Wake Forest University Schools of Business to Host 4th Annual Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Wake Forest University Schools of Business is pleased to announce the 4th Annual Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition, to be held February 8 – 9 at the Wake Forest University campus. The event will attract students from top universities around the country, including nine teams comprised of business, law, science and medical students who will respond to a strategic challenge presented by case sponsor Boston Scientific, and present their solutions to a panel of judges during the team competition. For a detailed schedule of events, times and locations, visit the 2013 Biotech Conference website at: 4th Annual Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition.

The Biotechnology Case Competition teams for 2013 include: Wake Forest University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, University of California Berkeley, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Diego, University of Florida, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The first place team will take home a prize of $10,000 from a total purse of $17,000. Winning teams will be announced at a gala on February 9.

The Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition is organized by Wake Forest University Schools of Business student co-chairs Jeanelle Feimster (MBA ’13), Galen Price (MBA ’13), Monica Cu (MBA ’13) and Maria Bahawdory (MBA ’12, PhD ‘13). The faculty advisors are Len Preslar, Distinguished Professor of Practice and Executive Director of Health Management Programs at Wake Forest University Schools of Business, and Scott Shafer, PhD, Professor of Management at Wake Forest University Schools of Business.

The event is made possible by generous support from Boston Scientific, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Banner Pharmacaps, Benefit Advocates, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, Bourne Partners, Cornerstone Health Care, Covidien, Merz Pharmaceuticals, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Sanofi and TransTech Pharma.

Eric Tomlinson, DSc, PhD, President, Piedmont Triad Research Park and Chief Innovation Officer, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, will provide the keynote address on Friday, February 8 at 4:00 p.m. in the Scales Fine Arts Center on the Wake Forest University campus. Dr. Tomlinson will highlight the Wake Forest University Research Park initiative and discuss the challenges and opportunities of life science business development. The event is free and open to the public. Wake Forest students, faculty, staff and alumni are encouraged to attend and will have priority seating.

Following the keynote address, Justin Catanoso, Senior Lecturer and Director of Journalism at Wake Forest University will moderate a panel discussion to include Dr. John McConnell, Chief Executive Officer, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center; Dr. Tony Atala, Director, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the W.H. Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University; Derrick Lenz, Group Manager, Marketing, Urology & Women’s Health, Boston Scientific; and Banks Bourne, Senior Managing Director and CEO, Bourne Partners.

Dr. Tomlinson is an established scientific and business leader with experience in both early-stage and clinical stage biotechnology companies and within a global pharmaceutical company. He has built companies and teams from their inception and fund-raising stages to their development of biological and small drug / device combination products and gene therapy products. He has transacted mergers of publicly traded companies and raised both private and public equity corporate financings in addition to broad-based product licensing and commercialization agreements with major pharmaceutical companies.

The Piedmont Triad Research Park in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is one of the largest urban research parks in the United States focused on research and innovation in bio- and life-science, information technology, and the arts, and is designated as the top economic project of the region. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center includes the medical education and research components of Wake Forest School of Medicine, which is ranked among the nation’s best medical schools and is a leading national research center in several fields, including regenerative medicine, cancer, neuroscience, metabolism, aging, addiction and public health sciences.