Keynote speaker: Alisa Wright, CEO, BioConvergence

Biography: Alisa Wright is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BioConvergence, a women-owned small business serving the life sciences sector.  She grew up on a small farm in southern Indiana, received degrees in pharmacy and engineering from Purdue University and has worked at Eli Lilly, NNC, Cook and Baxter.  She serves on several boards including Purdue’s School of Pharmacy, Indiana University’s School of Informatics and Kelly School of Business Supply Chain and Global Management Academy.  In addition to her career, she is committed to improving science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM) for K-12 students by serving programs such as the Indiana STEM Resource Network and Project Lead The Way.

Title: Creating Solutions for the Life Sciences Industry: The IT Challenge

Abstract: Twenty years ago, the life sciences industry was comprised of very segregated diagnostic, pharmaceutical and medical device companies focusing on acute disease in developed nations.  As we gained knowledge and technology to understand the fundamentals of disease around the world and particularly chronic disease, we had to break down our silos as no one company or sector could go it alone.  Doing so has created linked solutions designed to more effectively diagnose and treat diseases.  Our current exploration will not only build on this new foundation but require new solutions to expand the continuum to distributers, healthcare providers and patients.  All of these improvements have something in common – using new information technology and communication systems to achieve our healthcare goals.