BioTools Innovator Webinar Series
The goal of the BioTools Innovator webinar series is to provide the life science tools ecosystem and our portfolio companies with guidance from experts in areas that are specific to the strategic needs outlined in our discussions and surveys.
Our virtual webinars consist of panelists addressing key questions supplied in advance by the BioTools Innovator Accelerator, as well as a general discussion on the topic within the context of the evolving life sciences tools ecosystem. Our webinars are live-streamed on our YouTube Channel and LinkedIn, and are available for viewing on this page.
Webinar Library
2026 Webinar Schedule
*All webinars start at 9 AM PT unless otherwise noted. Webinars will be posted here, or may also be viewed on the BioTools Innovator LinkedIn page.
Sep
24
Oct
1
Lights, Camera, Traction! Turning Your Innovation into a 1-Minute Video
By invitation only
A great 1-minute video can do more than showcase your technology– it can capture attention, tell a compelling story, and open doors to investors, partners, customers, and future champions of your innovation. But how do you distill a complex medtech or biotools solution into just 60 seconds? Join MedTech Innovator and BioTools Innovator for an interactive discussion with past Best Video Award winners and expert communications strategist Valeria McFarren as they share practical tips for creating videos that are clear, engaging, and impactful. Learn how to identify the key message, structure a compelling narrative, showcase your product effectively, and avoid common mistakes that can cause viewers to tune out.
Brian Feng is the CEO and Co-Founder of Osem Fluidics, a biotechnology startup focused on simplifying nanoparticle and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) assembly through innovative centrifugal microfluidics technology. With a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Southern California, Brian combines deep technical expertise with entrepreneurial leadership to develop accessible tools that accelerate research in nanomedicine and genetic medicine. Under his leadership, Osem Fluidics has earned recognition from leading innovation programs and startup competitions, advancing solutions that make high-quality nanoparticle formulation faster, simpler, and more scalable for life science researchers.
Neal Piper is the Founder and CEO of Luminoah, a MedTech company making enteral nutrition delivery simpler, smarter, and easier for everyone.
Before founding Luminoah, Neal spent his career advancing healthcare in the U.S., Asia, and Africa. He began his career in Pfizer’s Neuroscience Division and later served as President of the Global Health Fellows Alumni Business Network. Neal also worked in Pfizer’s Emerging Markets Division and led the expansion of healthcare programs across 18 countries at Population Services International.
Neal has founded multiple ventures, including a home healthcare company and a nonprofit organization. Driven by a mission to improve healthcare through technology, he is committed to creating meaningful change that improves lives.
Ricky Spero is a physicist, entrepreneur, and technology innovator based in North Carolina’s Triangle region. He moved to North Carolina to pursue a Ph.D. in Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, in 2010, co-founded Redbud Labs alongside two UNC professors. Building on a MEMS invention developed at UNC, he helped commercialize the Redbud Posts technology platform and continues to develop cartridge-ready components designed to advance scientific research and improve patient care. Ricky is passionate about hardware-software systems, building innovative technologies with talented teams, and supporting ambitious ideas that push boundaries. He is an active presence at Frontier campus events, microfluidics meetings, and conferences across the life sciences, diagnostics, and bioprocessing industries.
Valeria McFarren is the founder and president of Chaski Global, a strategic communications and creative agency built on a simple premise: the right story, told well, changes everything.
Over more than two decades, Valeria has worked at the crossroads of global health, medical technology, nonprofit communications, and social impact — advising organizations that are doing important work and need the world to know it. Her clients include med tech innovators like Luminoah, Luna Labs, and Trivoca Health; community health anchors like CvilleBioHub; and a wide portfolio of nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven enterprises across four continents.
She is a strategist, a storyteller, and a builder. At Chaski, she leads brand strategy, narrative development, campaign design, and communications consulting for organizations at critical inflection points. This includes launches, rebrands, funding rounds, and growth phases where the stakes are high and the message has to land.
