David Johnson, President, Regional Growth Strategies LLC, Keynote Speaker

David L. Johnson is the president of Regional Growth Strategies LLC, a consulting practice working with communities, universities and foundations seeking to define collaborative opportunities to grow, capitalize and sustain technology-based regional economies.

Johnson has been involved in the hands-on work of economic development for nearly 25 years. He began this engagement as a finance lawyer and community volunteer, seeking to organize and then co-founding Indiana’s life sciences initiative, BioCrossroads, in 2001-2002. Johnson went on to serve as the BioCrossroads CEO from 2005-2018. There, he organized and led the capitalization of five seed and early-stage venture capital funds to support locally based life sciences start-ups. He also drove the formation and capitalization of several major public-private enterprises. These include the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, an industry-university applied research enterprise; OrthoWorx Indiana, a spin-out organization focused on northern Indiana’s historically outsized concentration of major manufacturers and med-tech start-ups in orthopedics implants; and 16 Tech, Central Indiana’s first innovation district, rising on 50 acres of formerly blighted real estate in the heart of downtown Indianapolis and focused on advancing both community growth and innovation opportunities in healthcare and life sciences through a compelling place-based strategy.

More recently, and in addition to his continuing leadership role at BioCrossroads, Johnson also served as the CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) from 2012 until early 2023. CICP is a nationally recognized, collaborative economic development organization of chief executives drawn from Indiana’s leading companies, universities and philanthropic foundations (and the parent organization of BioCrossroads). At CICP, Johnson identified key opportunities for and oversaw the formation of two additional branded initiatives: AgriNovus Indiana, to organize and advance the state’s significant ag-biosciences sector; and Ascend Indiana, to address shared and critical needs of industry leaders for an effective, employer-focused platform to supply essential workforce and talent. At CICP, Johnson also spearheaded efforts to join regional industry and academic leaders under a new initiative—AnalytixIN—in pursuit of timely opportunities for clinical and commercial applications in artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Johnson is an honors graduate of Harvard University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Currently, he also serves as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow for the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

Michael Duguay, Commissioner, Maine Department of Economic & Community Development

Commissioner Duguay is charged with overseeing more than two dozen experts across several bureaus whose mission is to help communities and businesses prosper through a variety of programs that provide everything from targeted tax relief to community block grants to tourism marketing. Previously, as Vice President for Innovation and Executive Director of the Harold Alfond Institute for Business Innovation at Thomas College in Waterville, he helped hundreds of entrepreneurs market their products and scale their businesses, and trained thousands of students to succeed in good-paying careers in Maine. Duguay began his economic development career at the Department of Economic and Community Development in 1990.

Sarah Delmar, Partner, Delmar Group

Sarah Upton Delmar is a partner at Delmar Group, a consultancy dedicated to community building through ecosystem, workforce, and leadership development. She currently serves as a life sciences consultant to FocusMaine, where she is helping to accelerate the growth of the sector through strategic planning, ecosystem development, and stakeholder engagement. She is also working with the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) to build lab infrastructure in the state through the recent shared lab RFP.

Sarah previously spent over a decade at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), where she led global expansion and was instrumental in building CIC’s premier shared lab platform. Her work there focused on creating programmatic and physical innovation infrastructure to support tech and life sciences startups in cities across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Originally from a rural town in Downeast Maine, Sarah has recently relocated back to the state with her family. She chairs FocusMaine’s Bioscience Advisory Team and is passionate about supporting Maine’s innovation economy.

John Konsin, Principal Owner & CEO, Prapela

For 45 years, John Konsin has solely focused on the challenges and rewards of commercializing Med Tech innovations to improve human health.

His latest endeavor is the Prapela SVS hospital bassinet pad, which restores healthy rhythmic breathing and heart rate in newborns. The device was granted FDA De Novo marketing authorization on April 4, 2025, creating a new category of medical devices – vibrational therapeutic pads for infants. The company will initially focus on medical applications, including reducing withdrawal symptoms in newborns exposed to opioids before birth and helping preterm babies breathe while minimizing their exposure to caffeine and invasive oxygen therapies. Prapela shipped its first production unit on August 6, 2025, and is accepting new orders for delivery in Q4. Over 95% of the company’s $8.6M+ funding is from non-dilutive grants, including >$6M in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards from the National Institutes of Health.

Previously, five of the Top 25 Medical Device companies in the world trusted John in leadership and executive roles. He led or assisted in generating over $5.4 billion in revenue and launched over 100 new products. His experience includes work in Medical Devices, Diagnostics, Imaging, Durable Medical Equipment, Biologics, Wearables, and Genetic testing. He has worked closely with physicians, nurses, therapists, and leaders in Neonatology, Orthopedics, Pain Management, OB/GYN, and Cardiology specialties. As a 2X CEO, his operational experience includes general management, marketing, sales, finance, HR, operations, R&D/product development, clinical research, quality, and regulatory affairs.

