Lineup of Speakers
Scott Anthony Brown, PhD, DVM
SABAH Consulting, LLC
Dr. Scott Anthony Brown received his BS from the University of Kentucky, followed by DVM and PhD in Veterinary Pharmacology, both from Purdue University. He became board-certified in Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology and was in the inaugural group that sat for board certification examination in that specialty.
From 1986-1990, Scott was an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology at Texas A&M University. He joined Upjohn Animal Health in 1990 and has worked in animal health R&D in various capacities for nearly 32 years in Kalamazoo, through mergers, acquisitions and spinouts. During his career, he held roles in clinical development, metabolism and safety, and therapeutics discovery research. Most recently before his retirement from Zoetis in the spring of 2022, he served as Vice President of External Innovation, a unit responsible for seeking, finding, accessing and delivering valuable external collaborations and technologies that feed the R&D pipeline for Zoetis. Currently, he still consults for the animal health industry.
Scott is the author of over 70 published articles and over 150 internal study reports. He is the past President of both the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology and the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics and has served on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics and as an expert advisor for Animal Health – Europe, a regional trade association for the animal health industry.
John Blake, DVM
Virbac Corporation
Dr. Blake is responsible for supporting and leading the execution of business development activities for Virbac in North America. He has had roles across the veterinary value chain, from product development through launch, as well as extensive strategic and operational marketing experience in multiple therapeutic areas. He earned his DVM from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and completed an internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York prior to working in clinical practice. He earned an MBA at the University of Kansas after joining industry.
Nathan Chubb
Zoetis
A native of the UK and studied chemistry at the University of Exeter and joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1992, in Sandwich UK and then Kalamazoo in 2007. With a background in antiparasitic discovery research, led the research phase and the internal identification of Sarolaner, an isooxazoline, which was soon to become one of Zoetis’ largest ever franchises in Simparica. Zoetis was spun out from Pfizer in 2013 and Nathan soon joined the External Innovation group, dedicated to identifying partnerships across biological, biopharma and pharma opportunities to continue to build a healthy and productive Zoetis R&D portfolio.
Bret Ford
Kansas State University
Bret has been working in technology transfer for over seventeen years. He oversees the out-licensing of the animal health & nutrition intellectual property portfolio and the business development activities around the animal research capabilities at Kansas State University. He is also responsible for developing and maintaining strategic alliances with some of largest animal health companies. Bret is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) and a Registered Technology Transfer Professional.
Daniel Golden, PhD
Elanco
Daniel currently serves as the Vice President and Global Head of Research, Discovery & Breakthrough Innovation at Elanco Animal Health headquartered in Greenfield, IN. In this role he is responsible for all scientific discovery, proof of concept determination and initial product concepts within Elanco’s internal research laboratories and external collaboration.
Previously Daniel was the Executive Director of Next Generation Product development at Elanco. Responsible for research efforts aimed at identification and development of market transforming technologies within animal including digital, diagnostics and novel pharmaceutical modalities.
Daniel began his career in 2009 at Merial Animal Health and joined Elanco in 2015 as Director of Global Swine Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical product development. In 2017, Daniel was a founding member of a new business unit in support of Elanco’s expansion to the consumer retail market, serving as the head of the Animal Care Expansion business unit’s product development group. In addition, he took on responsibility for the U.S. Pet Specialty Retail Business leading sales and marketing of Elanco’s portfolio within both brick & mortar and online retailers.
Daniel graduated from Auburn University with a BS in Microbiology in 1998. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. He was awarded both a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health and a fellowship from the American Cancer Society. His postdoctoral research was focused on RNA interference (RNAi), and much of his research is published in peer reviewed journals and has been featured in multiple international conferences. Daniel is a member of the American Association for Advancement of Science, serves on the Dean Advisory Council to Auburn University’s College of Science and Mathematics and is a Board Member for the Indiana Biomedical Research Institute.
Sarah Hibbs-Shipp, PhD
National Wildlife Research Center, USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
Sarah is the Regulatory Support Services Unit (RSSU) Leader for the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), the Wildlife Services federal laboratory located in Fort Collins, CO. In this capacity, Sarah provides technology transfer and intellectual property support for the USDA APHIS Programs, in addition to supervising the NWRC Registration sub-unit which is responsible for maintaining current APHIS-owned pesticides and submitting new pesticide applications to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Prior to joining the NWRC, Sarah was the Director of Communications for CSU STRATA, the technology transfer unit supporting the Colorado State University System. During this time, Sarah ran and facilitated numerous educational initiatives, outreach programs, and symposia about intellectual property, technology transfer, and company startup activities. She worked with faculty and student inventors to effectively showcase and market their innovations and managed external communications to include press releases, social media, and the CSU STRATA website. Sarah’s technology transfer experience built upon 14 years of work in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic research world, managing dermatology-focused Phase I-IV human clinical trials and numerous efficacy/claim substantiation cosmetic studies.