Beyond client work, Valeria is a connector and community builder. She co-founded The She Lab, a women’s leadership and empowerment network, and serves on the boards of Data Friendly Space, Yellow Door Foundation, and the Tanga Tanga Foundation in Bolivia. She brings that same cross-sector fluency to her speaking by addressing audiences on strategic communications, brand-building for impact, and the power of narrative in driving growth.
Her work has taken her across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, supporting everything from nationwide energy projects to childhood cancer awareness campaigns to medical technology launches. That breadth is the source of her edge. She sees patterns across sectors that specialists miss, and brings that perspective to every engagement.
Peer Power: Solving Startup Challenges in Leadership Pods
By invitation only
This webinar will officially launch the Leadership Pods program, a peer support initiative designed to connect fellow CEOs in a trusted, collaborative setting. Leadership Pods, comprised of 5-6 CEOs each, will serve as a dedicated space to share challenges, celebrate wins, and exchange knowledge and connections. You will learn from an alumni pod that is still meeting 2 years later, and the last half of the webinar period will be designated as time for your first Leadership Pod meeting in breakout rooms.
Brian is an accomplished orthopedic surgeon renowned for his groundbreaking innovations in the field. He is best known for inventing the original TightRope, an advanced ankle stabilization device he developed during his orthopedic residency. Licensed to Arthrex Inc. in 2003, the TightRope has become a standard in orthopedic care, with one being implanted every 12 minutes globally.
Recently, Brian has made significant strides in hip fracture treatment with the invention of the X-Bolt hip fracture system. His leadership in its development included overseeing the world’s largest randomized controlled trial, which demonstrated X-Bolt’s superior performance compared to other systems. Following FDA clearance in 2023, Brian managed the U.S. commercialization of the X-Bolt Pro-X1 trochanteric nailing system in 2024. He is now focused on expanding this innovation into a comprehensive nailing portfolio for hip fractures, distal femur, spine, and humerus, with continued development through 2026.
Brian graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1994 and holds a Master’s in Surgery, a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (1998), and an MBA from Trinity College Dublin (2006).
David N Constantine is the Co-Founder and CEO of Juniper Biomedical, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based company developing precision neuromodulation therapies for pelvic health conditions, including urinary and fecal incontinence, pelvic pain, and sexual dysfunction. Under his leadership, Juniper Biomedical won all three phases of the NIH SPARC Neuromod Prize — including a $1.6 million Phase 3 award — and was named a 2024 MedTech Innovator Grand Prize Finalist. With a career spanning R&D roles at large medical device companies before founding Juniper in 2019, David also serves on the board of Pioneer Neurotech and as an advisor to SeaAhead, and has previously held board and advisory roles at NerveSolutions and Pilleve. He holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering and Russian Language from Trinity College.
Dr Saahil Mehta is the Founder of Plexāā, the London-based medtech company behind BLOOM⁴³, a pre-operative care platform that combines a wearable preconditioning device with digital prehabilitation support to help patients prepare physically and psychologically for breast surgery. A Consultant Plastic Surgeon with over a decade of experience in the NHS, including fellowships at The Royal Marsden and The Cadogan Clinic, he founded Plexāā in 2020 to address the under-supported pre-operative phase of the surgical journey. Dr Mehta holds an MBBS from Newcastle University and an MD from the University of Basel.
Theresa Ramsay-Clark is the Chief Operating Officer of Ortho-tag, Inc., a medical device company developing patented in-body communication and diagnostic nanosensor technology designed to provide early warning of infection near orthopaedic implants, a condition (prosthetic joint infection) that contributes to over 18,000 deaths annually. Since joining Ortho-tag in 2019, she has driven the company’s strategy, operations, and capitalization efforts across its multi-generation product platform, from secure in-body data storage to implanted pH nanosensors, and guided the company through the 2024 MedTech Innovator Accelerator cohort. Her background spans more than two decades of executive leadership and business development, including directing DoD telecommunications contracts at SNR Systems and SAIC, serving as Director of Special Projects at the National Sheriffs’ Association, and running her own consultancy, Ramsay-Clark Associates, advising small businesses on strategy, operations, and financial planning. She studied at The Johns Hopkins University.
