BHI Board of Directors

Peter Briskman is the Executive Director and Broker Lead for JLL’s Maryland Region. His primary focus is on Tenant Advisory Services working with Life Science Occupants locally and nationally on complex real estate and leasing strategies for Headquarter transactions, relocations, build-to-suits, renewals, expansions, and consolidations. His applied expertise includes strategic real estate planning, municipal incentive negotiations, lease structuring/transactions, portfolio management, and capital markets investment sales. He is the recipient of GWCAR’s Commercial Leasing Broker of the Year and has been recognized with GWCAR Office Leasing Transactions of the Year for multiple clients.    

Donna has 35+ years of healthcare experience, beginning as critical care nurse, and migrating to operations and senior management as a hospital administrator, GM of a large physician group practice and then recruited to industry, in clinical leadership positions. She spent 8+ years with Baxter in Senior/VP (group) executive positions in business development, sales and marketing of clinical products aimed at improving care and reducing health care costs. She has served in Senior Executive Management roles for 10 diagnostic companies in her career and was in key leadership roles in two company exits. She is a recognized leader in Cardiovascular Diagnostics, changing clinical practice in this space, as part of the discovery, development and commercial launch of a series of the key diagnostic products in the field. She was a governor appointed member of the Va BioTech Research Park Authority for 9 years and a member of the Intellectual Property Board of Directors for Virginia Commonwealth University for 8 yrs. She is a founder of Virginia Life Sciences Investments, Inc. and led the Series A investment in ImmunArray LTD, the original home of the broad portfolio of biomarkers for Neurological Disease Diagnosis and Monitoring spun out in late 2018 to

David Lemus serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at miRecule, a pioneering biotechnology company advancing RNA-based therapeutics to address critical unmet medical needs. With over 25 years of experience in financial and operational leadership within the life sciences sector, David is instrumental in steering miRecule’s strategic growth and operational excellence. Prior to joining miRecule, David held senior leadership roles at several prominent biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies. He has a proven track record of securing financing, driving business development initiatives, and optimizing operations to scale innovation and deliver transformative therapies. His expertise spans financial strategy, mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, and global market expansion. At miRecule, David oversees financial planning, investor relations, and day-to-day operations, ensuring alignment between the company’s scientific advancements and business objectives. His leadership has been pivotal in miRecule’s progression from early-stage research to clinical development. David is recognized for his ability to integrate financial acumen with a deep understanding of the biotech landscape, making him a trusted partner to both internal teams and external stakeholders. He holds degrees in finance and business management and actively participates in industry forums, sharing insights to advance the life sciences field.

Chuck Morton, repeatedly ranked as one of the top M&A lawyers in the country,  Managing Partner of the Baltimore Office of Venable, Maryland’s largest law firm. He has a national practice, solving complex problems faced by lenders, investors, and entrepreneurs as they create, build, and buy or sell businesses. He routinely advises on mergers and acquisitions and financings, including every flavor of equity investment. He regularly acts on behalf of private equity groups.  His practice focuses on life sciences and technology companies.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Rich Bendis is the Founder, President, and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a public-private nonprofit based in the BioHealth Capital Region (Maryland/DC/Virginia), focused on accelerating the biohealth industry nationally and internationally. A recognized leader in the global innovation economy, Rich was also the founding President and CEO of Innovation America, a national partnership driving the growth of innovation across the U.S. His career spans roles as a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, angel investor, investment banker, and an expert in technology-based economic development. Rich has served on numerous prestigious boards and advisory groups, including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the National Association of State Venture Funds, and the Small Business Innovation Research Committee. He was also a founding Chairman of The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation and the Founder and CEO of Innovation Philadelphia. Internationally, he has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations including the United Nations, NATO, UK Trade and Industry, European Commission, French Embassy, the German Marshall Fund, The Canadian Consulate, METI, AKEA, the International Science Parks and Innovation Expert Group and other global entities. Previously, Mr. Bendis successfully leveraged

Jarrod Borkat is a 15-year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry and currently the Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer with On Demand Pharmaceuticals. He joined MedImmune in 2010, and served as Senior Director/Head, Global External Partnerships & Collaborations. In this role he was responsible for establishing and overseeing global strategic collaborations with universities, non-profit organizations and government entities, across all the therapeutic areas relevant to MedImmune. His team led the creation of several multi-million dollar collaborations, including one with Johns Hopkins University and one with University of Maryland. Prior to this role, Jarrod led the Portfolio Strategy & Management function for MedImmune, helping the organization optimize its R&D portfolio. Before joining MedImmune, Jarrod worked at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for 11 years, rising through the ranks in the sales and commercial organization. During his time at BI, he spent two years in Germany, working at their corporate headquarters, leading the global commercial strategy for their CNS franchise. His last position prior to leaving BI was Director of U.S. Marketing, HIV. Jarrod has won multiple awards throughout his career, including being recognized as an industry “Top 25 Direct-to-Consumer Marketer of the Year” in 2007. He is also active in several industry

Mr. Callaghan manages M&T’s Healthcare Banking Group, providing sales advisory, credit oversight and industry training to the team. Christopher joined M&T Bank in 1994. He has held several positions in the Corporate Banking and Institutional Investment Management Divisions at M&T, including 15 years in the Healthcare Banking Group. M&T’s Healthcare Banking Group is a Specialized Industry Group that provides Commercial Lending, Investment Banking, Treasury Management and other Financial Services to Health Systems, Hospitals, Skill Nursing Facilities and Senior Living Communities. Christopher received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Saint Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont and a Master’s of Science in Finance from The Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Evergreen Healthcare Cooperative, the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland School of Nursing and is active in several healthcare industry groups.  

Dr. Eric S. Edwards is currently the co-founder and CEO of Phlow Corporation, a leading impact-driven pharmaceutical company focused on securing the supply chain for critical essential medicines and their ingredients in America. Previously, Dr. Edwards was an independent executive healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical device consultant to small and large multi-national corporations. Prior to consulting, Dr. Edwards was the co-founder of Kaléo, Inc., a pharmaceutical company in Richmond, VA developing novel medicines for the treatment of a variety or chronic and acute-care diseases. He is co-inventor of several currently marketed products, including AUVI-Q, an epinephrine Auto-injector for the treatment of allergic emergencies (anaphylaxis) as well as the Naloxone Auto-injector (Rapid Opioid Countermeasure System) currently being deployed by the DoD in case of an opioid-related attack on the homeland or abroad as a part of the warfighter’s medical arsenal. Dr. Edwards has over 240 patents and has authored numerous publications in the allergy and opioid use disorder arena as well as on America’s essential medicine supply chain. Dr. Edwards has been active on several committees and boards, including being appointed by the Governor to the Board of the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park Authority/ Activation Capital and serving as a mentor and

Michael Friedlander is the vice president for health sciences and technology at Virginia Tech, where he also serves as the founding executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and the senior dean for research at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. He has built the institute’s research programs to over $140 million in current grant value with more than 35 research teams and over 400 investigators and students since its founding in 2010. He has served as the principal investigator on multiple research grants on brain processes that mediate vision, developmental plasticity, and traumatic brain injury. His research has been published in leading journals such as Academic Medicine, Cell, J. Neuroscience, Nature, Neuron, PNAS and Science.

Jason brings nearly 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry leading clinical research and commercial teams developing and delivering program strategies across all phases of clinical development and marketed products. His extensive infectious disease experience includes seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19. Given the public health focus of vaccines and infectious diseases, he has engaged effectively with stakeholders across government agencies, public health policy bodies, market access, and advocacy organizations. Currently, Jason is VP, Strategy Operations at Emergent BioSolutions and is responsible for corporate business planning and reporting, enterprise governance, alliance management, and other efforts related to strategy execution. Prior to joining Emergent, Jason was Managing Director, Vaccine Policy at Avalere and collaborated with several vaccine manufacturers on key public health policies to expand vaccine access. Jason has also served as the Global Commercial Head, Vaccines and Infection at AstraZeneca. His responsibilities included building global commercial strategies and tactical plans that combine marketing, medical affairs, market access and pricing, public policy, and real-world evidence generation. Jason’s broad experience also includes ECG Management Consultants where he was a consultant specializing in government and industry-funded R&D program administration within Academic Medical Centers and Schools of Medicine.

Anthony Lakavage is Senior Vice President, Global External Affairs and Secretary of the USP Convention and Board of Trustees. He oversees global communications, public policy, stakeholder engagement, and the USP Quality Institute. As the architect of USP’s external engagement strategy, he represents USP before the FDA, Congress, international regulators, and global health organizations. He works closely with USP’s 450 Convention member organizations and supports the Board on strategy and risk management. A veteran of GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, and BD, he brings over 20 years of experience across pharma, vaccines, and medtech. He holds a B.A. in International Politics from Saint Joseph’s University and a J.D. from Temple University, and is admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Yaminah Leggett-Wells serves as the Senior Director of Alliance Management at Amgen, overseeing global partnerships spanning all stages of drug development. With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, her expertise includes strategic leadership, clinical operations, business development, and project and alliance management.