She currently serves on the Innovating Minds Board for the Women in Science Network at Colorado State University. She holds a PhD and MS from Colorado State University (emphasis Nutrition Science) and a BA from Grinnell College.
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Stephen Higgs, PhD
Kansas State’s Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI)
Stephen is an infectious disease expert with international research experience, and is the director of Kansas State’s Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) since July 2011. He is responsible for oversight, coordination, and expansion of the BRI’s multidisciplinary research and education programs for studies on diseases that impact the global food supply, including those affecting humans, livestock, and plants.
He is Associate Vice President for research, holds the Virginia and Perry Peine Professor of Biosecurity and is a university distinguished professor in diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.
Stephen is an expert in vector biology, arthropod-borne infectious diseases, immune modulation, and vaccine evaluation, and has received funding through numerous competitive grants from Federal and private organizations to include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, and 25 book chapters. He is a fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. He is editor-in-chief of the international journal Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, and an editorial board member of Health Security. He earned a doctorate in parasitology from Reading University in the United Kingdom and a BS with honors in zoology from King’s College in London.
Lucas Huntimer, PhDLucas began his career with Novartis Animal Health after completing a bachelor’s in science in biology and microbiology from South Dakota State University. At Novartis Animal Health, Lucas held roles as a laboratory technician and scientist focusing on bacteriological fermentation, downstream processing, batching and vaccine formulation, in process and potency release assays, safety testing, quality control, and host animal efficacy models. Lucas then decided to pursue a doctorate in Immunobiology from Iowa State University focusing on evaluating the efficacy and immunological mechanisms behind vaccines designed using novel polyanhydride biomaterials as adjuvants and antigen carriers.
Jeff Myers is the Director of Corporate Relations at MSU Business Connect, part of the Michigan State University Innovation Center. MSU Business Connect facilitates research partnerships with corporations, supports start up entrepreneurs and promotes research-based economic development in Michigan communities.
Jeff Joined MSU in June of 2014 and is responsible for managing industry research relationships with a focus on plant, agriculture, and animal and human health fields. Previously, Jeff was the Senior Technology Transfer Specialist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU) responsible for managing SIU’s industry relations and technology transfer programs. Jeff is also an advisory board member and co-founder of two university spin out companies, and a partner in Blueline Biotech, LLC, a startup working to commercialize a suite of novel plant genes for industrial and horticultural applications. Jeff covers the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Human Medicine, College of Natural Science, College of Nursing, College of Osteopathic Medicine and College of Veterinary Medicine.
Leane Oliveria, PhD, DVM
US Biologic, Inc.
Chris earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from the University of Memphis. In his career, he has built large-scale, public/private programs, particularly in the public healthcare space and has founded or co-founded several companies, including a mobile application company (later acquired). He also has helped create founding and growth strategies, earned funding (e.g., investment, grants, contracts, and revenue-generating programs), built B2B joint-business ventures, co-authored journal and patent publications, earn media and stimulate company growth.
Mike has over 25 years of experience in the Animal Health and vaccine Industry and currently serves at the Chief Technology Officer for the State of Iowa Bioscience Initiative. This position is focused on technology transfer and commercialization in the Vaccine and Immunotherapeutic area. He has past work experience with NOBL Laboratories and Boehringer Ingelheim, and has participated in mergers, acquisitions, and integration of Fort Dodge Laboratories and Merial.
Frank earned a PhD in animal breeding and genetics from North Carolina State University and an MBA from University of Arkansas - Walton College of Business. His career has spanned 15 years in academia, 12 years in industry, 2.5 years as a National Program Leader at the USDA, and one year at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Ceva Animal Health
Dr. Strait oversees development and licensure of vaccines for poultry and swine for Ceva. She previously held a similar role at Merck Animal Health for swine R&D. Before joining the industry, Erin was an Assistant professor and Section leader for the Molecular and Virology Dept. at the Iowa State University, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Erin holds a DVM and PhD in Immunobiology, both from ISU.
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
In this role, Steven and his team directly support and accelerate technology transfers of veterinary biological products, such as vaccines, diagnostics and biotherapeutics, to commercial manufacturers and other partners. At NBAF, he is responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing BDM operations with an emphasis on strategic direction. He is also tasked with providing leadership for the development, production, and testing of vaccines and biologicals for use in animals.
Steven has worked in the biological development, research, and animal health fields for more than 25 years. Prior to joining NBAF, he was a research scientist and most recently a senior research scientist team leader at Elanco in Indiana, where he managed the analytical and process development research team for food and companion animal vaccines and biotherapeutics.
Prior to his time at Elanco, he worked as a scientist for Pfizer Animal Health in Michigan and in Connecticut. In that role, Steven developed analytical tools and assays for vaccines for food and companion animals and was part of several teams that licensed such cattle vaccines as CattleMaster Gold, BoviShield Gold and Inforce 3.
He earned an MS degree in pathobiology from Kansas State University in 1999 and a BS degree in biology from the University of Kansas in 1994. While at KSU, he worked full-time at the College of Veterinary Medicine in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology as a microbiologist in the Virus Serology lab.
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