University of Florida – Jeffrey Keene Family Professor, Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics; American Diabetes Association Eminent Scholar for Diabetes Research

• Expert in Type 1 diabetes and immunology
• Devoted over 34 years of investigation into type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders
• Executive direction for nPOD, a Type 1 diabetes research program involving over 220 projects in 19 countries and supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the NIH
• President – Insulin for Life USA
• Awards: Gerold and Gyla Grodsky award (JDRF), Mary Tyler Moore & S. Robert Levine MD award (JDRF, three-time winner), Eli Lilly award (American Diabetes Association)

Sanford Health, Boekelheide NICU, Neonatologist; University of South Dakota – Sanford School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Associate Professor of Internal Medicine; Sanford Research, Physician Scientist, Environmental Influences on Health and Disease Group

• Expert in neonatal and perinatal medicine
• Basic scientific research focuses on mitochondria, cardiac metabolism and developmental programming of disease in offspring born to diabetic or obese mothers
• Clinical research focuses on fetal and neonatal nutrition including omega-3 fats to improve health outcomes
• Fellow of American Academy of Pediatrics
• Board certified

Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Clinical Geneticist; CHEO Research Institute, Senior Scientist and Investigator; University of Ottawa, Department of Pediatrics, Associate Professor

• Expert in rare inherited neurological diseases affecting pediatrics
• Lead Investigator of consortium FORGE Canada (Finding of Rare Disease Genes in Canada), which is investigating 200 rare pediatric diseases
• Co-chair, International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRD) Diagnostics Committee
• Co-leader, Care4Rare – a Canadian research initiative for rare diseases
• Awards: Canadian Institute of Health Research Clinical Investigatorship Award, SickKids Foundation Young Investigator Award, Basil O’Connor March of Dimes Young Investigator Award

University of Miami, Professor of Medicine, Surgery and Pediatrics; Interstitial Lung Disease Program, Director; Pulmonary Diseases at Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, Director; Vice-Chairman of Medicine for Diversity and Innovation

• Expert in rare lung diseases
• Studies and treats interstitial lung disease, notably pulmonary fibrosis and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare disease affecting young women
• University of Miami Health System-UHealth one of 15 sites to open a clinic for patients with LAM
• Awards: National Library of Medicine Award, Dines Named Visiting Professorship at Mayo Clinic Rochester for her seminal studies in cell-based therapies in chronic lung disease

University of Nebraska Medical Center, Professor, Internal Medicine Division of Infectious Disease

• Expert in infectious diseases
• Work dedicated to managing infections in the most vulnerable immunosuppressed cancer patients
• Founded UNMC’s immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Program
• Chaired national panels for both the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to develop guidelines for management of infectious complications in cancer patients

University of Rochester Medical Center (NY), Dean’s Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology

• Expert in immunology
• Research focused on regulation of immunity at tissue sites of infection and autoimmunity using T cells
• Recipient of Mary Jane Kugel Award, Discovery Concept Fund and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Junior Faculty Start-up Award
• Received Dean’s Professorship, Basic Science Monitoring Award and Graduate Student Society Faculty Awards from URMC

Executive Vice President of Innovation and Research, Sanford Health

• Oversees the development of research programs across Sanford’s nine-state footprint, including more than 450 researchers, eight research centers and more than 300 ongoing clinical trials
• Head of the leading lab in Juvenile Batten disease research
• Research has led to the first clinical trial for Juvenile Batten disease
• Oversees a national registry for rare diseases known as the Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford (CoRDS)
• Organized rare disease workshops for the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Member of the executive committee for the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC)

Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Professor of Physiology; Center for Perinatal Biology, Associate Director

• Expert in perinatal biology, epigenetics, fetal programming and the effects of hypoxia on the biology of the developing fetus and newborn infants
• Research emphasis is focused on the vascular biology of the fetal cerebral circulation
• Member, Faculty of 1000 and Section Head: Genitourinary and Reproductive Pharmacology
• Member, Board of Directors and Chair of Membership, International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
• Member, Board of Editors for the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Translational Stroke Research, the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and the American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Medical Director of the Outpatient Oncology Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

• Expert in pediatric and young adult acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), Children’s Oncology Group ALL Committee member
• Member of the groundbreaking Cancer Immunotherapy Program at the Children’s Cancer Research Center at CHOP
• Principal and Co-Investigator on local and national experimental therapeutic and clinical trials for relapsed hematologic malignancies
• Reviewer for multiple publications and national grand foundations

Harvard Medical School, Professor, Department of Genetics; Co-Director of Paul F. Glenn Center for Biological Mechanisms of Aging

• Expert in aging and age-related diseases
• Studied diseases of aging with the goal of extending healthy lifespan
• Hoping to find a pill to simultaneously combat Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes and heart disease,• Co-founder of several biotechnology companies including Sirtris, Ovascience, Genocea, Cohbar, MetroBiotech, ArcBio and Liberty Biosecurity
• Inventor on 35 patents
• Winner of more than 25 awards including CSL Prize, Australian Commonwealth Prize, Thompson Prize, Merck Prize, Bio-Innovator Award, Australian Medical Research Medal, TIME Magazine’s list of “100 most influential people in the world”

Cedars-Sinai – Kerry and Simone Vickar Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Regenerative Medicine, Regenerative Medicine Institute; Professor in Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

• Expert in regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies
• Led first groups to successfully model Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Huntington’s Disease using stem cell therapies

University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs

• Expert in development of research and academic enterprises
• Served in leadership roles for University of North Dakota School of Medicine since 2004
• Previously chief of cardiology and professor for Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
• Fellow, American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology
• Served on boards of American Heart Association, Fund for Medical Research and Education at Wayne State University