Todd Roberts is the CEO and Co-founder of ATDev (Assistive Technology Development, Inc.), a Pittsburgh-based startup building the next generation of robotic mobility and assistive technology. Founded in 2020 with key stakeholders from UC Berkeley, Stanford Medicine, and UCSF, ATDev is the company behind Reflex, an FDA-registered wearable robotic brace that helps people rebuild strength from home, and is a partner in RAMMP, a $41 million ARPA-H initiative developing a robotic assistive mobility and manipulation platform. Todd co-founded the company with Owen Kent, whom he met as a housemate at UC Berkeley, pairing his engineering expertise with Owen’s lived experience as a lifelong wheelchair user. A graduate of the Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator, MassRobotics Healthcare Catalyst, and the 2024 MedTech Innovator cohort, Todd holds an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Upma Sharma has dedicated her career to transforming medicine with materials. Under her leadership, Arsenal Medical has established its platform of biomaterials, achieved FDA breakthrough device status and IDE approval for ResQFoam™, completed a First-in-Human clinical study with NeoCast™ and secured over $65M of non-dilutive funding from a diverse group of partners, including the Department of Defense, DARPA, NIH (both National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Upma joined the company as a research scientist, and her role quickly expanded. She led Arsenal’s ResQFoam foundational program from concept to the clinic, guiding product development, GMP contract manufacturing, the regulatory process through IDE approval, and clinical trial design. Today, Upma leads the expansion of Arsenal’s biomaterial platform for strategic growth across high-value clinical indications.
Prior to joining Arsenal, Upma was a key member of the Lyra Therapeutics team that created a novel bioresorbable scaffold. She oversaw the development of this technology for the treatment of chronic sinusitis, including leading a Phase I clinical study. The data from that study led to subsequent venture funding and the eventual IPO of Lyra Therapeutics.
Upma earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in Chemical Engineering and a B.S.E. from Purdue University. During a post-doctoral fellowship in Bioengineering at Rice University, she was awarded a NIH Training Grant in Nanobiology. Upma has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is an inventor on more than 40 issued or pending patents worldwide, including 20 US issued patents.
Price to Win: Strategic Pricing for Biotools Startups
We will unpack the key principles behind effective pricing strategies for life science startups, from value-based and competitive pricing to early access programs and enterprise negotiations. Panelists will share practical approaches to segment-based pricing, pricing transparency, and how to shift your pricing strategy as you scale.
Ayelet Marom is the Program Director for BioTools Innovator at MedTech Innovator. She earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Immunology from The Weizmann Institute in Israel, and a Postdoctoral Professional Masters in Bioscience Management from KGI, Claremont alongside her post-doctoral research at City Of Hope. Ayelet is experienced in the innovation ecosystem; prior to MedTech Innovator, she was a senior program manager at Larta Institute, where she managed commercialization programs for science-based Innovations, as well as co-founded and led the product development in a digital health Startup. She is passionate about bringing technology and healthcare closer together to make a real impact on human health.
Bryan Poltilove is an accomplished business leader in the life sciences industry with a track record of steady career progression and increasing general management responsibility. A Six Sigma Black Belt, he brings strong analytical problem-solving skills and a broad commercial perspective. He is skilled in leading teams, managing change, and driving innovation.
Edward is a highly experienced life sciences and medical technology leader with core expertise in strategy, marketing, and business development. He has domain expertise in biomanufacturing across multiple therapeutic modalities, bio-tools for pharmaceutical R&D and medical devices for IVF/OBGYN applications, with more than 25 years of management and executive level experience in these markets.
He was Head of Business Development and Strategy for nearly 9 years at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific until December 2023, where he was responsible for driving growth through business development and strategy execution for the bioproduction, cell and gene therapy, and medical businesses.
