Life Science Summit confirmed for Arlington

About 400 life science and health care leaders are expected to attend the second annual iC3 Life Science Summit in Arlington.

Presented by bionorthTX, a regional life sciences industry association, the Wednesday Oct. 26 event will convene at College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.

“The summit provides senior executives, scientists, educators and community leaders with a forum to network, exchange ideas, learn, and promote business opportunities in our region,” said Kay Tieman, bionorthTX co-founder and chief operating officer, commenting in a news release.

This year’s themes are innovation, collaboration, capital formation and commercialization.

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“UTA is thrilled to be partnering with bionorthTX on the iC3 Life Science Summit,” said Dr. Duane Dimos, vice president for research at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dimos expects the meeting to give the North Texas life science community an opportunity see the research that his school conducts in the field.

“As a Research 1 university, and with the upcoming groundbreaking for our new research building, UTA is becoming a major force in life and health science research,” Dimos said.

The summit will begin with opening remarks from Vistasp Karbhari, UTA president, and feature a breakfast discussion on the state of the Texas life sciences industry. Issues will include drug pricing pressure with Brett Girior, M.D., CEO of Health Science and Biosecurity Partners, managing director of the Kirchner Group and special adviser to the president of UNT Health Science Center; and Tom Kowalski, president and CEO of the Texas Healthcare and Life Science Institute.

New to this year’s event will be an afternoon plenary session with Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams and other invited government officials discussing the state and local efforts to develop a sustainable life sciences and healthcare ecosystem in North Texas.

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The luncheon address will be delivered by John McWhorter, chief operating officer of the Baylor Scott and White Health System, followed by the presentation of the Annual Helix Award. The award will be presented by Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D., president emeritus of UT Southwestern Medical Center and president of the Children’s Medical Center Foundation.

Other confirmed speakers include:

• Al Gillum, president of ZS Pharma

• Deborah Hutchinson, president of Wound Management Technologies

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• Doug White, vice president Institutional Advancement at UNT Health Science Center Fort Worth

• Frank Grassler, vice president for Technology Development at UT Southwestern Medical Center

• John Houston, CEO of Dualams

• John Liete, vice president of Oncology for Illumina

• Jon Weidanz, associate vice president of research at UTA

• Julie Goonewardene, associate vice Chancellor for Innovation and Strategic Investment & Managing director for the UT System Horizon Fund

• Andrew Offer, managing director and CFO, Scientific Health Development

• Kathleen Gibson, CEO of the Southwestern Medical Foundation

• Maxwell Lea, vice president corporate development & finance of DFB Pharmaceuticals

• Scott Boyle, senior director of business development of Caris Life Sciences

• Sunil Joshi, CEO of Gradalis

• Theodora Ross, MD, Ph.D., Director of the UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Cancer Genetics Department

Early-bird registration for members and non-members ends September 26. For more information on sponsorship opportunities visit http://bionorthtx.org or contact Kay Tieman at kay@bionorthtx.org.