Janet Yancey-Wrona, PhD, Technology Business Development Manager, University of Maine, Moderator

Janet is the Technology Business Development Manager for the University of Maine, helping to commercialize important new discoveries from the University. This position follows a variety of management positions in life sciences-based companies. After beginning her professional career as a research scientist at IDEXX Labs, Janet served as the founding President of the Maine Technology Institute, overseeing more than $40 million in investments for R&D in Maine-based organizations. From there, she moved on to manage two pharmaceutical start-ups, a research products company and served a variety of marketing roles, most recently as Director of Marketing for the testing business at Lonza, one of the world’s largest healthcare manufacturing companies. Janet’s background includes a doctoral degree in biology from the University of North Carolina, and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.

Jeri Bowers, Vice President of External Affairs and Chief of Staff, MDI Bio Lab

Jeri joined the MDI Biological Laboratory in 1999 as the Director of Development and Public Affairs, responsible for all fundraising, communications and government relations activities for the institution. As a member of the Executive Team, she has played a key role in the institution’s growth from an operating budget of $1.2 million in 1999 to nearly $20 million today.

Prior to joining the MDI Biological Laboratory, she held management positions in fundraising and communications at The Jackson Laboratory. Jeri is dedicated to strengthening Maine’s R&D sector, and has helped secure more than $120 million in funding through private and public sources to support biomedical research in Maine.

A nineth generation Maine native, she is deeply committed to creating opportunities for all Maine residents to live and work in Maine, and to ensuring the MDI Biological Laboratory’s continued growth and success. Jeri is the past president of the Association of Independent Research Institutions, a national membership organization dedicated to advocating for the ability of independent research institutions to improve human health and advance scientific knowledge.

Beth Orcutt, PhD, Vice President for Research and Senior Research Scientist, 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.

Jessica Davis-Knowlton, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, BBI Solutions

I have steadily moved north over the course of my education and career – I grew up in Barrington, RI with friends and fencing teammates whose parents were research professors in Providence. Although interested in pursuing science myself, their description of research funding prompted me to take the premed track at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. I was accepted at UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine but quickly found the culture of research to be more appealing than that of medicine.

Still at UNE, I worked on neurobiology in Drosophila melanogaster to earn my master’s degree, then went to Tufts University for my PhD. My PhD work was completed in Lucy Liaw’s vascular biology lab at MaineHeath Institute for Research in Scarborough, ME.

Since fall of 2020, I have been a Senior Research Scientist for Maine Biotechnology Service, part of BBI Solutions, in Portland, ME. When I started at BBI, I put the imaging skills from my thesis work to use in developing a cell-based screening method for our candidate antibodies. This service allowed us to recommend antibodies to our clients that had been testing in an assay closely aligned to their final use. I have since transitioned to New Product Development, supporting our Recombinant Center of Excellence. For this new role, I have gained new project management and communication skills as well as skills in protein and plasmid design, mammalian cell protein expression, antibody/antigen kinetics, and ever increasing familiarity with high throughput diagnostic assays.

Eva Rose Balog, PhD, Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of New England

I received my Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and my B.S. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology. I also trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Lab’s Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies before returning to my home state of Maine to join the faculty of the University of New England in 2014. My research uses biochemical and biophysical techniques to create and characterize novel proteins for various applications in biotechnology and biomaterials.

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