Meet the BIO Official Bloggers

With so much happening at the 2012 BIO International Convention it can be difficult to keep track of it all.  For the fourth year in a row, BIO is working with bloggers and reporters from around the country (and Canada) to provide attendees with an inside look of what’s happening in Boston.

Each of them leaders in their fields, these independent bloggers and reporters will provide their thought-provoking insights on everything taking place at Convention, from news being made on the show floor to our Super Sessions to reports and surveys being released.

Be sure to check out their coverage on BIOtechNOW throughout the event.

Biotech Blog: Yali Friedman & Rolf Taylor

Yali Friedman, Ph.D., is founder of thinkBiotech and chief editor of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. His book, Building Biotechnology, is used as a course text in dozens of biotechnology programs. His other books include Best Practices in Biotechnology Education and Best Practices in Biotechnology Business Development. He is also a member of the board of directors and steering group of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies, serves on the science advisory board of Chakra Biotech, and also serves as a judge for the Biotech Humanitarian Award and the Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Award.

Rolf Taylor is a development consultant at EASE Fundraising System, a development associate at the American Liver Foundation, and a special projects & vlogger at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. He plans and executes communications and development programs to support medical products, devices and diagnostics, association and foundation

The Cross-Border Biotech Blog, Christian Hartmann

Christian Hartmann has worked for the past 3.5 years at Deloitte Canada as an Account Manager supporting the National Life Sciences and Mining Practices. He has worked on large pharmaceutical accounts and works to develop relationships with early stage biotechnology companies. He also represents Deloitte at key industry events including BioFinance and BIO. Christian received his diploma in Biotechnology from Seneca College and has worked in industry as part of the team that developed an early detection kit for Myocardial Infarction at Spectral Diagnostics. He has also owned and operated a business in the Health Food industry gaining approvals from Health Canada, FDA, CRA and CITIES  to import and distribute a novel plant based supplement product for sale in Canada and the U.S.

Fierce Biotech, John Carroll

John D. Carroll is a biotech analyst with 32 years of prize-winning experience in journalism. Appointed editor of FierceBiotech in 2003, he has covered genomics, biotechnology, healthcare and other business topics for Managed Care, American Banker, Small Times, and Local Business.com, He has also contributed stories from Central America and Ireland to the Dallas Morning News and Time and wrote for the Houston Press and other leading publications. He spent six years as editor and publisher of the Dallas Business Journal, was publisher of Texas Business and early in his career was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters and editors at the Kansas City Star & Times. He enjoys hiking, traveling and spending time with his family. John is based in Vermont and Texas.

Genome Alberta, Mike Spear

Mike Spear is Director of Corporate communications at Genome Alberta. After an extensive career in the media as a Producer, Executive Producer, and Program Manager, Mike moved over to other side of the journalists microphone when he joined the non-profit Alberta Beef Producers as Communications and Marketing Manager. After guiding and developing a new marketing plan to lead them through to 2009, it was time to look for a new challenge and he landed here with Genome Alberta in July of 2007. As Director of Corporate Communications Mike is an important part of Genome Alberta's goal of "taking the Alberta Advantage to the world of international science".

Lillypad, Yasmein Asi & Robyn Orth

Yasmein Asi is a digital government affairs consultant at Eli Lilly and Company. Before being hired full-time in June 2011, she was a government affairs intern at Eli Lilly. She received her BA in Politic Science and Communication in 2008 before receiving her Masters in International Policy & Development.

Robyn Orth is a consultant covering digital government affairs at Eli Lilly and Company. Before being hired full-time, she was an international affairs intern. She received a BA in Latin American Studies and History at Tulane University before earning an MA in Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. Robyn specializes in Latin American studies, networking, administration and research.

Life Science Leader, Rob Wright