIO that will serve as a base for the Alabama delegation.
“Because of the innovative work in fields such as genomics and drug discovery taking place in Alabama, bioscience has been a long-standing focus of our economic development efforts,” said Canfield. “Alabama’s bioscience institutions possess demonstrated skills and expertise, perfectly positioning them for productive partnerships and collaborations in many industry disciplines.”
Wells and a number of HudsonAlpha associate companies will also be in attendance.
“HudsonAlpha has become one of the largest genomic sequencing centers in the world and has more than 30 for-profit companies on campus. At BIO, we have the opportunity to reach an international audience,” said Wells. “I’m excited to showcase the innovative and scientific culture of Alabama.”
To learn more about BIO and to register, visit http://convention.bio.org/.
About HudsonAlpha: HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is a nonprofit institute dedicated to innovating in the field of genomic technology and sciences across a spectrum of biological challenges. Founded in 2008, its mission is four-fold: sparking scientific discoveries that can impact human health and well-being; bringing genomic medicine into clinical care; fostering life sciences entrepreneurship and business growth; and encouraging the creation of a genomics-literate workforce and society. The HudsonAlpha biotechnology campus consists of 152 acres nestled within Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second largest research park. Designed to be a hothouse of biotech economic development, HudsonAlpha’s state-of-the-art facilities co-locate nonprofit scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. The relationships formed on the HudsonAlpha campus encourage collaborations that produce advances in medicine and agriculture. Under the leadership of Dr. Richard M. Myers, a key collaborator on the Human Genome Project, HudsonAlpha has become a national and international leader in genetics and genomics research and biotech education, and includes 32 diverse biotech companies on campus. To learn more about HudsonAlpha, visit: http://hudsonalpha.org/.
Media Contact:
Margetta Thomas
mthomas@hudsonalpha.org
256-327-0425
