VILS took a number of Victoria life sciences companies along to Seattle for a pre-conference day of life-sciences-specific tours and networking on Wednesday October 2nd, 2019, in adjunct to the Cascadia Conference.
Our VILS day directly supported the spirit of the Cascadia Conference, and helped to ensure that the life-sciences community (and Victoria!) was well represented and importantly we enjoyed a day's advance start on the cross-border collaboration and networking conversations central to the Cascadia Conference.
The VILS delegation spent the day in Seattle for a programme of life sciences networking and site visits (list below) in the style of our usual VILS meetings (networking, presentations by hosts of their firm), and culminated in joining the Cascadia Conference 02-03 Oct.
Seattle host stops were:
0900 to 0950: Coffee, bagels and visiting at Cambia Grove healthcare innovation hub
(1800 9th Ave - Directions)
We were hosted and provided a tour by Riley Sorensen - thank you Riley!
1015 to 1115: Tour and introduction to University of Washington's CoMotion at Fluke Hall
(4000 Mason Road - Directions)
Thank you Ulysis (Uly) Rivera for hosting and giving the tour!
1130 to 1250: Lunch SPONSORED WITH THANKS BY PREMIER RESEARCH
at Duke's Seafood
(901 Fairview Ave N - Directions)
Lunch menu
Lunch specials menu
1 PM to 2:30 PM: lab tour, and talk with Obesity Research and Digital Therapeutics scientists at
Novo Nordisk Seattle
(530 Fairview Ave N, #5000 - Directions)
A huge thanks to our hosts Jen Running Deer, Ayesha Misquith, Chris Barnes, Andy Whittle, and Jonas Thinggaard.
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM: A tour of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), the home
of 3 Nobel Prize laureates to date (1100 Fairview Ave N - Directions)
Thank you to Natalie Curtis for the extensive tour and information!
For delegates keen on medical devices, we also had an optional stream in the late afternoon of 02 Oct to join our friends at Life Science Washington for their event DeviceConnect: Ultrasound of the Future, being held in Bothell from 1600 to 1830 (FUJIFILM SonoSite, 22011 30th Drive SE, Sahale Conference Room - Directions).
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Opening reception of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor conference (Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave - Directions)
VILS delegates:
Stephanie Willerth, PhD, Peng, Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and Acting Director of the Biomedical Engineering program and the Centre for Biomedical Research
Peter Smith, CEO, Semaphore Solutions
Michael Peirone, Chief Operating Officer, Victoria Hand Project
Nick Dechev, Co-Founder, Youcount
Teo Dechev, Co-Founder, Youcount
Austin Sawyer, President & Founder, UVIC BME Design Club and Head Canada Wide Science Fair Ambassador, Youth Science Canada
Jim Kapron, Technical Sales, Pacific Northwest, Bruker Mass Spectrometry
Brent Sternig, Director, UVic Research Partnerships and Knowledge Mobilization
Jody Haddow, North America business development, Fusion Antibodies
Dallas Gislason, Director of Economic Development, South Island Prosperity Partnership
Troy DeFrank, Director, Pacific Northwest, Trade & Invest British Columbia (Seattle)
Lei He, Senior Director Business Development at Premier Research (Seattle)
Samuel Mercer, co-founder and board member of VILS
About the Cascadia Conference:
Speakers and attendees include BC Premier John Horgan and Washington congresswoman Susan DelBene, BC Innovation Commissioner Alan Winter, the Mayors of Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland, Boeing and Alaska Air CEOs, and many others. The organisers are keen to ensure the event is well attended by small and medium business, in addition to the existing, very strong regional economic development and large-company attendee base, which is what makes VILS companies an ideal profile.
Benefits for attendees:
Both VILS company delegates and the Seattle-area host companies can anticipate building new connections with potential clients, licensees, licensors, collaborators, peers, and expanding their regional industry network to ensure cross-border opportunities are brought to the front of one's mind. The VILS delegates and Seattle-area host companies we are arranging include earlier-stage startups as well as later-stage, medium-sized biotech and biopharma firms, so we also hope to foster "inter-generational" collaboration between more mature and emerging firms and technologies.
Programme:
Delegates from BC should aim to arrive by the evening of Tues 01 Oct (or as early as possible on 02 Oct) in order to attend the VILS pre-conference day events from morning until around 1700 on 02 Oct, in order to join the Cascadia opening event 1700-1900, then the Cascadia conference itself all day 03 Oct.