Symposium to take place May 13 in downtown Birmingham
Huntsville, Ala. – Several senior level scientists from the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology will present the latest developments in the field of genomics at the life science trade association BioAlabama Science Symposium May 13 in Birmingham.
This year’s leading-edge symposium speakers will discuss breakthrough discoveries, innovative devices, diagnostics, and genomic sequencing during the morning symposium.
HudsonAlpha scientists presenting at the symposium include:
• Rick Myers, Ph.D., HudsonAlpha President and Science Director
• Shawn Levy, Ph.D., Faculty Investigator and director of the Genomic Services Lab
• Jeremy Schmutz, Faculty Investigator and co-director of the Genomic Sequencing Center, specializing in plant genomics
• Eric Mendenhall, HudsonAlpha adjunct faculty, assistant professor of genomics and epigenetics for the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
HudsonAlpha Associate Company speakers are:
• Joe Ng, co-founder of iXpress Genes and professor of biochemistry at UAHuntsville
• Kapil Pant, Vice President of Biomedical and Energy Technologies for CFD Research Corporation
• Krishnan Chittur, President of GeneCapture, Interim Department Chair and Professor of Chemical & Materials Engineering at UAHuntsville.
“The quality of the speakers and their topics at this year’s meeting speaks to the innovative and rich entrepreneurial and scientific culture that already exists in Alabama. Being able to showcase that at this year’s symposium and meeting is another building block in a vibrant biotech community in our state,” said Carter Wells, Chairman of the Board for BioAlabama and Vice President for Economic Development at HudsonAlpha.
Featured keynote speakers during the Annual Meeting are John Eldridge, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Profectus BioSciences, and Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield.
Profectus BioSciences pioneered the use of vesiculoviruses as a vaccine delivery platform to prevent and treat numerous diseases of public health importance around the globe, most recently the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Their VesiculoVaxTM vaccine platform incorporates intellectual property originating in the Wertz Lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Canfield serves as Alabama’s chief economic developer responsible for recruiting new industry and growing existing jobs in the state. Canfield is Alabama’s voice across the country and around the world in selling Alabama to the growing bioscience industry.
“We are thrilled to host Dr. John Eldridge, Secretary Greg Canfield and other inspiring biotech leaders at this year’s Annual meeting. We look forward to hearing more about the continued growth of Alabama’s biotech industry and the initiatives to increase the industry’s footprint across the state,” said Kathy Nugent, Ph.D., President of the Board for BioAlabama.
The symposium and annual meeting will take place May 13 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Birmingham. Registration is available at www.bioalabama.com.
About BioAlabama
BioAlabama is a statewide nonprofit organization representing Alabama’s bio related industries, research scientists, clinicians and business professionals who are working together to foster, develop and support the life sciences in Alabama. BioAlabama is the state affiliate in Alabama of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the preeminent national association of biotechnology companies.
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 problems. Its mission is three-fold: sparking scientific discoveries that can impact human health and well-being; fostering biotech entrepreneurship; 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 scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. The relationships formed on the HudsonAlpha campus allow serendipity to yield results in medicine and agriculture. Since opening in 2008, HudsonAlpha, under the leadership of Dr. Richard M. Myers, a key collaborator on the Human Genome Project, has built a name for itself in genetics and genomics research and biotech education, and boasts 27 biotech companies on campus.