Prior to that he was VP of Strategic Marketing for 7 years at Millipore Corporation where he led the strategy and marketing of integrated life sciences tools, including product and applications roadmap development, product life-cycle management, business intelligence, marketing research and marketing communications. He was also VP Filtration, Purification and Chromatography with P&L responsibility for a $400m biopharma life science business unit within Millipore Corporation.
He earned his BPharm degree from Kings College London, MRPharmS certification from St Mary’s Hospital London and an MBA from McGill University in Montreal. He currently resides in the Boston area.
Guillaume Prunier, a serial entrepreneur with expertise in DeepTech innovation, is Chief Executive Officer of Eukarÿs. Guillaume previously served as CEO of Flaminem, a big data and AI startup that he successfully made pivot, and was since acquired. He also served as deputy CEO of Inria, France’s national research institute for computer sciences and technologies, and as special advisor to the president of Eukarÿs from 2020. Guillaume holds degrees from École Polytechnique and Mines ParisTech. With his wealth of experience, Guillaume will guide Eukarÿs through its next phase of growth, using the company’s cutting-edge C3P3® technology to transform biomanufacturing.
Jay Rosanelli is a biotech entrepreneur and executive with deep experience building and scaling life sciences companies. As Co-Founder and CEO of Syenex, he is advancing next-generation in vivo cell engineering technologies aimed at expanding access to genetic medicines. With a background in neuroscience, mathematics, and financial economics, Rosanelli combines scientific insight with strategic and operational expertise to accelerate innovation in cell and gene therapy.
Marketing Deep Dive: Building Demand for Biotools
A great product doesn’t sell itself. Learn how to build a marketing strategy that raises awareness, communicates your value, and generates demand with the customers who matter most. In this session, you’ll explore practical marketing approaches tailored to biotools startups, including positioning your technology, crafting compelling messaging, identifying your target audience, selecting the right marketing channels, and creating a plan that supports long-term commercial growth. Whether you’re preparing for your first product launch or looking to strengthen your market presence, you’ll leave with actionable strategies to help your innovation stand out in a competitive marketplace.
Jim is an engineer turned entrepreneur. With a master’s in both Biomedical Engineering Product Development and Entrepreneurship, he blends the business with the technical. Jim previously worked in life sciences and medical devices helping to bring new products to market. He served as Co-Founder and CEO of his most recent company, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023.
Courtney Jackson is a strategic global commercial leader with experience driving commercialization strategies in biotechnology, specializing in clinical diagnostics and molecular technologies. She is skilled in leading cross functional teams to execute go to market strategies, develop differentiated product positioning, and drive sustained revenue growth. Courtney is recognized for translating complex science into compelling value propositions, accelerating adoption of innovative platforms, and delivering results in dynamic, high growth environments.
Michelle Yannetti is a strategic marketing executive with over 20 years of experience building and leading commercial marketing organizations across the life sciences sector. She currently heads Product & Segment Marketing at Evident Scientific, where she leads global go-to-market strategy across the company’s optical technology portfolio. Previously, she led Strategic Marketing for a $6B clinical research business at Thermo Fisher Scientific, driving 250X ROI on marketing investment and building high-performing global teams. Michelle holds an MBA from Babson College and an MS from Tufts University.
Paul Dreier has over 20 years of experience in the start-up, marketing, and managing of companies that provide software and instruments to the pharmaceutical and government sectors. He started his career as a chemist and product development manager, eventually working his way into the management field on an international basis. Dreier has held equity positions in various successful exits. He served in various positions, including leading one exit. He also started, merged, and has been the general manager for four international sales and service centers outside of America. Dreier successfully obtained seed capital to start a new $12M start-up division in the biochemistry instrument market. He is a founder and recent Chairman of the Board for zWorks, an incubator that has raised over $26M for Indiana start-ups. He gives back to many charities, focusing on children with special needs and university entrepreneurship education.
