2013 Conference Information Coming Soon

2012 Conference Speakers 

Click here to watch videos of the 2012 Keynote Sessions.

 

LifeScience Alley’s Conference attracted speakers from all over the globe, including government and industry leaders, Nobel Prize Laureates, and senior international officials.

 

This year’s event included thought-provoking presentations related to current trends and innovations in the life science and healthcare industries.

 

Morning Keynote: “Owning the Care Pathway – A Redefined Healthcare Model”

Julie McHugh, MBA, COO, Endo Health Solutions

 

Julie H. McHugh is Chief Operating Officer of Endo Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Endo, Ms. McHugh was the CEO of Nora Therapeutics, Inc., a venture capital-backed biotech company focused on the treatment of infertility disorders. Prior to joining Nora Therapeutics, she was Company Group Chairman for Johnson & Johnson’s Worldwide Virology Business Unit, which included oversight of a R&D portfolio including compounds for HIV, Hepatitis C, and Tuberculosis. Prior to her role as Company Group Chairman, Ms. McHugh was President of Centocor, Inc. a J&J subsidiary. Ms. McHugh received a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and her masters of business administration degree from St. Joseph’s University. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of ViroPharma Inc., the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Organization (BIO), the Board of Directors of the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI), the Board of Visitors for the Smeal College of Business of the Pennsylvania State University, and the Board of Directors for the Nathaniel Adamczyk Foundation. She is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Industry Organization.

 

 

Luncheon Keynote: “From Strategy to Execution – Think Big. Start Small. Act Fast.” 

Véronique Roger, MD, MPH, Director, Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic

 

Véronique L Roger, M.D., M.P.H., is a consultant in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases with a joint appointment in the Division of Epidemiology at Mayo Clinic. She is chair of the Department of Health Sciences Research and has master’s faculty privileges in Clinical and Translational Science at Mayo Graduate School. Dr. Roger is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Roger studied in Paris, France, and received the M.D. degree from the University of Paris. She completed two cardiology fellowships at Mayo Clinic and received the M.P.H. degree from the University of Minnesota. She is an established investigator who directs a large program in cardiovascular epidemiology. Throughout her career, Dr. Roger has been funded by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is an established investigator of the American Heart Association. Dr. Roger is currently the principal investigator of several NIH R01 grants, which further the understanding of heart disease, its outcomes and management in the community. A unique feature of Dr. Roger’s program resides in the fact that it uses active (hot pursuit) methodology and enrolls subjects prospectively. This enables the use of molecular epidemiology methods to improve the mechanistic understanding of the burden of cardiovascular disease.

 

 

 

Afternoon Plenary Session: “2012 Election Results – The Future of American Healthcare”

 

Rob Clark, Vice President, Health Care Modernization, Optum

 

Rob Clark is Vice President of Healthcare Modernization for Optum, the multi-billion dollar services, IT and health management solutions business UnitedHealth Group.    Mr. Clark is responsible for advancing Optum’s public policy and related communications initiatives to improve the healthcare system.  Optum’s goal is to make the health care system work better for everyone.  The company develops and markets technologies and solutions that gather and analyze data for use by payers, hospitals, governments and physicians to deliver better health outcomes.  In addition, Optum designs and delivers health management solutions that address the physical, mental and financial needs of individuals and organizations.

 

 

Brent A. Del Monte, JD, Vice President, Federal Government Relations, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

 

Brent Del Monte currently serves as Vice President, Federal Government Relations for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  In this role he serves as the lead lobbyist for a trade association representing more than 1,100 members.

In the 7+ years Brent has served as the Vice President for Federal Government Relations at BIO, BIO has successfully worked for the enactment of priority legislation, such as: (1) a pathway for the approval of biosimilars at the FDA; (2) the Therapeutic Project Discovery Tax Credit (3) the Cures Acceleration Network; (4) Project Bioshield and liability protections for bioterrorist and pandemic countermeasures;  (5) increased funding for the NIH and FDA; and (7) two reauthorizations of PDUFA, including important reforms to the Accelerated Approval pathway at FDA. 

Raymond Frost, Vice President, Public Policy & Government Affairs, Bayer HealthCare

 

Currently, Mr. Frost serves as the Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs for Bayer Healthcare, LLC .  In this role, Mr. Frost is responsible for developing, coordinating and executing the public policy & legislative agenda for Bayer Healthcare.  Previously, he served as Executive Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Eisai Inc.  He was responsible for managing Eisai’s legislative & public policy strategies and advocacy engagement.  Mr. Frost led Eisai’s Health Care Reform Team, a cross functional team of executives who developed new business models to compete in a rapidly changing marketplace as a result of health care reform. 