Barry Wark, Co-Founder & CSO, Ovation.io

Barry Wark is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Ovation.io, a human multi-omic data company committed to accelerating the development of precision medicine. Ovation provides life sciences with access to high-quality, consented, multi-omic data linked to rich, longitudinal phenotypic data at scale. Ovation’s data enables researchers to accelerate therapeutic target, mechanism of action, and biomarker discovery and validation.

Barry holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and a PhD from the Program in Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of Washington.

David Watts, PhD, Director, Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Colby College

David brings to Colby College a wealth of experience in driving research, development, innovation, scaling businesses, and leading transformative technological advancements in AI, hybrid cloud, and enterprise systems. As a seasoned executive with deep expertise in both corporate and startup environments, David has played a key role in co-creating AI-powered solutions that have reshaped industries. With a career spanning over two decades in high-growth companies, including IBM, David combines technical acumen with a strategic mindset, enabling businesses and institutions to achieve sustained growth, market leadership, and impactful customer outcomes.

Currently serving on the Board of Directors for the GEM National Consortium, where he chairs the Finance Committee, David leverages insights from a distinguished career in leading innovation and growth, focusing on growing impact by supporting the development of the next generation of STEM leaders.

Beth Orcutt, PhD, Vice President for Research, Senior Research Scientist, Geomicrobiologist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Orcutt has been the Vice President for Research (VPR) at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences since 2022. Building from an award-winning career in deep-sea science leadership, she guides the bold strategic research priorities for the institution and relationships with external funders of over $15M annually in sponsored and contracted research projects. She also energizes blue economy innovation in Maine, including overseeing innovation disclosures, patenting, and licensing processes for technology transfer at Bigelow Laboratory, as well as partnering with others in the State to advance ocean-based solutions.

Orcutt is also a globally-recognized expert in the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. She’s authored some of the most highly cited papers on understanding the ecosystem services provided in the deep sea by the microscopic realm of life. She is regularly invited to provide expert guidance to policy makers and scientific societies and is often quoted in the media on the topic. Orcutt is the Associate Director of the COBRA Crustal Ocean Biosphere Research Accelerator, spurring deep sea research to inform decision making.

Orcutt’s expertise in deep-sea mining impacts stems from over a decade of leadership experience directing diverse and international teams of scientists and students in the exploration of the deep sea. Using seafloor exploration assets and deep-sea observatories, her research has focused on discovering how “deep biosphere” microscopic life thrives in strange environments and how their living impacts global processes. Orcutt is a co-founder and co-instructor of the Deep-Sea Expedition Leadership Master Class, which trains early career professionals on how to lead effective deep-sea expeditions. At Bigelow Laboratory, she directs the Deep Biosphere Laboratory team. She has a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from the University of Georgia.

Srinidi Mohan, PhD, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Satya Diagnostics

Dr. Mohan is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration at the University of New England’s WCHP School of Pharmacy. He is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Satya Diagnostics, a Maine-based company dedicated to advancing diagnostic technologies. He earned his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University and completed post-doctoral research at MSU and the University at Buffalo. His research focuses on optimizing treatment outcomes for high-risk breast cancer patients and exploring new therapeutic targets for age-related diseases.

Jessica Chertow, PhD, MBA, Vice President of Research, MaineHealth Institute for Research

Dr. Jessica Chertow is an infectious disease investigator with extensive work experience in government organizations including the CDC, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. She has served as the Associate Director of Scientific Resources at the National Institutes of Health since 2022, overseeing a broad portfolio spanning scientific support services, safety, and security. Before this position, she served as Deputy Scientific Director in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (at NIH) from 2015-2022.

Andre Khalil, PhD, Founding Director – CompuMAINE Lab, University of Maine and Founder, WAVED Medical LLC

At the University of Maine, I am the founding director of the CompuMAINE Lab (Computational Modeling, Analysis of Images and Numerical Experiments). I have co-authored 133 publications and obtained 44 grants/contracts totaling $8.4M (as PI, co-PI, or senior personnel), while developing or restructuring several undergraduate and graduate courses in Mathematics, Statistics, Chemical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering. I have trained (or am currently training) 31 thesis students (8 PhDs + 17 Masters + 6 Honors). In 2022 I received a Faculty Mentor Impact Award at the University of Maine.

My most focused project relates to breast cancer, where I have co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, presented at several international conferences, and advised 11 thesis students on this topic. I have secured over $1.5M in funding specifically for the breast cancer project from the Maine Cancer Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, the Maine Technology Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and various accelerator programs. I am a co-inventor on three issued patents related to this work (two in the U.S. and one in Europe), and we recently filed for another provisional patent. In 2022 I founded a startup company called WAVED Medical LLC, which was awarded an exclusive license from UMaine to commercialize our breast cancer risk assessment technology. At WAVED, we went on to secure more grants from federal, state, and private entities, which is leading to very exciting and promising results.

Through this work, our academic research is now translating into clinical applications with the potential to save lives by improving early detection and risk assessment.