Closing Time - Turning Prospects into Customers
Building a successful biotools company requires more than a great product—it takes a strong commercial strategy. Learn how to move prospects through the sales process and navigate the key steps that turn customer interest into lasting business relationships. In this session, you’ll explore the fundamentals of commercializing your innovation, from developing an effective sales approach and negotiating contracts to selecting manufacturing and distribution partners that support growth. Gain practical insights into building customer relationships, overcoming common commercialization challenges, and creating a scalable strategy that helps transform opportunities into revenue.
Jim is an engineer turned entrepreneur. With a master’s in both Biomedical Engineering Product Development and Entrepreneurship, he blends the business with the technical. Jim previously worked in life sciences and medical devices helping to bring new products to market. He served as Co-Founder and CEO of his most recent company, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023.
Alex Sim is a multilingual entrepreneur focused on transforming biomedical innovation into commercial reality. With a long history of developing techniques and tools that accelerate drug discovery and life science research, Alex specializes in bringing new companies and products to market. He is founder of AMSBIO a transatlantic life science reagents and services company that he sold to Europa Biosite in 2024 and in 2025 as Chief Growth Officer at Europa assisted in the sale of the expanded EB group to PE house EQT. He currently serves as Executive Chairman for ScreenIn3D, a lab-on-a-chip and 3D culture platform for drug discovery. His core expertise includes business strategy and planning, sales and marketing, acquisitions, and forming joint ventures.
David Soper, PhD, is an accomplished immunologist specializing in oncology, flow cytometry, and high-throughput assay development, with extensive expertise in hematological malignancies, solid tumors, and clinical therapeutics. Currently serving as Director of Emerging Technology at BioLegend, from Revvity, he brings more than a decade of experience advancing scientific innovation, intellectual property strategy, and early-stage technology development. David has established and managed CLIA and GxP laboratories, led cross-functional research, clinical, and informatics teams, and trained and supervised scientists across all career stages. His technical expertise spans multiparametric phospho-flow cytometry, single-cell network profiling, protein expression and purification, and advanced analytical instrumentation. Innovative and detail-oriented, David is recognized for his strong leadership in guiding complex scientific programs from discovery through clinical application. He holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Washington School of Medicine and a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Immunology from the University of California, Berkeley
Ross Bundy is the Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR QC, where he leads the company’s efforts to advance biosensor innovation through a platform designed to enable the Internet of Biology. With more than six years of experience in biotechnology, he focuses on empowering teams to drive innovation in diagnostics, therapeutics, and bioinformatics while emphasizing operational excellence and strategic business development. Previously, Ross co-founded and helped scale Cardea Bio Inc., contributing to the company’s growth and impact in the biotechnology sector. His expertise includes corporate strategy, process improvement, and analytical decision-making, with a commitment to leveraging cutting-edge science to deliver value for customers, partners, and society.
Partners First: Building Relationships That Accelerate Growth
The right partnerships can help your startup validate its technology, expand its reach, and accelerate commercialization. Learn how to identify, build, and leverage strategic relationships that create value for your company and your customers. In this session, you’ll explore how to develop successful partnerships with customers, distributors, manufacturers, research organizations, and other industry stakeholders. You’ll also learn how to design and manage pilot projects that demonstrate value, generate critical feedback, and pave the way for long-term commercial relationships. Walk away with practical strategies for building partnerships that fuel sustainable growth and market success.
Jim is an engineer turned entrepreneur. With a master’s in both Biomedical Engineering Product Development and Entrepreneurship, he blends the business with the technical. Jim previously worked in life sciences and medical devices helping to bring new products to market. He served as Co-Founder and CEO of his most recent company, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023.
