2022 Biotechnology Conference
Transforming & Improving the Human Condition

Bouton’s work has been featured on 60 Minutes and at TEDx, and he holds more than 70 patents worldwide. He has been awarded two R&D 100 Awards and was recognized by Congress for his work in the medical device field. He has been named Inventor of the Year and Distinguished Inventor by Battelle, and was selected by the National Academy of Engineering in 2011 to attend the Frontiers in Engineering Symposium. Bouton received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Iowa State University and his M.S. in Engineering Mechanics at Iowa State University with Honors.

In line with the career-oriented mission of NYIT, Babak has led the CoECS in building a strong partnership with industry/government including NASA, Zscaler, IBM Red Hat, Xilinx, Soter Technologies, and Zebra Technologies.

Babak has served as a member of the IEEE Board of Directors (2018-19), and a member of the Board of Directors of Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet). In 2022 Babak serves as a member of the Educational Activities Board and the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee. He also serves on the Board of IgniteLI – Long Island Manufacturing Consortium and is a member of the Advisory Board of The International Association of Transportation Regulators.

Babak is a recipient of the IEEE, MGA Leadership Award, IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE LI Section Athanasios Papoulis Outstanding Educator Award, and three IEEE Region 1 Awards, including the 2008 IEEE Northeastern Region Technical Innovation Award.

Babak received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and his master's and bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering at Stony Brook University.

At New York Tech, Farajidavar established the IMS Lab, where he and his students conduct cutting-edge research to develop the next generation of implantable and wearable medical devices. His research program has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Auckland Bioengineering Institute, and New York Tech. He is teaching fundamental electrical engineering courses such as electronics and digital circuits, and he has developed a novel course entitled "Implantable Medical Devices: An Embedded Systems Approach" to infuse research into educating the new generation of students on trending issues such as health and medicine. Farajidavar's research has been highlighted by various awards and news articles. His students have been consistently awarded locally, nationally, and internationally, and been hired in leading engineering firms and companies.

Farajidavar has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers/abstracts and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has served as the reviewer for government funding agencies, journals, and conferences. He serves on the Technical Program Committee (TPC) for MTT-10 of IEEE MTT-S and Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. He has served as organizer and TPC member for several IEEE conferences, including EMBC, BioCAS, IMBioC, RWW, IMWS, and WAMICON.

Following graduate school, Gibb joined the laboratory of Eric Greene at Columbia University as a postdoctoral researcher. He developed a novel single molecule method of studying proteins that bind and function on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Using this technique, he was able to reveal novel mechanisms in the ssDNA binding protein RPA and Rad52. These two proteins play essential functional roles in DNA damage repair pathways. Disruption of these proteins or the associated pathways has been linked to cancer. Additional studies using this technique revealed detailed mechanistic details in the DNA recombinase Rad51.

Gibb's research at New York Tech focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms of DNA binding proteins, specifically those involved in CRISPR pathways that are widely being employed in genome engineering technologies. The long-term aim of this work is to find new tools or improve existing methodologies that can then be harnessed for biotech applications such as gene therapy.

A second line of research seeks to understand and develop bacteriophages as therapeutics. Every year, more than 2 million people acquire an infection resistant to at least one antibiotic, and more than 23,000 people die as a direct result of antibiotic-resistant infections (CDC, 2014). Given the growing inability to treat bacterial infections, novel approaches must be pursued. Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria naturally, so they are an attractive tool that may be discovered from natural sources and improved by directed evolution or directed engineering approaches to be an effective therapy for bacterial infections.

Handrakis' research focuses on the regulation of core body temperature after spinal cord injury (SCI). The goals of his team's research are to identify the physiological and clinical consequences of dysfunctional thermoregulation after SCI and their impact on quality of life (QOL), and to develop interventions to improve clinical care, health, and QOL in persons with SCI.

He received his B.S. from Fordham University and a post-baccalaureate certificate degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University. He then provided physical therapy at Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation, NYU Langone Medical Center, in the rehabilitation, outpatient, acute care, and cardiopulmonary units. During his time at NYU, he worked toward his M.S. degree in Exercise Physiology at Long Island University. Handrakis continued to provide orthopedic and neurological physical therapy care in outpatient and homecare settings. In 2005, he joined the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy at New York Tech. He earned his Ed.D. in Applied Physiology at Teachers College, Columbia University and a D.P.T. from New York Tech. He was certified as a Neurologic Clinical Specialist (NCS) in 2016 by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. He has extensive experience providing physical therapy to persons with neurological, orthopedic, and sports medicine injuries.

A bio-pharma industry veteran with over 34 years of business, information technology and cyber-security experience, Llado and his team develop and implement innovative technology and enable data-driven insights across Alexion’s R&D, Commercial, Manufacturing Operations, and Supply Chain functions.

Prior to joining Alexion, Llado served as vice president and business line CIO for Merck and Co., where he led the large-scale merger integration of Merck/Schering-Plough across the IT and Shared Business Services organizations. He previously worked at Citibank, N.A.

Llado serves on the Board of Directors of Charles River Laboratories and the National Center for Women & Information Technology. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Sierra Ventures and Temple University’s Fox Business School. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from New York Institute of Technology and completed the Executive Development Program at Harvard and the Wharton School of Business.

He was named to Forbes CIO Next 2021 list, which highlights top tech executives who are redefining the CIO role and driving game-changing innovation. In 2020, he was named a Global CIO of the Year finalist by the Boston CIO Leadership Association for demonstrating excellence in technology leadership.

