Board of Directors

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 a career in the private sector (with Quaker Oats, Polaroid, Texas Instruments, Marion Laboratories and Kimberly Services) and the venture capital industry (RAB Ventures). Mr. Bendis also successfully built an Inc. 500 healthcare software company, Continental Healthcare Systems, Inc., which he took public on NASDAQ and later sold to an international conglomerate. In addition, Mr. Bendis continues to be an active investor. In Maryland, Rich sits on Governor Moore's Life Science Advisory Board and is Co-Chair of the AURP BioHealth Caucus. Known for his contributions to the innovation sector, he has been recognized as a Top 5 Speaker on innovation, one of Maryland’s most influential leaders, and the host of the BioTalk podcast. He was voted one of the Top 5 Speakers on innovation and creativity, voted 4th best Innovation Blogger, a most influential Marylander award and a Maryland innovator of the year award.

John Sackett became President & CEO of Adventist HealthCare in August 2024 after a decade as COO and previously as President of Shady Grove Medical Center. He led the launch of Adventist HealthCare’s Leadership System and Standard Management Approach, earning national Baldrige recognition, and oversaw the integration of new hospitals and major facility upgrades. Prior to joining the system, John was CEO of Avista Adventist Hospital in Colorado for 24 years, where he earned top rankings in patient, physician, and employee satisfaction. He also served as Centura Health’s SVP for Mission and Ministry and as a Louisville City Council member. John holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Walla Walla University and a master’s in health administration from Loma Linda University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has served on numerous local boards.

Joel S. Marcus is the Executive Chairman and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an urban office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses in urban innovation clusters. Mr. Marcus co-founded Alexandria in 1994 as a garage startup with $19 million in Series A capital and, as CEO from March 1997 to April 2018, has led its growth into an S&P 500 company with an approximately $18 billion total market capitalization and significant market presence in leading AAA locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle Park. In, 1996, Mr. Marcus founded Alexandria Venture Investments, the company’s venture arm, which provides strategic capital to transformative life science and technology companies.  

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.  

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 BRAINBox Solutions, where she is a founding member and CEO.

Serving in a dual role, Ron is responsible for CVI’s Medical business including Sales, P&L, and Strategy. In addition, Ron is also responsible for the Business Development Division, including the development of strategic partnerships that leverage Canon Technology and Manufacturing Know-how. Prior to this position, he led the R&D division in the design and development of medical products for Canon BioMedical, Inc., which was a newly created Canon company.  Ron has worked for Canon Virginia for more than 23 years. Prior to joining Canon, Ron served as a Mechanical Design Engineer for nVIEW Corp, responsible for video projector design and as a Product Design Engineer for GE Aircraft controls, responsible for mechanical design and thermal / vibration analysis of Flight and Engine controls. Ron holds multiple patents and has previously served on the Old Dominion University’s College of Engineering and Technology Advisory Board. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Binghamton University.  

Dr. Nadler focuses on transforming healthcare into a more human system. She focuses on data-informed strategy and policy, as well as their implementation, to improve outcomes for communities across the country. In her consulting career, Dr. Nadler has worked across translational medicine, patient centered care, public health grants portfolio strategy, and health information technology. As a geneticist, she served as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she focused on developing models of behaviors associated with autism. Dr. Nadler was also a Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, within the Department of Health & Human Services.

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. Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Augustana College and a Master of Business Administration from The George Washington University. He lives in Washington, DC with this wife, Holly, and daughter, Jane, and their two golden retrievers.    

Peter is CEO of Emmes, a global full-service CRO operating in 30+ countries across ophthalmology, vaccines, rare disease, cell & gene therapy, and neuroscience. He oversees strategy and operations while advising boards, investors, and biotech leaders. Previously, he served as Head of Global Development at Janssen R&D, managing a 10,000+ person team and $2B+ budget, delivering over 450 studies across all phases. He championed innovations in trial design, virtualization, digital health, and diversity. Earlier, Peter held senior roles at Bristol Myers Squibb in Clinical and R&D Operations, and served on the TransCelerate Biopharma Board. He began his career at Accenture and holds a degree from Nottingham University.  

Dr. Steven Roberts joined GSK Vaccines in May 2021, where he is responsible for initiating collaborations with U.S. research institutions to advance the development of new vaccines and platform technologies. In this role, he works across industry, academia, and federal research groups to identify cutting edge opportunities. Prior to joining GSK, Dr. Roberts was as a Venture Analyst Associate at Biohealth Innovation, where he led initiatives to strengthen and grow research within the Biohealth Capital Region.  

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.    

Rachel leads JLABS @ Washington, DC, overseeing strategy, operations, external engagement, innovation sourcing, and portfolio management. She evaluates and accelerates a pipeline of startups across the region. Previously, she served as Director of the BARDA Alliance for Johnson & Johnson Innovation, managing BLUE KNIGHT™, a collaboration with BARDA to support health security innovations. She directed global programming, including the annual BLUE KNIGHT™ Symposium. Before JLABS, Rachel was Chief of Staff at NESTcc, an MDIC initiative funded by the FDA to advance medical device evaluation. Earlier, she supported national clinical research efforts at PCORI, including the launch of PCORnet. Rachel holds an MBA from Georgetown University and an MPH in global health policy from The George Washington University.