In her current role as Vice President of External Innovation and Partnerships, Amy leads a team to further build an Open Innovation funnel for Cytiva that enables and supports future growth and drives on-time delivery and creates business value. The team provides capabilities and best practices in technology scouting, alliance management, customer collaboration, in-and-out licensing and information services. Within the Cytiva Chief Technology Office, the External Innovation and Partnerships team facilitates strategic partnerships with universities, technology companies and organizations, thought leaders, customers and suppliers. Amy has spent the majority of her career leading partnerships from both the industry and academic side. Prior to joining Cytiva, Amy was the Managing Director of the Office of Business Engagement at UW Madison, creating a hub for campus-wide business partnerships fostering mutually beneficial relationships between industry and UW–Madison. She also served as Sr. Director of Partner Development at The Nature’s Bounty Company, and prior to that she was the Associate Director of Strategic Technology & Innovation at the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft Foods. Amy has both a B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and resides outside the Boston area in Hopkinton Massachusetts.
Jonathan Edwardsen is Vice President of Business Development at VERAVAS, a diagnostics company advancing blood-based testing for neurodegenerative disease. He brings extensive strategic business-development experience from the analytical instrument industry, having led global strategic business development and collaborations at Agilent Technologies and global OEM business development at LGC Standards, with earlier experience at Shimadzu. Across both large strategics and an early-stage company, he has structured collaborations, OEM agreements, and partnerships that bring new technologies to market. He also serves on the board of directors of Novilytic.
Matt Baker is Senior Director, Strategic Partnering and Innovation in the Life Sciences Group at Thermo Fisher Scientific, focused on innovation and technology across life sciences. Over more than 15 years at Thermo Fisher, he has led external innovation programs and business development across protein biology, immunoassays, and cell and molecular biology. Earlier in his career he co-founded Open Biosystems, where he served as Vice President of Proteomics. He holds a B.S. in Biology/Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee.
Scot has over thirty years of industrial experience in pioneering and commercializing cutting-edge tools for life science research. Scot is a prolific inventor and holds 28 United States Patents for solutions in liquid chromatography, ultraviolet – visible spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, protein biochip technology, tandem mass spectrometry, surface-tethered and free-solution label-free biosensors, and radical protein footprinting structural biology. He has authored over thirty scientific publications, 6 book chapters, and has over 2,000 citations in the areas of translational medicine, life science research, and technology development. As an entrepreneur, Scot has been in the founding teams of Linear Instruments, Linear Scientific, Biomolecular Separations, and Ciphergen Biosystems. More recently, he founded and launched Molecular Sensing and GenNext Technologies.
Thinking Like an Investor: Understanding Funding Decisions
This investor panel brings together venture capitalists, family office investors, and angel investors to share how they evaluate, fund, and support BioTools companies. Panelists will offer insight into how different investor types approach investment decisions, what they look for in a company and its founders, and how entrepreneurs can position themselves for success in a competitive fundraising environment. Topics will include investment trends, valuation and deal considerations, exit expectations, and the key factors that can help a startup stand out and build the right investor relationships.
Jim is an engineer turned entrepreneur. With a master’s in both Biomedical Engineering Product Development and Entrepreneurship, he blends the business with the technical. Jim previously worked in life sciences and medical devices helping to bring new products to market. He served as Co-Founder and CEO of his most recent company, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023.
Anna Detert is a Partner at Gloucester Ventures, a single family office making pre-seed / seed stage investments in biotech tools and platforms. She brings more than 25 years of experience across biopharma, tools, venture capital, and private equity, most recently as a Partner in KPMG UK’s healthcare and life-sciences strategy practice. Earlier in her career she held commercialization and growth-strategy roles at Prophet and Xerox, and began in product development and commercial roles at Bayer Corporation.
Daniel Friedman is a Managing Director on BroadOak’s growth capital investing team where he specializes in portfolio management and investment execution. Prior to joining BroadOak in 2019, Daniel worked for Raymond James within the Life Sciences Investment Banking team where he focused on public financings and M&A for biotechnology and medical device companies. Daniel currently serves as a director on the boards of PBS Biotech and Precision Cell Systems, as well as acting as an observer at Axol Bioscience, Pluristyx, and Biolog. Daniel previously acted as a board observer at Avidien Technologies and antibodies-online.
