Featured Speakers

Anthony Atala, M.D.
Senior Researcher and Director, Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Anthony Atala, M.D., is the W.H. Boyce Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Urology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Atala is a surgeon in the area of pediatric urology and a researcher in the area of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. His current work focuses on growing new human cells, tissues and organs to repair or replace tissues or organs damaged by age, cancer, trauma, or abnormal development. Dr. Atala is a founding member, Governor, and Continental Chair of the North America Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Regenerate International Conference. Dr. Atala is an Editor for several journals, including Stem Cells and Development, Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Regenerative Medicine and many more. He also serves as editor of Investigative Urology (Journal of Urology), Urology, Current Reviews in Urology, Current Opinion in Urology, BioMed Central-Urology and the Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques: Endosurgery and Innovative Techniques.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Atala has held numerous visiting appointments worldwide and has received numerous awards and honors, including the US Congress funded Christopher Columbus Foundation Award and the Gold Cystoscope Award for contributions to his field. Dr. Atala was named by Scientific American as a Medical Treatments Leader of the Year for his contributions to the fields of cell, tissue and organ regeneration, and by Esquire Magazine as one of the “Best and Brightest,” a celebration of Americans committed to positive change. In 2006, he was named by Fast Company magazine as one of 50 people who “will change how we work and live over the next 10 years,” and he received the Grand Award from Popular Science for What is Best from 2006, and the Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics for his work in organ regeneration. In 2007 Dr. Atala's work was listed as Discover Magazine's Number 1 Top Science Story of the Year in the field of medicine.

Dr. Atala has led or served several national professional and government committees, including the National Institutes of Health working group on Cells and Developmental Biology, and the National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium. Dr. Atala heads a team of over 100 physicians and researchers. Ten applications of technologies developed in Dr. Atala's laboratory have been used clinically. He is the editor of 7 books, including Tissue Engineering and Methods of Tissue Engineering (Academic Press), and has published more than 200 journal articles or book chapters, more than 250 abstracts, and has applied for or received over 150 national and international patents.

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Senator Thomas A. Daschle
Former United States Senator and Special Public Policy Advisor, Alston & Bird

Senator Tom Daschle is a Special Public Policy Advisor in Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office and is a member of the Legislative and Public Policy Group. As a non-attorney, Senator Daschle focuses his services on advising the firm’s clients on issues related to all aspects of public policy with a particular emphasis on issues related to financial services, health care, energy, telecommunications and taxes. In addition, he advises on trade and international matters.

With more than 25 years of service in the House of Representatives and the Senate and 10 years as Senate Democratic Leader, Senator Daschle has played an instrumental role in the development of U.S. legislative and regulatory policy.

In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from his home state of South Dakota, where he served until 1986, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. In his first year, he was appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee, an unusual honor for a freshman. He became Minority Leader of the Senate in 1994 and Majority Leader in 2001. He is the second longest serving Democratic Leader in history. In addition to the Leader’s post, Senator Daschle served as a member of the Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Indian Affairs and Ethics Committees. During his tenure in Washington, D.C., he was co-chair of the Democratic Policy Committee and the Democratic Conference.

Senator Daschle attended South Dakota State University and graduated in 1969. Following college, he served for three years as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force Strategic Command. After military service, he spent five years as an aide to South Dakota Senator James Abourezk.

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Tony Hickson BSc, MBA
Head of Biosciences, Imperial Innovations Ltd.

Tony Hickson joined Imperial Innovations in early 2002 and is head of Bioscience Licensing. Tony has over fifteen years of varied commercial experience in bioscience companies including Wellcome Research Laboratories, Murex Biotech, Abbott Laboratories and Kalibrant Ltd. He leads a team responsible for identifying IP assets, protecting them and commercializing them by way of licensing and spin-out companies.