Dr. Amritha Jaishankar is a life sciences executive with 20+ years of experience across academia, government, nonprofit, and industry. Her work has covered R&D, program and policy development, product and service strategy, and grants/investment management. She has supported 500+ academic and biotech programs, helped launch and scale 30+ companies, and overseen more than $200 million in grants and strategic investments. Her leadership has enabled platforms spanning discovery, clinical development, regulatory strategy, manufacturing, commercialization, workforce development, and ecosystem building. She is deeply committed to advancing early-stage companies and accelerating the development and commercialization of transformative therapies for patients worldwide, and she serves on multiple advisory boards supporting healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship.

Heather Koshinsky, Chair, Bio + Health Track, SkyDeck, is a serial entrepreneur who is the SF Bay Area University of Saskatchewan Alumni Ambassador, an Alumni of Influence of the University of Saskatchewan, College of Arts and Science and has a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture and Bioresources. From University of California, Berkeley Hass School of Business, Extension Heather has Certificates in Business Administration, in Business Analysis, in Marketing, in Digital Marketing and in Business Analytics for Marketing Professionals. She was the co-founder of 4 successful startups. Notably she was the co-founder and CEO at Investigen that receives royalty revenue for its IP, and co-founder and CSO at Eureka Genomics, which developed Eureka Genotyping that Thermo Fisher Scientific now sells internationally and is the VP of Innovation and Brand Integrity to LevGo.

Bringing over two decades of fund management and impact investing experience spanning asset classes, countries and impact areas, from market rate return expectations to catalytic philanthropic capital, Catherine began her career at Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley, and now works with a range of clients, from impact investment funds, to foundations and family offices, globally.

AbhayKumar is a retired corporate development executive with 30+ years of experiencein academia and biotech. Abhay’s focus has been on designing strategies, andbusiness growth by acquisition or licensing of technologies and strategicpartnerships. Abhay started his career at Hybritech Incorporated, the firstbiotech company in San Diego, where he identified novel biomarkers fordiagnosis of prostate cancer. Upon acquisition of Hybritech, he continued hiswork at Beckman Coulter, Inc. in the field of MHC Tetramers. Abhay was part of strategyand corporate development at Invitrogen / Life Tech /. Thermo Fisher for 14years, and at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Aldeveon LLC, both Danaheroperating companies for 4 years.

Ashwin is a finance and accounting person with 12+ years at KPMG. He is head of finance for one of the TiE med device startups, and fractional CFO for a few more PE owned life science companies.

Dr. Diana Martina Schaffer is an Austrian-based clinical and health psychologist with a PhD in Medical Science, an MA in Psychology, and a BA in Computer Science. She combines clinical expertise with strong technical skills and entrepreneurial experience, and is the founder of an AI-driven mental health startup focused on trauma-informed, image-based interventions inspired by EMDR and ImTT. Her work sits at the intersection of psychology, artificial intelligence, and digital health, with a focus on scalable, evidence-based support solutions for international markets.

Tom Darlington helped build nanoComposix from a garage startup into a nanomaterial CDMO and diagnostics developer, leading the team that established technical operations, manufacturing, and quality systems through a successful exit to Fortis Life Sciences in 2021. A scientist by training, his path to nanoComposix ran through early roles at VC-backed startups in therapeutic antibody development, biodefense, and artificial chromosome engineering. He now directs investment at BVD Healthcare, a family office focused on strategic partnerships and funding of diagnostics in IVF/fertility, women's health, and infectious diseases, and has a personal interest in technologies that improve outcomes in fertility and neonatal care. PhD, Scripps Research; BA, Duke University.

Naseeha Machingal is Senior Director of Client Success & Partnerships at Legal Ease Solutions, a leading Alternative Legal Service Provider specializing in legal consulting and solutions. She leads a global team across the US and India, managing strategic partnerships and driving revenue growth for the company's largest client portfolio. With over 7 years of experience building client success programs, scaling service delivery models, and navigating complex enterprise partnerships, Naseeha brings a practitioner's perspective on what it takes to grow a services business by putting clients at the center. She is also an avid mountaineer who has summited Kilimanjaro, Mount Whitney, and Pikes Peak.

Dr. Julie Ducharme is a dynamic leader, keynote speaker, national best-selling author, professor, and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in empowering others. She is the visionary behind the Lead and Empower Her SHE Talks movement, a nationwide women’s empowerment conference that provides women with platforms to speak, write, and inspire others. As the founder of JD Consulting, she helps businesses scale and increase brand visibility through creative, viral marketing campaigns. Dr. Ducharme is also deeply committed to education, actively shaping future leaders as a professor and championing youth as the future of this world. With her focus on leadership, business strategy, and female empowerment, she is a sought-after speaker, advisor, and thought leader, working to inspire and empower through her ventures and publications.

Dr. Mo Kagalwala received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and MBA from UCSD Rady School of Management.  Dr. Kagalwala completed postdoctoral fellowships at MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Salk Institute. In 2020, he moved to Immuneering Corporation as Head/Sr. Director of Neuroscience Development where he played a pivotal role in advancing two drug pipelines, and straddled business development leading to successful pharma partnerships, including an IPO exit. Later, Dr. Kagalwala co-founded AlleoLabs, an early-stage biotech company focused on developing precision medicine for CNS diseases. His research topics mainly include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders over the last 19years. Dr. Kagalwala enjoys mentoring next generation of entrepreneurs at the Basement and StartR programs at UCSD.