Greater OKC Chamber named 2014 BioScience Hall of Fame Award winner
Nine Oklahomans named finalists for Bioscience Recognition Awards
Contact: Sarah Seagraves, VP for Marketing,
(405) 813-2403 or email [email protected]
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber will be recognized for its pivotal role in the establishment and growth of Oklahoma’s bioscience industry with the Hall of Fame Leadership Award at the 2014 BioSummit and BioScience Awards Dinner on March 26 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
More than 50 years ago the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber led business and community leaders to support the development of a world class medical center in Oklahoma City, which now includes the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, the Dean McGee Eye Institute, the Children’s Hospital, the Veteran’s Administration Hospital and multiple health care and community service organizations.
The Chamber has consistently continued its push for growth in the bioscience industries over the last five decades and was instrumental in many key bioscience developments in Oklahoma, including:
- Development of the Presbyterian Health Foundation in 1986, whose mission is to accelerate bioscience research discoveries to solutions that save and enhance human life;
- Passage of State Questions 680 and 681 in the 1990s, which facilitated the commercialization of technologies from the state’s research universities, led to the creation of i2E, Inc., and, ultimately, was responsible for the launch of dozens of startup companies;
- Establishment of the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park — now the University of Oklahoma University Research Park — on the south end of the Oklahoma Health Center in the late 1990s.
- Beginning in the early 2000s, making a major annual investment in funding and people to ensure Oklahoma was represented at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organization convention; thanks to the efforts of the Chamber, Oklahoma now boasts a large exhibition booth each year at this critical international biotechnology trade show and conference, staffed by more than 80 people drawn from all regions of the state.
- Helping to create a bioscience roadmap for the state with the assistance of Battelle’s Technology Partnership Practice, which was hired by the Chamber to collect and analyze data on the region’s bioscience industry base and to assess its strengths, weaknesses and growth opportunities. The Battelle report, released in 2005, recommended that an Oklahoma bioscience industry group be formed, which led to the creation of the Oklahoma Bioscience Association in Spring 2008.
“We could not be honoring a more deserving organization than the Chamber because of its enduring history of pushing for development and growth of the biosciences industry in the Oklahoma City area and across the state,” said Carl Edwards, Chairman of Presbyterian Health Foundation. “The Oklahoma Health Center campus, the University Research Park, the state’s big presence at the BIO International Convention each year, all are direct outcomes of the Chamber’s continued efforts and influence over the years.”
The Hall of Fame Leadership Award is one of four awards that will honor Oklahoma’s bioscience industry leaders. The winners of the Recognition Awards will be announced at the dinner.
Finalists are:
Researcher Recognition Award: Robert Broyles, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, EpimedX, Oklahoma City; Richard Kopke, CEO and Director of Research at the Hough Ear Institute, Oklahoma City; and Lloyd Sumner, professor in the Plant Biology Division at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore.
Innovation Recognition Award: Caisson Biotech, Oklahoma City; Immuno-Mycologics, Inc. (IMMY), Norman; and VADovations, Oklahoma City.
Community Recognition Award: Gabe Pardo, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City; Diana Spencer, Tulsa Community College, Tulsa; and Rod Whitson, The Banker’s Bank, Oklahoma City.
Presented by the Oklahoma BioScience Association, the BioSummit brings together industry experts who will share their insights with researchers, scientists and entrepreneurs from across the state. Topics will include funding fundamentals, exit strategies, positioning for early-stage investments, key elements of marketing and interacting with the bio industry.
Speakers will include Scott Meacham, president and CEO, i2E, Inc., William Paiva, managing director of the Oklahoma Life Science Fund; Von Allen, director of development at the University of Oklahoma and the Stephenson Cancer Center; Clayton Duncan, CEO at Accele Biopharma; Doug Branch, director, PhillipsMurrah, Dennis Shafer, president and CEO, Altheus Therapeutics; and William A. Hagstrom, president and CEO, Crescendo Bioscience, Elaine Hamm, Director, Proof of Concept Center and Venture Advisor, i2E, Inc. and Vikas Sharma, Director, Business Development, Rexahn Pharmaceuticals and former Manager, Business Development, MedImmune.
The BioSummit will begin at 10 a.m. with a networking reception at 5 p.m. and the awards dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets to the BioSummit and BioScience Awards Dinner are available starting at $75 for the BioSummit, $125 for the BioSummit and Awards Dinner and $100 for the Awards Dinner. For more information visit www.i2E.org or www.okbio.org. Sponsorships, student and group rates are available by contacting Katelynn Henderson at [email protected] or (405) 813-2428.
The Oklahoma BioScience Association is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and all proceeds will support additional educational activities for Oklahoma’s bioscience community.
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