 

 

Mark Leahey, JD, President & CEO, MDMA – Medical Device Manufacturers Association

 

Mark Leahey is the President & CEO for the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), a national trade association in Washington, DC that represents hundreds of research-driven medical technology companies. Mr. Leahey’s responsibilities include advocating on behalf of the entrepreneurial sector of the medical device industry to Congress, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other federal and state agencies. He has lobbied for a more reasonable user fee for smaller companies, worked to open access to the hospital marketplace by challenging the exclusionary and anti-competitive nature of certain large group purchasing organizations (GPOs), as well as ensure that medical device technologies are reimbursed adequately. Mr. Leahey has  been named one of the medical device industry’s top lobbyists and sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of Medical Product Outsourcing. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and a graduate of Georgetown University, the Georgetown Law Center and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

 

 

Breakout Session Speakers:

 

Breakout Session 1: “Accessing Foreign Capital & Strategic Partners in Asian Markets”

Jim Buck, MBA, President & CEO, Mardil Medical, Inc.

 

Jim Buck joined Mardil Medical in September, 2010 after more than nineteen years of experience successfully developing, marketing and commercializing innovative cardiac focused medical device technologies at St. Jude Medical, Johnson & Johnson and Innerpulse.  Jim holds a master of management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of management and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.  Jim resides with his wife Lisa and four children in Orono, MN.

 

John Evans, Managing Director, Tractus Asia Ltd

 

Mr. Evans is a native Minnesotan and a founding partner and Managing Director of Tractus Asia. During his nearly two decades in Asia, Mr. Evans has gained the practical on-the-ground knowledge necessary to assist companies in the development and execution of their Asian business strategies . He has worked in a variety of sectors, including assisting many U.S. Med Tech companies to develop their Asian strategies, find partners and funding, and to launch and grow their businesses. Mr. Evans authored several chapters of a 2003 Handbook for Setting Up Business in China and frequently writes articles, gives lectures, is interviewed and conducts workshops around the world on trade and foreign direct investment. Some of these include: the Economist, CNBC Squawk Box, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Minnesota Trade Office, Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association, MassMEDIC, the Asia Business Forum and many more. He earned his degree in East Asian History and studied Economics at Princeton University.

 

James Sieben, Vice President/General Manager, Nova-Tech Engineering

 

James Sieben began his professional career at 3M which sparked his interest in product development and innovation. He then took the opportunity to work for IXI Corp, and advanced quickly to engineering manager. His accomplishments at IXI led to a patent. James accepted the position Vice-President/GM for Nova-Tech Engineering (NTE) in 1995. Since then, one of Nova-Tech’s products progressed from startup to more than 90% market share in the US, Canadian, and European markets. Their unique business model is one of the successful driving forces. NTE was soon in need of advanced facilities; thus, in 2005, James had the foresight and vision of what MinnWest Technology Campus could be. He led all negotiations for the Campus purchase from the State of Minnesota by working directly with the local EDC, City, County, and State. Presently, along with his duties at NTE, he is the President of MinnWest Technology Campus, President of MinnWest Foundation and Owner of Sieben Enterprises. James is the past chair for the Willmar Chamber, he is on the board of directors LifeScience Alley, and is a committee member for Grow Minnesota.

Ron Von Wald, Global Director of Marketing & General Manager, China, Lake Region Medical

 

 

 

Breakout Session 2: “In Vivo & In Vitro Cell Interfaces for Neurological Therapeutic Development – New Technologies and Concomitant Regulatory Challenges”

Eric Dy, MS, PhD, North American Business Development Manager, IMEC

 

Eric Dy is IMEC’s North American Business Development Manager responsible for the strategic growth of IMEC’s life sciences and medical business endeavors.  He earned his Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from Cornell University (2003) and later his Masters of Science (2005) and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles (2008).  He is the recipient of many prestigious scholarship awards including the Chancellor’s Fellowship, Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship, and Belgian American Education Foundation Fellowship and has 10+ years experience in MEMS design and processing.

 

Victor Krauthamer, MS, PhD, Founding Director, FDA, Division of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices 

 

Victor Krauthamer’s training was in neuroscience, behavior and electrophysiology.  He received his B.S. degree from the City College of New York and his PhD degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.  He did postdoctoral research at the New York Medical College on multichannel optical recording from neurons. He held a faculty position at Nova-Southeastern University in Florida.  He is at the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health as a research scientist.  Presently, he is the director of the Division of Physics, which has programs in biophysics, electromagnetics, optics and human factors as related to medical devices.

 

 

Breakout Session 3: “Big Data – Big Deal!”

 

Peter J. Dehnel, MD, Medical Director, Utilization Management, BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota

 

Prior to coming to Blue Cross, he served as the sole Medical Director for Children’s Physician Network (CPN) since 1997. CPN serves as a Twin Cities-wide network of pediatric primary care and specialty clinicians. In addition to these duties with the network, he has been a practicing pediatrician in the southwest Metro area for the last 25 years. In addition to his current role at Blue Cross, he regularly participates in a number of health care-related organizations. These include the Twin Cities Medical Society, where he is currently President, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, where he serves as the Chair of the Section on Telehealth Care.

 

John Hitt, MD, MBA, Chief Quality Officer, Hennepin Health System

 

John Hitt, MD, MBA is the Chief Quality Officer for Hennepin Health System in Minneapolis, MN.  Prior to joining HHS in 2009 he was the health care leader for IP2Biz, a company that specializes in the identification, further development and market placement of technology.  Dr. Hitt also previously served as a medical director for Optum Health Care Cooperative Care group, a division of United Health Care.  The Cooperative Care Group designed an Accountable Care Organization for the Medicare  population.  Dr. Hitt is leading the design and application of evidence-based practice and supporting quality measurement systems. He continues to serve on the Surgical Care Improvement Program’s Advisory Group for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

John Montague, Managing Partner, 40 Ventures

 

John Montague is a Managing Partner at 40 Ventures. Formerly the Vice President at TripleTree, an independent investment bank focused on healthcare services and technology. His specializations include information technology, online media, managed care, population health management, health and wellness, and mobile and wireless technology. He is a member of the firm’s Marketing, Research and Business Development teams. In addition, he is the curator of the Tripletree iAwards program. Prior to joining TripleTree, John held senior executive positions at Warm Health, Muve, Golf Intelligence/Golfnet and Zamba Solutions. He began his career in junior positions at Colle & McVoy, PaineWebber and Cargill’s Financial Markets Division.

 

James Reynolds, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Medicom Health Interactive

 

As Chief Medical Officer at Medicom Health Interactive, Jim is instrumental in new program development and existing program enhancement. In addition, Jim works closely with the sales and account management groups to bring clinical perspectives to ensure best practices and evidence-based content are the basis of Medicom Health Interactive products and services. Jim brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical medicine, health management and quality assurance. Prior to Medicom, Jim served nearly three years as Chief Medical Officer at HealthFitness Corp, a provider of wellness and health risk behavior change services. Before joining HealthFitness Jim served as a senior consultant in Mercer Health and Benefits Health and Productivity Management specialty practice. Jim’s earlier career included clinical practice of internal medicine, founder of two start-up health services companies and independent consulting. Jim has a M.D. degree from the University of Missouri and is board certified in internal medicine. He is an active member of the American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, American College of Physician Executives, and the American College of Environmental and Occupational Medicine.

 

Breakout Session 4: “The New Health Customer – Who’s in Charge?”

John Frederick, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, PreferredOne

 

Dr. Frederick received a degree in Electrical Engineering from North Dakota State University and went on to postgraduate training in Biomedical Engineering at NDSU. He received his degree in medicine from the University of Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota Family Practice Residency program. Dr. Frederick became board certified in family practice in 1979 and is certified through 2014. He has served on numerous committees, task forces, and boards of physician/clinic groups and health plans in the Twin Cities.

Cheryl J. Harelstad, Corporate Vice President Supply Chain Mgt & Clinical Equipment Services, Allina Health

Cheryl is the Corporate VP for Supply Chain Management and Clinical Equipment Services at Allina Health. She has led Allina’s SCM areas for 8 years. She is a Minnesota native and a University of Minnesota graduate. Cheryl oversees Allina’s SCM contracting, inventory management, logistics and materials management functions. Cheryl also manages Allina’s full-service Clinical Equipment Services group. She oversees $400M in annual spend, a staff of 275, and the $35M budget for clinical equipment replacement.

Jeff Killion, MBA, Chief Marketing Officer, Interrad Medical, Inc.

Jeff has been with Interrad since 2006 where he has helped lead the company through the development of the SecurAcath device into commercialization. Mr. Killion has over 20 years of experience in the medical device industry. Prior to Interrad, Jeff was Vice President of Marketing at Velocimed, which was acquired by St. Jude Medical. He has also held marketing leadership positions Boston Scientific and Baxter Healthcare. Jeff has a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Kris Soegaard, Chief Operating Officer, Buyers Health Care Action Group

Kris Soegaard is the Chief Operating Officer for the Buyers Health Care Action Group, now doing business as the Minnesota Health Action Group, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The Action Group is a coalition of private and public health care purchasers dedicated to improving the value of the health care system in Minnesota, driving higher quality, lower cost, and better health outcomes for all. Kris is responsible for managing the operations of The Action Group.  She also manages the organization’s Minnesota Bridges to Excellence program, a purchaser-led pay-for-performance program.  Kris represents The Action Group on a number of local initiatives, including Aligning Forces for Quality and the Measurement and Reporting Committee for Minnesota Community Measurement. Kris spent 15 years as a senior health and welfare benefits executive at Target Corporation, prior to joining The Action Group in 2006.