The Top BioHealth Capital Region CEOs to Follow on Social Media
The BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) is evolving quickly and it can be tough to keep pace with the latest news emerging from the host of biotech, medical device and cell, and gene therapy companies in the area. BioBuzz, when combined with some strategic social media follows, can help you stay on top of the latest developments, news and thought leadership coming out of the BHCR.
If you’re reading this, you already know about and hopefully, follow us (@BioBuzzMaryland).
To add to your social media sources, we’ve handpicked several key industry CEOs, founders and thought leaders that are must follows to stay in the loop with all of the excitement, innovation, and milestones that are sure to come in 2020 and into the next decade of the region’s evolution as a top global BioHealth cluster.
Jeff Galvin, CEO, American Gene Technologies
Jeff Galvin is the CEO of American Gene Technologies (AGT) (@americangene). AGT is a cell and gene therapy company that utilizes a proprietary lentiviral platform to develop potential treatments for HIV, liver cancer, Phenylketonuria (PKU) and inherited genetic disorders. In October 2019 the company announced it had submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) to the FDA for its HIV cure program, AGT103-T, which is expected to start clinical trials in 2020. Galvin is a dynamic presence on the BioHealth Capital Region speaking circuit and a leader in fostering a world-class community of cell and gene therapy companies here in Maryland that he sees becoming a future “DNA Valley”.
Galvin comes from the West coast where he was a successful tech entrepreneur and executive. After living through the industrial revolution first-hand in the microcomputer and software industry, Galvin is driven by his passion to see that the work they are doing in cell and gene therapy brings forth what he describes as, “the software revolution for the next 100 years: reprogramming DNA in cells to improve health.” With nearly 1,900 followers on LinkedIn and 350 followers on Twitter, keeping tabs on Galvin’s social media will help you keep your finger on what’s happening at AGT (@americangene) and the cell and gene therapy industry.
Greg Merril, CEO, Adaptive Phage Therapeutics
Greg Merril is the CEO of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), which is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria. This is an exciting company to follow with a remarkable founding story that is chronicled in the memoir, “The Perfect Predator.” Earlier this month APT was selected as one of the TOP 1% of startups at the 2020 Startup Grind Global Conference, making the cut to be one of just 54 companies selected from 4,000 total applicants from 133 countries. Merrill was also featured last week on NPR’s ‘On The Record’ podcast where you can learn more about their technology and story.
APT’s core asset is a large and continually expanding phage library (PhageBank®) deployed with a companion diagnostic to achieve a rapid response and cost-effective therapy for otherwise recalcitrant bacterial infections. Merril is very active on social media and has been a regular panelist and speaker on the region’s event circuit. Join his more than 2,500 followers on LinkedIn and stay in the loop on the latest APT and BHCR happenings.
Jon Rowley, Founder and Chief Product Officer, RoosterBio
Jon Rowley is the founder of Frederick, Maryland’s RoosterBio and is the company’s Chief Product Officer. RoosterBio is rapidly becoming Maryland’s most well-known stem cell company based on Rowley’s vision for ‘plug and play’ stem cell products and a culture that is attracting a flock of loyal employees (a.k.a. ‘Roosters’) and customers to them. The work that Rowley and his team do at ‘The Roost’ is focused on developing products that help simplify the translating cell therapy and tissue engineering technologies into the clinic and onto the market. The company is at the leading edge of designing products that will accelerate research and development, which will create a sustainable regenerative medicine industry that can deliver more life-saving therapies to patients. Rowley founded the company in 2013 in the FITCI Incubator located in Frederick and is another thought leader who keeps his more than 2,800 LinkedIn and nearly 1,700 Twitter followers in the loop about the latest RoosterBio and bioscience news.
Crystal Icenhour, CEO, Aperiomics
Crystal Icenhour leads Aperiomics, which is a biohealth data science company. The company’s Xplore-BIOME bioinformatics algorithms and Deep Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing technology help physicians identify the causes of their patient’s infections which are traditionally not identifiable through other testing. Icenhour co-founded Aperiomics in 2014 and the company, with support from the National Science Foundation, identifies every known, sequenced bacteria, virus, fungus, and parasite through deep shotgun metagenomic sequencing, using its world-renown database containing over 37,000 microbes. Icenhour and her team are on a mission to revolutionize the way doctors around the world identify infections. Nearly 4,600 LinkedIn and almost 1,800 Twitter followers stay connected to Icenhour for the latest biohealth data science news and announcements from Aperiomics.
Robert Kramer, CEO, Emergent Biosolutions
Robert Kramer is CEO of Emergent Biosolutions, a leading developer and manufacturer of medical countermeasures for public health threats like Anthrax or the Coronavirus. Kramer became CEO in April 2019 and has a long history with the company going back to 1999, holding positions that include CFO and most recently COO. With the disappearance of MedImmune last year, Emergent has taken the help as Maryland’s largest, home-grown biotech companies employing more than 1,300-employees globally and over 500 in Maryland between its headquarters and product development facility in Gaithersburg, two manufacturing facilities in Baltimore, and a manufacturing facility in Rockville.
Historically, Emergent’s leadership had been quite dormant on social media but Kramer seems to be taking a much more modern approach to communicate the great work that the company and its employees are doing, both with their public health portfolio of products as well as their volunteer work in the community. With more than 1,100 followers on LinkedIn, Kramer is a can’t miss follow to keep track of what’s going on at Emergent, the biodefense industry and within the biotech and pharma industry at large.
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Steve brings nearly twenty years of experience in marketing and content creation to the WorkForce Genetics team. He loves writing engaging content and working with partners, companies, and individuals to share their unique stories and showcase their work. Steve holds a BA in English from Providence College and an MA in American Literature from Montclair State University. He lives in Frederick, Maryland with his wife, two sons, and the family dog.
