Photo: Lou Kennedy.

SCBIO has announced its 2018 Board of Directors and Executive Committee following formal confirmation at the life science organization’s December 2017 meeting in Columbia. Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation CEO Lou Kennedy will serve as SCBIO’s 2018 board chair.

Joining Kennedy as officers on the SCBIO Executive Committee will be Craig Walker, CEO of VidiStar LLC, as vice chair; Michael Rusnak, executive director of the Medical University of South Carolina Research Foundation, as treasurer; and Kathryn Cole Becker, principal of Translational Science Solutions, as secretary. Additional members of the Executive Committee are Jeff Stover, special counsel with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA, as legal officer; Stephanie Yarbrough, partner with Womble Bond Dickinson, LLP, as annual conference officer; Bryan Davis, operations manager with Greenville Health System’s Office of Innovations, as healthcare/innovation officer; and Sam Konduros, president and CEO of SCBIO. Immediate past chair, Erin Ford, who now serves as the organization’s inaugural vice president, was honored for her extraordinary board service during the December Board meeting.

Also elected to the 22-member Board of Directors for SCBIO are Darralyn Alexander, president of Reimbursement Strategies LLC; Mandy Brawley, deputy director of the South Carolina Department of Commerce; Jerry Chang, vice president of Business Development for BioD; Matthew Couvillion, attorney with the Wyche Law Form; J.J. Darby, state government affairs leader for Johnson & Johnson Services; Tressa Gardner, associate vice president of the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology at Florence-Darlington Technical College; Mike Graney, vice president for Global Business Development of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance; Chad Hardaway, associate director of the Office of Economic Engagement at the University of South Carolina; Willard Harms, vice president of Medical Affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina; Dr. Martine LaBerge, chair of Clemson University’s Department of Bioengineering; Marc Metcalf, business recruitment officer of the Upstate SC Alliance; Kathy Phlegar, president of Phlegar & Associates; Christine Dixon Thiesing, director of academic programs for the South Carolina Research Authority; and Courtney Warren, life sciences practice chair for Marsh & McLennan Agency.

About SCBIO:

SCBIO is South Carolina’s investor-driven public/private economic development organization exclusively focused on building, advancing, and growing the life sciences industry in the state. The industry already has an $11.4 billion annual economic impact in the Palmetto State, with more than 400 firms directly involved and 15,000 professionals employed in the research, development and commercialization of innovative healthcare, medical device, industrial, environmental and agricultural biotech and products. The state-wide nonprofit has offices in Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston, and represents companies in the advanced medicines, medical devices, equipment, diagnostics, IT, and healthcare outcome industries. For more information, visit www.SCBIO.org.