Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
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The CSIS Renewing American Innovation program and Duke University are hosting a half-day symposium of expert panels on the global importance of the North Carolina Research Triangle region for biotechnology innovation and biopharmaceutical manufacturing and workforce development.
The NC Research Triangle is a global center of biotech and pharmaceutical innovation, sustained by a world-class research and university ecosystem, strong workforce, and public-private partnerships and technology transfer supported by reliable intellectual property rights. In an era defined by economic and national security concerns, the NC Research Triangle is a national asset that offers a valuable playbook for establishing a successful biosciences hub in the United States.
This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.
Event Agenda:
Program Welcome
12:30 pm
Sujai Shivakumar, Director and Senior Fellow, Renewing American Innovation, CSIS
Welcoming Remarks
12:50 pm
The Office of Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)
State Representative Zack Hawkins (D-31)
State Senator Natalie Murdock (D-20)
Fireside Chat with Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) and Walter Copan
1:15 pm
Panel 1 - Building a World-Class Biopharmaceutical Innovation Ecosystem: The NC Research Triangle's Experience
1:50 pm
Moderator: Chan Harjivan, CSIS Senior Technical Expert, Duke Margolis Center Vising Fellow, and Special Assistant to the President in the White House during Operation Warp Speed
Mike Carnes, Vice President, Emerging Company Development, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
Robin L. Rasor, Associate VP for Translation & Commercialization at Duke Translation & Commercialization
Jesse Jur, Senior Director, Innovation Ecosystems & Strategic Initiatives, First Flight Venture Center
Panel 2 - From Discovery to Commercialization: Research, Intellectual Property, and Investment Across the Pipeline
2:35 pm
Moderator: Walter Copan, CSIS Senior Adviser, and former director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)
David Ridley, Professor of the Practice of Business, Economics, and Public Policy and Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Riddick, Jr. Research Fellow, Duke Fuqua School of Business
Norman "Ned" Sharpless, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Jupiter BioVentures; former Director of the National Cancer Institute
Jennifer Lodge, Vice President for Research & Innovation at Duke Research & Innovation
Stephen J. Susalka, CEO of AUTM
Daniel Dardani, Director of Physical Sciences and Digital Innovations Licensing and Corporate Alliances at Duke Translation & Commercialization; AUTM Chair-Elect
Break
3:20 pm
Panel 3 - Building the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Workforce
3:35 pm
Moderator: Sujai Shivakumar, director and senior fellow, Renewing American Innovation, CSIS
Mary E. Klotman, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Duke University; Dean, Duke University School of Medicine; Chief Academic Officer, Duke Health
Andrew Gardner, Associate Vice President Workforce Strategies at NC Community Colleges
Alex Murray, VP and General Manager of Pharma Site Operations, Biogen
W. Kevin McLaughlin, VP of Government Affairs at Duke Energy
Panel 4 - Industry Perspectives on Sustaining U.S. Biopharmaceutical Leadership: Investment and Policies That Define the Region
4:20 pm
Moderator: Laura Gunter, President of North Carolina Life Sciences Organization
Lee Lilley, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Commerce
Mark McClellan, Director of the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy and Robert J. Margolis, MD, Professor of Business, Medicine and Health Policy at Duke University
Anne Showalter, Senior Vice President & General Counsel for Supply Chain, Contracting and Digital, Privacy & Cyber Security, GSK
Doug Edgeton, President and CEO, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
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The CSIS Renewing American Innovation program and Duke University are hosting a half-day symposium of expert panels on the global importance of the North Carolina Research Triangle region for biotechnology innovation and biopharmaceutical manufacturing and workforce development.
The NC Research Triangle is a global center of biotech and pharmaceutical innovation, sustained by a world-class research and university ecosystem, strong workforce, and public-private partnerships and technology transfer supported by reliable intellectual property rights. In an era defined by economic and national security concerns, the NC Research Triangle is a national asset that offers a valuable playbook for establishing a successful biosciences hub in the United States.
This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.
Event Agenda:
Program Welcome
12:30 pm
Sujai Shivakumar, Director and Senior Fellow, Renewing American Innovation, CSIS
Welcoming Remarks
12:50 pm
The Office of Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)
State Representative Zack Hawkins (D-31)
State Senator Natalie Murdock (D-20)
Fireside Chat with Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) and Walter Copan
1:15 pm
Panel 1 - Building a World-Class Biopharmaceutical Innovation Ecosystem: The NC Research Triangle's Experience
1:50 pm
Moderator: Chan Harjivan, CSIS Senior Technical Expert, Duke Margolis Center Vising Fellow, and Special Assistant to the President in the White House during Operation Warp Speed
Mike Carnes, Vice President, Emerging Company Development, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
Robin L. Rasor, Associate VP for Translation & Commercialization at Duke Translation & Commercialization
Jesse Jur, Senior Director, Innovation Ecosystems & Strategic Initiatives, First Flight Venture Center
Panel 2 - From Discovery to Commercialization: Research, Intellectual Property, and Investment Across the Pipeline
2:35 pm
Moderator: Walter Copan, CSIS Senior Adviser, and former director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)
David Ridley, Professor of the Practice of Business, Economics, and Public Policy and Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Riddick, Jr. Research Fellow, Duke Fuqua School of Business
Norman "Ned" Sharpless, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Jupiter BioVentures; former Director of the National Cancer Institute
Jennifer Lodge, Vice President for Research & Innovation at Duke Research & Innovation
Stephen J. Susalka, CEO of AUTM
Daniel Dardani, Director of Physical Sciences and Digital Innovations Licensing and Corporate Alliances at Duke Translation & Commercialization; AUTM Chair-Elect
Break
3:20 pm
Panel 3 - Building the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Workforce
3:35 pm
Moderator: Sujai Shivakumar, director and senior fellow, Renewing American Innovation, CSIS
Mary E. Klotman, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Duke University; Dean, Duke University School of Medicine; Chief Academic Officer, Duke Health
Andrew Gardner, Associate Vice President Workforce Strategies at NC Community Colleges
Alex Murray, VP and General Manager of Pharma Site Operations, Biogen
W. Kevin McLaughlin, VP of Government Affairs at Duke Energy
Panel 4 - Industry Perspectives on Sustaining U.S. Biopharmaceutical Leadership: Investment and Policies That Define the Region
4:20 pm
Moderator: Laura Gunter, President of North Carolina Life Sciences Organization
Lee Lilley, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Commerce
Mark McClellan, Director of the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy and Robert J. Margolis, MD, Professor of Business, Medicine and Health Policy at Duke University
Anne Showalter, Senior Vice President & General Counsel for Supply Chain, Contracting and Digital, Privacy & Cyber Security, GSK
Doug Edgeton, President and CEO, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