Melanie Tory, PhD, Director of Human Data Interaction, The Roux Institute

Melanie Tory is Director of Human Data Interaction Research at the Roux Institute, Northeastern University. Her team focuses on empowering people to do more with data, through the design and evaluation of novel visualization techniques, human-data interactions, and technology interfaces. She is especially focused on visualizations for health and engineering applications, and the interplay between visualization and AI, in alignment with other priority research areas at the Roux. In her previous role at Tableau, Melanie managed an applied user research team and conducted research in natural language interaction with visualizations, ultimately commercialized as Tableau’s Ask Data feature. She also worked as a faculty member in visualization at the University of Victoria, where she explored topics such as collaborative and personal visual analytics. Melanie earned her PhD in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University and her BSc in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia.

Jennifer Fitz, BioPILOT Lab Manager, The Roux Institute

Jennifer Fitz is the BioPILOT Lab Manager at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University, where she leads operations supporting teaching, research, and entrepreneurship to advance research and development in biotechnology. In addition to her role with the BioPILOT, she also provides support to the BioIN Lab at the University of Southern Maine. With a strong background in cell and molecular R&D, Jennifer previously served as Co-Founder and Director at biotech start-up Hound Bio and has over a decade of industry experience at IDEXX Laboratories.

Veronica Achorn, Co-Founder, Head of Operations, Salmonics LLC

Veronica is a seasoned professional who seamlessly blends scientific expertise with strong business acumen. She holds a B.S. in Marine Science and an M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Maine, where her research focused on bacterial kidney disease in salmonids. She further honed her technical expertise at Kennebec River Biosciences and sharpened her leadership and business skills at VWR International. As a key driver behind the development of Salmonics, she has played a crucial role in everything from laboratory setup and quality management to marketing and operations. Her passion for technology, innovation, and sustainability fuels her commitment to advancing science and ensuring a healthier environment for future generations.

Jens Rueter, MD, Co-Founder, Chief Medical Officer, The Jackson Laboratory

Jens Rueter, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer of The Jackson Laboratory and Medical Director for the Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative. Rueter is a practicing hematologist/oncologist in Maine and has served as Medical Director for MCGI since its inception in 2016. In 2021, Rueter was named JAX’s first CMO and serves as the institution’s principal medical advisor.

Rueter came to JAX from Eastern Maine Medical Center Cancer Care (EMMC) in Brewer, Maine, where he was Medical Director for EMMC’s Translational Oncology Program and the EMMC Biobank. He has been on staff at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center since 2010, and a member of the JAX adjunct faculty since 2012. Prior to joining JAX, Rueter collaborated with several JAX investigators and technicians on developing new approaches to treating cancers while advancing translational research at EMMC. After graduating from medical school in Berlin, Germany, Rueter completed his residency in internal medicine at Tulane University and fellowship training in hematology/oncology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Aileen Huang-Saad, PhD, MBA, Director of Life Sciences and Engineering Programs and Associate Professor of Bioengineering, The Roux Institute at Northeastern University

Aileen Huang-Saad is the Director of Life Sciences, Health, and Engineering Programs at Northeastern’s Roux Institute (Portland, Maine) and an Associate Professor of Bioengineering. Leveraging her experience with design, entrepreneurship, education research, and industry, she seeks close the gap between higher education and professional practice. Specifically, she is designing interdisciplinary experiential education life sciences, health, and engineering programs to attract, retain, and advance talent in the state of Maine. These programs are designed to re-imagine how higher education and communities can work together to impact economic and talent development. Dr. Huang-Saad currently serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Springer’s Biomedical Engineering Education and is a member of the Maine State Workforce Board and the National Academies’ Roundtable on Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Education. She is also an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow.

James Weis, PhD, Founder & CEO, Hatch.Bio Labs

Dr. James W. Weis is an entrepreneur, investor, and researcher. He earned his Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab for developing network-analysis algorithms to predict and prioritize high-impact scientific work, published in Nature Biotechnology and featured by MIT News, and his S.M. from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory for applying information-theoretic methods to protein simulations. As founder and CEO of Hatch.Bio Labs, he built an incubation platform that has helped accelerate more than 60 startups over the last eight years, collectively raising $3.6 billion USD, creating over 3,000 jobs, and reaching a combined market valuation exceeding $13 billion USD. He also co-founded the MIT Biotech Group and the MIT Life Sciences Angel Group and co-instructed the Revolutionary Ventures course at the MIT Media Lab (cross-registered with MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School).

Trevor Ruggiero, Founder, Looma

Trevor is a product design engineer and serial entrepreneur with deep expertise in bringing medical devices and life science products from concept to market. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from Northeastern University and spent over a decade at one of Boston’s leading design firms, where he helped biotech and medtech companies develop and launch breakthrough technologies. His work spans AI-powered point-of-care devices for blood analysis to automation systems for pathology labs. Trevor is listed as an inventor on numerous patents and has contributed to client projects that raised over $200 million in funding.

Parking information

BioME will be covering parking for all attendees at this location only but you must register your vehicle. The gates will be open. Please meet us inside at the BioME registration desk to register your vehicle OR register your vehicle ahead of time using code BIOME (see attached PDF and scan the QR code). Please make note of your license plate number so you are able to register your vehicle if you do not do so ahead of time.