Organized and co-hosted by the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC), Bioscience Association of North Dakota (BioND), North Dakota Department of Agriculture, and the North Dakota Department of Commerce. Building off of the success of last year’s inaugural summit, the 2024 BioScience Summit will showcase leading innovators in the region.
Highlights of this year summit include:
More Information coming soon!
A block of rooms is held at
You can book via the button below, or call 701.232.7363 and request the Bioscience Summit block. The room block rate will be held until August 23rd.
This year, companies have a chance to talk about their business and opportunities with students from the Greater FM area. Meet with high school students to share the benefits of the bioscience industry and chat with college students about internships and career opportunities during the Career Exploration on September 17th. If your company is interested in exhibiting, please contact Ryan Aasheim raasheim@fmedc.com.
This agenda is tentative.
DAY 1: Tuesday, September 17
8:00-8:30 Breakfast Reception (30 Minutes of Networking)
8:00-8:45 Welcome
Richard Glynn | President, Bioscience Association of North Dakota
Joe Raso | President & CEO, Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation
8:45-9:00 Opening Remarks
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer | Video Remarks
9:00-9:45 Growing the North Dakota Bioscience Industry
Commissioner Doug Goehring | North Dakota Department of Agriculture
Commissioner Josh Teigen | North Dakota Department of Commerce
Dr. David Cook | President, North Dakota State University
Dr. Andrew Armacost | President, University of North Dakota
9:45-10:30 Developing the Next Generation of Biotech Talent
Dr. Julie Mach | Chair/Associate Professor of Chemistry, Concordia College
Dr. Long Jiang | Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Coordinator of Biomedical Engineering Program, North Dakota State University
Dr. Ryan Striker | Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Dakota
Tanya Schmidt | Vice President of Central Operations, Thrifty White Health
10:30-11:00 NETWORKING BREAK
Career Exploration in Prairie Rose Ballroom 11:00-2:00
Margaret Halstead | Vice President of Health Economics and Market Access, Medline Industries
12:00-1:00 LUNCH
Richard Glynn | President, Bioscience Association of North Dakota
Kenneth Barton | President & CEO, SafetySpect
Dr. Zvika Shinar | CTO, MindUp
Erez Lampert | CEO, PathKeeper Surgical
2:30-3:00 NETWORKING BREAK
Walter Tinling | CAPT, USN-(Ret)
Christopher Broder | Professor and Chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University
Patrick Walker, MD, MAJ, MC, USA | Director of Surgical Critical Care Initiative, USUHS and Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, Walter Reed National Medical Center (Virtual)
Katherine Williams | Vice President of Advanced Technology Practice, McCallister & Quinn
Joshua Magnone | Branch Chief of Food Protection and Innovative Packaging, Combat Feeding Division, Soldier Sustainment Directorate, DEVCOM Soldier Center
Dr. Teresa Connor | Dean of Health and Human Services, NDSU
Dr. Barney Geddes | Assistant Professor of Microbiological Sciences, NDSU
Dr. Alan Kallmeyer | Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, NDSU
DAY 2: Wednesday, September 18
7:45-8:15 Breakfast Reception
8:15-8:20 Welcome
Richard Glynn | President, Bioscience Association of North Dakota
Joe Raso | President & CEO, Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation
8:20-8:30 Opening Remarks
U.S. Representative Kelly Armstrong | Video Remarks
U.S. Senator John Hoeven | Video Remarks
James Brown | CEO and Co-Founder, Agathos Biologics
Sarah Tennefos | Sr. Manager, Manufacturing, Aldevron
Janet Roveda | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona
9:30-10:00 How AI is Transforming Drug Discovery
Tyrone Lam | COO, GATC Health
10:00-10:30 NETWORKING BREAK
Steve Hanlon | Director of Health & Bioscience Innovation Hub, University of Wyoming
Gregory Bertsch | Assistant Professor of Practice, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, University of South Dakota
Tyler Scherr | Licensing Specialist & Business Development Manager, UNeMed Corporation
Steve Wedan | President & CEO, Imricor
Greg Wiita | President & CEO, Poiesis Medical
Richard Walsh | CEO, Corvent Medical
Dr. Bijan Najafi | Research Director, Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California, Los Angelas, UCLA
Iacob Mathiesen | CSO, Otivio
12:00-1:00 LUNCH
1:00-1:30 Cost Effective Onshoring of Biopharmeceutical Manufacturing
Mike Burke | CEO, Lincoln Therapeutics
Tanya Schmidt | Vice President of Central Operations, Thrifty White Health
Danny Tuck | Head of Quality and Manufacturing, TWL PharmaPac LLC
1:30-2:00 The Most Successful Investor of All Time: The Story of the DARPA Bet that Returned 2,100,000%
Michael Hsieh | Nonresident Affiliate, Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation
2:00-2:45 Growing Medical Science Product Development Using Government Funding
John A. Bogdan, Jr., Ph.D | President, Valaria Technical Consultants, LLC
2:45-3:00 Closing Remarks
OPTIONAL OFF-SITE FUNCTION
3:30-5:00 Tour of TWL Pharma Pac’s new pharmaceutical finishing facility (706 38th Street NW | Fargo, ND)
The inaugural two-day summit highlighted the recent growth and potential for the region’s biodefense and bioscience industry and included national thought leaders who discussed best practices in the emerging industry.
Check out the presentations from the 2023 Summit.
The Greater Fargo-Moorhead region’s Bioscience industry may seem like an unlikely success story, far away from the venture capital and concentration of pharmaceutical and biotech powerhouses on the coasts. However, a unique blend of entrepreneurship, technical expertise and plenty of hard work has culminated in business, education and innovation that attracts bioscience and medical device innovators across the nation.
We know some things about working hard and blowing off steam, and a few more about loyalty, safety and quality. Maybe that’s why Fargo-Moorhead keeps turning up on best-of lists for everything from livability to low stress to high satisfaction.
Fargo-Moorhead combines urban excitement with small-town friendly, reliability and safety. The metro encompasses Cass County on the North Dakota side of the Red River and Clay County on the Minnesota side. Together we’re about 252,000 strong.
And when it comes to families, Fargo-Moorhead is definitely tops. Many tangibles make this a wonderful place to raise your family – low overall and violent crime rates, clean air and water, great schools and medical facilities, short drive times and plentiful, affordable housing. Other reasons are not so measurable but just as important – friendly people, tight-knit neighborhoods, a strong sense of community, solid values and a genuine concern for others.
Check out all the amenities, community characteristics and services that make Fargo-Moorhead one of the nation’s top metro areas. We think you’ll like it here.
Our core purpose is to cultivate an economic environment where all people and organizations flourish.