Keynotes & Live Q&A Information

Attending one or more keynote presentation with LIVE Q&A will automatically enter you into a drawing for (2) tickets to Snowbowl's Summer Scenic Gondola rides as well as gift cards for your favorite Flagstaff restaurants and breweries. 

​Keynotes & Live Q&A Lineup​

Dr. David Engelthaler is the Co-Director and Associate Professor of Pathogen Genomics Division at TGen North. TGen North focuses on pathogen genomics with a specific mission to advance clinical medicine, public health and biodefense. Dave is also the Executive Director of the Southwest One Health Collaborative, Director of the TGen North Clinical Laboratory and Co-Director of the AZ COVID-19 Genomics Union. Dave has overseen the rapid development of TGen’s FDA-allowed COVID-19 diagnostics tests, the standing up of a federally-licensed COVID diagnostic laboratory, and the institution of the AZ COVID sequencing reference laboratory - all in support of the Arizona’s public health and healthcare response. Dave is also overseeing or participating in multiple COVID research projects, from assessing the impact of COVID on HIV populations, to providing testing for clinical trials of new drugs, to environmental analyses.

Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave was overseeing research projects involving advancing our understanding of multi-drug resistant infections; development of novel genotyping techniques for genomic epidemiology and microbial forensics; fungal epidemiology and phylogenetics; and more. A major focus of this work involves adapting and advancing the use of next-generation sequencing tools for infectious disease research and health care. Dave also oversees the application of the above research in real-life disease outbreak investigations, both natural and man-made. Recently, Dave led investigations involving invasive group A Strep in the Southwest, Cryptococcosis emergence in the Pacific Northwest, a multi-state fatal fungal meningitis outbreak associated with contaminated medical products and many other disease investigations.
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Dave is leading teams that have developed revolutionary techniques to detect extremely low-level subpopulations of resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients, weeks to months before current tests can detect resistance. Similar approaches are being applied to develop a next generation of test for hospitals and clinicians to rapidly identify critical multi-drug resistant organisms that result in tens of thousands of deaths in the US every year. 

Prior to joining TGen, Dave was the State Epidemiologist for Arizona, at the Arizona Department of Health Services, where he was responsible for coordinating outbreak investigations and disease research activities state wide. From 2000 to 2005, Dave was also the Arizona Biodefense Coordinator, responsible for coordinating all state-wide activities regarding public health emergency preparedness and response, including response activities to suspect biothreat events, such as the suspicious powders that were seen following the anthrax letter attacks. He also served as state-wide coordinator for Pandemic Influenza and other public health emergency response activities. Prior to 2000, Dave was a biologist for the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he conducted research on highly infectious diseases like plague and tularemia.
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Dave received a Ph.D. in Biology from Northern Arizona University with a focus on genomic epidemiology and a Master’s Degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University, where he studied host-vector-pathogen dynamics.

EVENT DATE/TIME: 

• LIVE Q&A = Tuesday, April 20, 2021 from 5:30pm-6pm via Zoom. Registrants will receive an email containing the link.

• ​Keynote will be available to view on April 20th starting at 8am. Registrants will receive an email containing the link.

*Upon registering, you'll receive an email detailing how/where to watch the keynote and participate in the live Q&A via Zoom. 

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Dr. Robert Kellar is an Associate Professor of Practice at Northern Arizona University in the Center for Materials Interfaces in Research Applications (¡MIRA!), Biological Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering.  He serves as the Chief Science Officer for Axolotl Biologix and the Chief Technology Officer for NuLastin.  He has over 20 years of experience in the development and regulatory approval of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biologics, including cell-based products and regenerative medicine and tissue engineered technology.  He has 146 scientific abstracts, 40 peer-reviewed publications, and 6 issued US patents.  He received his PhD from the University of Arizona in 2001.
 
Dr. Kellar currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for Leonhardt Ventures and the Clinical Advisory Board for Aesthetics Biomedical.  He serves as an Advisory Board Member for Protein Genomics, a protein polymer medical device company, and the California Stock Exchange. Dr. Kellar has helped to co-found a number of companies including Development Engineering Sciences, a biomedical consulting firm, Flagship Biosciences, a digital pathology company, and Elevated Manufacturing, a contract manufacturer. 
 
Dr. Kellar’s previous roles include: Past-President of the Surfaces in Biomaterials Foundation, VP of Research and Development at Histogen, Inc. in San Diego, CA, Product Specialist at W.L. Gore and Associates in Flagstaff, AZ, and Lead Scientist and Project Manager at Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc. in La Jolla, CA.  

Honors and Awards:
Jay N. Cohn New Investigator Award, Heart Failure Society of America, Sept. 11, 2001
Outstanding Professor Appreciation, Northern Arizona University, February 25, 2010
Faculty Louie Award Nominee, Northern Arizona University, 2012
Faculty Member of the Year, (Order of Omega, Northern Arizona University), 2012
Pearson’s One Professor Project, August 18, 2015
Nominee, College of Engineering, Forestry & Natural Sciences, NAU, Teacher of the Year Award, 2016
Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Department of Biological Sciences, NAU, 2016
Finalist, BioAcell Solutions Challenge (Scorpion Pit), 2016
Global Health & Pharma’s “Most Innovative Regenerative Medicine Research Company – USA”, 2018
Finalist, Phoenix Business Journal’s Health Care Hero Awards, 2018
Arizona Business Magazine’s Healthcare Leaders Award, 2019
Nominee, Research and Creative Activity (RCA), Northern Arizona University, “Most Significant Innovation in Technology Transfer of Commercialization”, 2019
Arizona Business Magazine’s Healthcare Leadership Awards, Researcher of the Year, 2019
Awardee, Research and Creative Activity (RCA), Northern Arizona University, “Most Significant Innovation in Technology Transfer of Commercialization”, 2020


​EVENT DATE/TIME:
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• LIVE Q&A = Thursday, April 22, 2021 from 5:30pm-6pm via Zoom. Registrants will receive an email containing the link.

• ​Keynote will be available to view on April 22nd starting at 8am. Registrants will receive an email containing the link.

*Upon registering, you'll receive an email detailing how/where to watch the keynote and participate in the live Q&A via Zoom. ​

KEYNOTE Talk Titles: “The Regenerative Medicine Story—The Past, Present and Tomorrow”
 “Alternative Markets for Your Technology”

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The Business of Bio Bootcamp is co-sponsored by
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