Paul Hoerbelt investigates and analyzes new investment and business growth opportunities in life science tools and therapeutics. Before joining RCT, Hoerbelt was a management consultant at L.E.K. and an associate at Illumina Ventures. He holds a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience from Albany Medical College, a B.S. in Biology and Philosophy from SUNY at Albany, and completed the Stanford Graduate School of Business Ignite Certificate Program in Innovation.
Vivian Zhang is a corporate development executive and angel investor backing early-stage healthcare and life sciences companies. She brings more than 15 years of experience across startups, global corporations, consulting, and academia, with expertise in corporate strategy, M&A, private equity and venture capital, dealmaking, commercialization, and investing, grounded in deep technical and scientific knowledge. She pursued PhD studies at Duke University, where her research focused on AI/ML and genetics, as well as an MBA at INSEAD Business School.
From Funding Opportunity to Funded Project: A Founder’s Guide to Winning Non-Dilutive Funding
From Funding Opportunity to Funded Project brings together leaders from federal funding agencies to unpack the strategies and pitfalls of securing non-dilutive funding for MedTech and BioTools startups. Panelists will share how agencies identify, evaluate, and support high-impact innovation, while exploring the differences between major funding programs, what makes an application stand out, and how founders can identify the right opportunities for their company and technology. The discussion will also cover how to navigate shifting funding priorities, build a strategic grant portfolio, and turn individual awards into a sustainable non-dilutive funding pipeline. Attendees will gain practical insights into proposal strategy, review processes, common pitfalls, and how to align grant funding with product development and company milestones. Whether you’re preparing your first application or building on a track record of awards, this panel will help you move from funding opportunity to funded project.
Jennifer Thabet serves as the Program Director of DARPA’s SBPO, where she plays a critical role in enhancing the ability of small businesses to create and transition groundbreaking technologies for the warfighter, federal government, and commercial sectors. She administers the DARPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs and leads DARPAConnect, which aims to break down barriers for new performers and guide them on how to effectively engage with DARPA. Before her current role, Ms. Thabet spent over 13 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she managed complex government contracts and provided program and financial management support to DARPA and the DoW. Prior to her work at Booz Allen, she practiced law, specializing in contract law and litigation.
At the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Manbir oversees the BARDA Accelerator Network, a program designed to foster the growth of the startup ecosystem by accelerating the development and commercialization of next-generation health security solutions. Including the BioTools Innovator: Vanguard program for enabling technologies, the Network supports innovators developing solutions in all major technology areas of interest to BARDA, including, therapeutics and vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices, digital health, and medical countermeasures for pediatric populations. Additionally, Manbir oversees the BARDA Ventures program in partnership with the Global Health Investment Corporation. The Global Health Security Fund utilizes the BARDA mission framework to make equity-based investments in novel technologies to strengthen national and global health security.
Monique Pond is a Team Lead & Program Director in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center. The Center provides $200M a year in SBIR/STTR funding to small businesses developing novel technologies that prevent, diagnose, or treat cancer. Monique manages a portfolio of grants and contracts focused on cancer therapeutics, devices for drug delivery, and digital health technologies. Prior to joining NCI in 2018, Monique spent several years at a start-up providing regulatory support for large pharma.
Ricky Spero is a physicist and entrepreneur in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. As Founder and CEO of Redbud Labs, he led the development and commercialization of Redbud NA1, the company’s microfluidic platform for automated molecular sample prep. Redbud NA1 is built on a MEMS technology developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Ricky completed his PhD in Physics in 2010, then co-founded Redbud Labs alongside two UNC professors.
Ms. Stephanie J. Fertig is Director of the NIH Small Business Program, in SEED (Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development) within the Office of Extramural Research (OER) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She currently oversees the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which are congressionally mandated set-aside programs that provide over $1.4 billion dollars per year to small business concerns. Prior to joining SEED, she managed the SBIR and STTR Programs at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). During her over 20 years at NIH she has led the development and implementation of multiple programs focused on small businesses and translational research. Ms. Fertig has a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland.