Triad BioNight 2022

Keynote Speaker

Anthony Atala, M.D.
Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine 

Known worldwide as a groundbreaking and leading-edge expert in the field of tissue engineering, Dr. Anthony Atala is a practicing surgeon and researcher. He is the G. Link Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the W. Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  

He holds international acclaim as a pioneer in the clinical translation of regenerative medicine technologies, focusing on growing human cells, tissues, and organs. The team of scientists he leads created the world’s first functional lab-engineered organs that were successfully implanted into patients; additionally, 15 applications of technologies developed in Dr. Atala’s lab – which include urethras, muscle, skin, cartilage, kidney, and vaginas –  have been used clinically in human patients.

He and his team have pioneered techniques for the engineering of biomaterials, both for producing complex tissues, and for harnessing the regeneration of internal organs. Dr. Atala has made seminal contributions in the isolation of cells for regeneration, including the discovery of an amniotic fluid and placental derived stem cell capable of forming all germ layers, while circumventing key issues associated with embryonic and adult stem cells. 

Dr. Atala was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences (now the National Academy of Medicine), to the National Academy of Inventors as a Charter Fellow, and to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Atala is a recipient of the US Congress funded Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, bestowed on a living American who is currently working on a discovery that will significantly affect society; the World Technology Award in Health and Medicine, for achieving significant and lasting progress; the Edison Science/Medical Award; the Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award; the R&D Innovator of the Year Award; and the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award.

Dr. Atala’s work was listed twice as Time Magazine’s top 10 medical breakthroughs of the year and as one of 5 discoveries that will change the future of organ transplants and was ranked in 2019 by the Project Management Institute as one of the top 10 most impactful biotech projects from the past 50 years. Dr. Atala was named by Scientific American as one of the world’s most influential people in biotechnology; by U.S. News & World Report as one of 14 Pioneers of Medical Progress in the 21st Century; by Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review as one of 50 key influencers in the life sciences intellectual property arena, and by Nature Biotechnology as one of the top 10 translational researchers in the world.  

Dr. Atala has led or served several national professional and government committees, including the National Institutes of Health working group on Cells and Developmental Biology, the National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium, and the National Cancer Institute’s Advisory Board. He was a Founder of the Tissue Engineering Society, the Regenerative Medicine Society, the Regenerative Medicine Foundation, the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, the Regenerative Medicine Development Organization, the Regenerative Medicine Manufacturing Society, and the Regenerative Medicine Manufacturing Consortium. 

Dr. Atala works with several journals and serves in various roles, including Editor-in-Chief of: Stem Cells Translational Medicine; Therapeutic Advances in Urology; and BioPrinting. He is the editor of 25 books, has published more than 800 journal articles, and has applied for or received over 250 national and international patents.

Previous Keynote Speakers:

2019: David Hollinrake, President, Syngenta Seeds LLC and North American Region Director
2017: Dave King, Chairman and CEO, Labcorp

BioInvestor

VIP Reception Sponsor

General Reception Sponsor

BioLeaders

BioEducator

BioFriends

Media Sponsor

Table Plus

Alamance Community College
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Carolina Liquid Chemistries
Carolina Biological Supply
Core Technology Molding Corporation
Flywheel Coworking
Gateway Research Park & NC A&T
High Point University
Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
National Center for Biotechnology Workforce
NC Bioneer Statewide
NC Bioneer Piedmont Triad
NCBiotech Statewide 
NCBiotech Piedmont Triad
NC IDEA
Novex Innovations
O’Brien Atkins Associates, PA
Piedmont Animal Health
Twin City Foundation
Venture South
vTv Therapeutics 

Please contact Nancy Johnston for questions regarding sponsorship opportunities.