Martins implemented the protocol to test and map the phosphenes in each of the 16 patients implanted with a bilateral cortical visual prosthesis. Although there was limited scientific data and no previous experience on how blind people could see with an artificial visual prosthesis, he developed a protocol to help them on how to best use the phosphenes they could see in their visual field and improve their mobility and independence. He also redesigned the neurostimulator to be significantly more compact and portable. The redesign also allowed patients to adjust specific parameters of the device which assisted them to better navigate in environments with different lighting conditions.

Martins' latest contribution to science relates to the new and future design of phrenic/diaphragm pacemakers. With several patents filed in this field, he is working on new ideas that can greatly help patients with ventilatory problems. His engineering capabilities are strengthened by clinical experience in testing the patients in the operating room during phrenic pacemaker implantation procedures and by discussing with physicians and surgeons how to advance implantable device technologies and improve patient outcomes. Other areas of work are related to temporary pacing, obstructive sleep apnea and new medical diagnostic devices that can help patients and physicians better assess the physiological status associated to the patient’s ventilatory function.

With more than 10 years of college-level teaching experience, Nizich holds a Ph.D. in Information Studies from Long Island University, a master’s degree in Technology Systems Management from Stony Brook University, and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Dowling College.

Through ETIC programs, Nizich regularly connects both domestic and international students with internships and full-time positions in cybersecurity. He also directs New York Tech’s Center of Academic Excellence for Cybersecurity Education, designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, and serves as a member of the CTEA committee for cybersecurity for Suffolk County Community College.

RJ joined Savills in 2021 following the company’s partnership with T3 Advisors, the leading real estate workplace solutions advisor to life sciences and technology companies, where he served as a Principal. He brings over 20 years of experience working in various life science roles, including laboratory research, project management and operations. RJ served as the Site Operations Manager at Merck, where he managed the activities of all contracted and internal support partners needed to maintain operations in both the office and lab. As a Global Operations Manager at OvaScience, RJ built and established small-scale GMP manufacturing labs in five different countries.

RJ holds his Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification and advocates for using Six Sigma tools and methodologies within organizations to optimize performance. He also holds a certification in HVAC Systems and Lab Design from the Eagleson Institute.

Rajan has been part of the biotech industry since 2003 as a scientist and then as a lawyer practicing IP law. In her career, she has developed and protected robust IP portfolios for multiple therapeutic products in central nervous disorders, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, Immuno-oncology, and dermatology. In addition, Rajan has contributed to the acquisition of IP assets, development, licensures, as well as IP divestitures, realizing a profit of about $2 billion. Her patent practice through the years spanned more than 40 jurisdictions, more than 15 commercially available drugs in various therapeutic areas, many pipeline projects covering multiple regulatory bodies, and multiple due diligence activities, accretive to more than $5 billion.

Before joining T3, Shih was the VP/Associate Broker at commercial real estate firm OLC (acquired by T3 in 2017). Highly focused on the NYC office leasing market, she gained experience representing startups of various sizes with unique priorities.

Stephens’ patent practice covers an array of different life science technologies including those relating to endonuclease based genome editing systems; immunobiology; diagnostic and prognostic tests based on gene expression profiles; viral based expression systems for use in gene therapy; and stem cell-based therapies, to name a few.

Prior to pursuing a legal career, Stephens received her Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook after the completion of her thesis research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory followed by a post-doctoral fellowship conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her technical background in the life sciences provides her with the ability to successfully interface with scientists to maximize protection of their intellectual property.

Tracey graduated summa cum laude from Boston College, majoring in chemistry, and received his M.D. from Boston University. He trained in neurosurgery at the New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical Center, and was guest investigator at The Rockefeller University. Since 1992, he has directed the Laboratory of Biomedical Science in Manhasset, N.Y., where in 2005 he was appointed president of the Feinstein Institutes. Tracey delivers lectures nationally and internationally on inflammation, sepsis, the neuroscience of immunity, and bioelectronic medicine. He is the author of Fatal Sequence (Dana Press) and more than 360 scientific papers.

Over the next ten years, Bob participated in the emerging 3G cellular space at Layer One and then continued working on packet radio designs at BAE Systems. At BAE, he led the software engineering department with 60 engineers and eventually took the lead for all the engineering content for the development of Mission Computing and Antenna Systems Division, a $300M business. In addition, Bob was very fortunate to be selected for BAE’s Leadership and Enhanced Development Program, where 20 employees are selected from over 48,000 to participate in an intensive year-long training program with exposure to each business location and leadership team in the U.S. and the U.K.

For the last 11 years, Bob has contributed to the growth of and development of Intelligent Product Solutions. Personally involved with hundreds of projects during this time, Bob has participated and led the product development of automotive, industrial, commercial, defense and aerospace, as well as medical devices for a plethora of outstanding clients.

Bob received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering focusing on Control Systems from SUNY Stony Brook, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, and an MBA from SUNY Stony Brook.

The new RNA sequencing technology is completely independent of base complementarity and provides a general solution towards de novo RNA sequencing and modification analysis. Its application in RNA biology helps to answer the longstanding questions of: 1) how aberrant modifications in cellular RNA correlate with human diseases such as cancers, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders; 2) how RNA modification patterns and levels change in response to cellular environments and environmental stress. His studies also provide new perspectives into RNA epigenetic regulations and facilitate the identification of new RNA biomarkers and targets for drug discovery and personalized medicine.