Events
Strengthen Connecticut BioScience
From
the desk of Paul Pescatello, President and CEO of CURE
 One measure of the strength
of Connecticut’s bioscience sector is its calendar of
events. Every year brings numerous opportunities for CURE
members and others to get together for face-to-face
networking and the exchange of ideas in both formal and
informal settings, and 2008 is no exception.
The CURE/Yale BioHaven
series of entrepreneurship seminars continues to draw
a substantial portion of the biopharma cluster’s
scientists, management, venture capitalists, and
graduate/post-doctoral students. Already this season
we’ve had in-depth presentations by key local
start-ups such as BioRelix, Vascular Insights, Rib-X, and
Optherion, and we’ll be hearing from Vidus Ocular on April
23.
Meanwhile we’ve organized
a special BioHaven panel presentation on April 16. This
presentation, The Next Big Idea: Emerging Opportunities
in the Life Sciences, will give venture capitalists,
entrepreneurs, and the Connecticut bioscience community a
change to look into the future at the next generation of
therapeutics. The panel features Roger Longman of Windhover
Information, William Burkoth of Pfizer’s Venture
Investment Group, and David Scheer of Scheer & Company,
as well as two distinguished Yale faculty: Professor Richard
Flavell is the founding science of VaxInnate as well as a
professor of immunobiology and molecular, cellular, and
developmental biology; and Professor Haifan Lin is an
internationally recognized stem cell researcher and director
of the Yale University Stem Cell Center. Places are filling
fast for this extraordinary event, so be sure to register
now. Click
here for registration link and more information.
The annual international
BIO convention will be held this year in San Diego June
17-20. On the morning of June 18, I’ll be chairing a
special panel at BIO discussing the future of stem cell
policy and funding. Panel participants to date include Michael
Werner of The Werner Group, Susan Solomon of the New York
Stem Cell Foundation, Stacy Taylor of DLA Piper, and Warren
Wollschlager, who is Chief of the Office of Research &
Development, Connecticut Department of Health, and the
Founding Chair of the Interstate Alliance on Stem Cell
Research.
As in past years, we are
working with our members and with the State of
Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community
Development to organize a straightforward but
informative presence at the convention. As a CURE member,
your participation in the Connecticut booth is a great
opportunity to remind convention attendees of the unique
advantages of the Connecticut bioscience cluster while
reaching thousands of industry professionals with the latest
news about your company. Please contact lmalis@curenet.org
for details on how you can participate.
Finally, the annual CURE
summer cookout will be held again this year at the Owenego
Inn in Branford. Last time around we had great food, great
weather, and great networking, and we’re looking forward
to another memorable event this summer. We expect to
announce the date soon.
Paul R. Pescatello is President and CEO of CURE. |
